Region-specific properties of striatal networks in the encoding of habit formation

Habit formation is a fundamental adaptive mechanism built upon daily experience to provide efficiency for common behavior. The neural substrates underlying this memory are the basal ganglia, long known to be critical for normal motor control, but now also recognized as influencing cognitive and motivational aspects of behavior. Basal ganglia, and particularly their input stage, the striatum, are central to the integration and selection of functionally distinct cortical information, forming functional parallel loops working together to select the most appropriate action. Evidence suggests that during learning, behavior often evolves from being flexible and goal-directed to being habitual. Underlying neural control by striatal circuits is thought to shift from associative circuits (dorsomedial striatum, DMS) that take account the outcome contingencies of actions to those that are less flexible and that underpin habit formation and repetitive behaviors (dorsolateral striatum, DLS).

Our aim is to understand how the encoding of such function is computed at the level of striatal neuronal circuits and how each striatal region (DMS and DLS) plays a specific role. Striatal circuits are composed of a majority of striatal projection neurons (SPNs), but also of a variety of GABAergic interneuronswhich, like SPNs, are efficiently recruited by cortical afferents. Using a combination of technics including multiphoton imaging, optogenetics and electrophysiology, we are probing the composition and specific contribution of the different neuronal actors in DMS and DLS to understand how habit formation is engraved from single cells to large neuronal ensembles.

Elodie Fino – Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience – Inserm U1216, Grenoble, France

Invité par David ROBBE

Salle de conférence Inmed, lundi 14 mai 2017 à 11h