Publication
Title
A hippocampus-accumbens tripartite neuronal motif guides appetitive memory in space
Author
Abstract
Retrieving and acting on memories of food-predicting environments are fundamental processes for animal survival. Hippocampal pyramidal cells (PYRs) of the mammalian brain provide mnemonic representations of space. Yet the substrates by which these hippocampal representations support memory-guided behavior remain unknown. Here, we uncover a direct connection from dorsal CA1 (dCA1) hippocampus to nucleus accumbens (NAc) that enables the behavioral manifestation of place-reward memories. By monitoring neuronal ensembles in mouse dCA1 -> NAc pathway, combined with cell-type selective optogenetic manipulations of input-defined postsynaptic neurons, we show that dCA1 PYRs drive NAc medium spiny neurons and orchestrate their spiking activity using feed-forward inhibition mediated by dCA1-connected parvalbumin-expressing fast-spiking interneurons. This tripartite cross-circuit motif supports spatial appetitive memory and associated NAc assemblies, being independent of dorsal subiculum and dispensable for both spatial novelty detection and reward seeking. Our findings demonstrate that the dCA1 -> NAc pathway instantiates a limbic-motor interface for neuronal representations of space to promote effective appetitive behavior.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Cell. - Cambridge, Mass.
Publication
Cambridge, Mass. : 2019
ISSN
0092-8674
DOI
10.1016/J.CELL.2018.12.037
Volume/pages
176 :6 (2019) , p. 1393-1406.e16
ISI
000460509600014
Pubmed ID
30773318
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Publication type
Subject
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 12.10.2021
Last edited 08.01.2025
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