Optogenetic stimulation of cell bodies versus axonal terminals generate comparable activity and functional connectivity patterns in the brain
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Optogenetic techniques are often employed to dissect neural pathways with presumed specificity for targeted projections. In this study, we used optogenetic fMRI to investigate the effective landscape of stimulating the cell bodies versus one of its projection terminals. Specifically, we selected a long-range unidirectional projection from the ventral subiculum (vSUB) to the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) and placed two stimulating fibers-one at the vSUB cell bodies and the other at the vSUB terminals in the NAcSh. Contrary to the conventional view that terminal stimulation confines activity to the feedforward stimulated pathway, our findings reveal that terminal stimulation induces brain activity and connectivity patterns remarkably similar to those of vSUB cell body stimulation. This observation suggests that the specificity of optogenetic terminal stimulation may induce antidromic activation, leading to broader network involvement than previously acknowledged.
Source: Brain stimulation
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,430
Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH Office of the Director, 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, G1581845015, G1607829266, 5/8 NADIA U01 Effects of Adolescent Alcohol on adult brain Neurocircuitry, Concurrent high resolution calcium imaging and fMRI reveal intra anterior cingulate cortex neuronal activity and large-scale brain network connectivity in healthy and nicotine-addicted mice, G3212348085, G3697398560, G4288469129, AVANCE NEO upgrade for the BioSpec 9.4T/30cm MRI system at UNC, G5600484520, 9.4T Small Animal MRI scanner at UNC, G5985741961, G9000010474, G9000249371, Molecular and Circuit Pathogenesis of Alcohol Use Disorders, Metal-free, genetically encoded reporters for calcium recording with MRI, SORDINO-fMRI for mouse brain applications, Circuit Mechanisms Governing the Default Mode Network, G900887932, G932781590
OpenAlex ID: W4408432767