Fig. 6: Activation and inhibition of vGlut2BF neurons alter odor-preference.
A Schematic of viral injection and optic fiber implantation targeting vGlut2-expressing basal forebrain neurons (vGlut2BF) for optogenetic manipulation (left). Electrophysiological validation of ChR2 and iChloc function (right). Top: cell-attached recordings showing action potentials evoked by 5 ms, 470 nm light pulses in ChR2-expressing neurons. Bottom: reduced firing rate consistent with shunting inhibition in iChloc-expressing neurons during 470 nm illumination. B Representative expression patterns of GFP, ChR2, and iChloc in the HDB, along with the fiber track. Scale bar, 500 μm. C Experimental paradigm for the odor preference assay under optogenetic manipulation of vGlut2BF neurons. D Representative heat maps of mouse center positions in the behavioral arena. Top: positions prior to pairing the odor with optogenetic manipulation. Bottom: positions after pairing. From left to right: GFP, ChR2, and iChloc groups. E Left: Preference index for the odor-paired region before and after pairing in GFP, ChR2, and iChloc groups. Paired two-tailed Student’s t-test: GFP (n = 6), p = 0.5802; ChR2 (n = 7), p = 0.0175; iChloc (n = 8), p = 0.0104. Right: Investigation time in the odor-paired region before and after pairing. Paired two-tailed Student’s t-test: GFP (n = 6), p = 0.3682; ChR2 (n = 7), p = 0.0200; iChloc (n = 8), p = 0.0059. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. Illustrations in (C) was Created in BioRender. Chin, P. (2025) https://BioRender.com/74qwul9. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. Left panel in (A) is reprinted from The Mouse Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates, 3rd edition, Paxinos G. & Franklin K.B.J., Figures 28, Copyright (2008), with permission from Elsevier.
