Fig. 2: VGluT2-expressing MRN neurons drive exploratory behaviour.
From: A subcortical switchboard for perseverative, exploratory and disengaged states
a, Left, schematic of optogenetic activation or suppression of VGluT2+ MRN neurons. Right, example image of virus expression in VGluT2+ MRN neurons with optic fibre positions. Scale bar, 0.5 mm. b,c, Median fraction of time spent in the perseverative (blue), exploratory (green) and disengaged state (orange) during the MNOI test in mice with activation (b, left) or suppression (b, right) of VGluT2+ MRN neurons and tdTomato control mice (c). n = 20, 10 and 11 experiments from 10, 5 and 5 mice in tdTomato, VGluT2+ excitation and VGluT2+ inhibition groups, respectively. d, Schematic of calcium fibre photometry recording from VGluT2+ MRN neurons in mice exposed to multiple novel objects. e, Heat map of z-scored calcium activity traces in an example experiment (top) and average z-scored calcium activity trace (bottom; mean ± s.e.m., all events from 5 mice (n = 17 deep interaction and 67 switch events)) of VGluT2+ MRN neurons aligned either to the onset of deep object interactions (left) or the time of switching between objects (right). f, z-scored calcium activity of VGluT2+ MRN neurons (median ± bootstrap standard error) during disengaged, exploratory and perseverative states. n = 72 disengaged, 53 exploratory and 13 perseverative state events from 3 mice. g, Experimental design to quantify levels of exploration during a T-maze test. h, Percentage of trials with entrance into the non-rewarded arm during the T-maze test, in tdTomato control mice (n = 5 mice) and mice with activation of VGluT2+ MRN neurons (left; 5 mice). i, Experimental design to quantify perseverance during a reversal test in the T-maze. j, Percentage of trials with entrance into the previously rewarded arm in tdTomato control mice (n = 8 mice) and mice with suppression of VGluT2+ MRN neurons (left; 5 mice). *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001. In c,h,j, bars indicate median, error bars are bootstrapped standard error and circles represent individual experimental sessions. See Extended Data Table 1 for statistics.
