Neuron
Volume 88, Issue 2, 21 October 2015, Pages 298-305
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Cell-Type-Specific Sensorimotor Processing in Striatal Projection Neurons during Goal-Directed Behavior

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2015.08.039Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Membrane potential recordings of striatal projection neurons in behaving mice

  • Detected whisker stimuli evoke large sensorimotor responses in dorsolateral striatum

  • Early sensory-evoked depolarization in striatonigral but not striatopallidal neurons

  • Optogenetic substitution by striatonigral but not striatopallidal neurons

Summary

Goal-directed sensorimotor transformation drives important aspects of mammalian behavior. The striatum is thought to play a key role in reward-based learning and action selection, receiving glutamatergic sensorimotor signals and dopaminergic reward signals. Here, we obtain whole-cell membrane potential recordings from the dorsolateral striatum of mice trained to lick a reward spout after a whisker deflection. Striatal projection neurons showed strong task-related modulation, with more depolarization and action potential firing on hit trials compared to misses. Direct pathway striatonigral neurons, but not indirect pathway striatopallidal neurons, exhibited a prominent early sensory response. Optogenetic stimulation of direct pathway striatonigral neurons, but not indirect pathway striatopallidal neurons, readily substituted for whisker stimulation evoking a licking response. Our data are consistent with direct pathway striatonigral neurons contributing a “go” signal for goal-directed sensorimotor transformation leading to action initiation.

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This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Present address: Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, NY 10016, USA