Work

Complementary encoding of spatial information in hippocampal astrocytes

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: Calcium dynamics into astrocytes influence the activity of nearby neuronal structures. However, because previous reports show that astrocytic calcium signals largely mirror neighboring neuronal activity, current information coding models neglect astrocytes. Using simultaneous two-photon calcium imaging of astrocytes and neurons in the hippocampus of mice navigating a virtual environment, we demonstrate that astrocytic calcium signals encode (i.e., statistically reflect) spatial information that could not be explained by visual cue information. Calcium events carrying spatial information occurred in topographically organized astrocytic subregions. Importantly, astrocytes encoded spatial information that was complementary and synergistic to that carried by neurons, improving spatial position decoding when astrocytic signals were considered alongside neuronal ones. These results suggest that the complementary place dependence of localized astrocytic calcium signals may regulate clusters of nearby synapses, enabling dynamic, context-dependent variations in population coding within brain circuits.

Source: PLoS Biology

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001530

Authors: Sebastiano Curreli, Jacopo Bonato, Sara Romanzi, Stefano Panzeri, Tommaso Fellin

Institutions: Italian Institute of Technology, Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, University of Bologna, University of Genoa, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

Language: English

Topic: Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $5,300

Funders: Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, FP7 Ideas: European Research Council