Optogenetic stimulation of anterior insular cortex neurons in male rats reveals causal mechanisms underlying suppression of the default mode network by the salience network
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: The salience network (SN) and default mode network (DMN) play a crucial role in cognitive function. The SN, anchored in the anterior insular cortex (AI), has been hypothesized to modulate DMN activity during stimulus-driven cognition. However, the causal neural mechanisms underlying changes in DMN activity and its functional connectivity with the SN are poorly understood. Here we combine feedforward optogenetic stimulation with fMRI and computational modeling to dissect the causal role of AI neurons in dynamic functional interactions between SN and DMN nodes in the male rat brain. Optogenetic stimulation of Chronos-expressing AI neurons suppressed DMN activity, and decreased AI-DMN and intra-DMN functional connectivity. Our findings demonstrate that feedforward optogenetic stimulation of AI neurons induces dynamic suppression and decoupling of the DMN and elucidates previously unknown features of rodent brain network organization. Our study advances foundational knowledge of causal mechanisms underlying dynamic cross-network interactions and brain network switching.
Source: Nature Communications
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,290
Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: G1501785520, Computational modeling of dynamic causal brain circuits underlying cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease, G1581845015, G1607829266, 5/8 NADIA U01 Effects of Adolescent Alcohol on adult brain Neurocircuitry, Functional dissection of therapeutic deep brain stimulation circuitry, Novel Bayesian linear dynamical systems-based methods for discovering human brain circuit dynamics in health and disease, G5600484520, 9.4T Small Animal MRI scanner at UNC, G5985741961, Chemogenetic Dissection of Neuronal and Astrocytic Compartment of the BOLD Signal, Integrative computational models of latent behavioral and neural constructs in children: a longitudinal developmental big-data approach, Molecular and Circuit Pathogenesis of Alcohol Use Disorders, Molecular and Cellular Alcohol Research Training, Computational modeling of dynamic causal brain circuits underlying cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease, Circuit Mechanisms Governing the Default Mode Network
OpenAlex ID: W4321100534