A direct projection from mouse primary visual cortex to dorsomedial striatum.

A direct projection from mouse primary visual cortex to dorsomedial striatum.

Blog Article

The mammalian striatum receives inputs from many cortical areas, but the existence of a direct axonal projection from the primary visual cortex (V1) is controversial.In this study we use anterograde and retrograde tracing techniques to demonstrate that V1 directly innervates a topographically defined att nighthawk hotspot longitudinal strip of dorsomedial striatum in mice.We find that this projection forms functional excitatory synapses with direct and indirect tonic shower cap pathway striatal projection neurons (SPNs) and engages feed-forward inhibition onto these cells.

Importantly, stimulation of V1 afferents is sufficient to evoke phasic firing in SPNs.These findings therefore identify a striatal region that is functionally innervated by V1 and suggest that early visual processing may play an important role in striatal-based behaviors.