RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Parallel Processing of Environmental Recognition and Locomotion in the Mouse Striatum
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 473
OP 484
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4474-12.2013
VO 33
IS 2
A1 Hagar G. Yamin
A1 Edward A. Stern
A1 Dana Cohen
YR 2013
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/2/473.abstract
AB Information processing in behaving animals has been the target of many studies in the striatum; however, its dynamics and complexity remain to a large extent unknown. Here, we chronically recorded neuronal populations in dorsal striatum as mice were exposed to a novel environment, a paradigm which enables the dissociation of locomotion and environmental recognition. The findings indicate that non-overlapping populations of striatal projection neurons—the medium spiny neurons—reliably encode locomotion and environmental identity, whereas two subpopulations of short-spike interneurons encode distinct information: the fast spiking interneurons preferentially encode locomotion whereas the second type of interneurons preferentially encodes environmental identity. The three neuronal subgroups used cell-type specific coding schemes. This study provides evidence for the existence of parallel processing circuits within the sensorimotor region of the striatum.