The claustrum coordinates cortical slow-wave activity.

During sleep and awake rest, the neocortex generates large-scale slow-wave (SW) activity. Here, we report that the claustrum coordinates neocortical SW generation. We established a transgenic mouse line that enabled the genetic interrogation of a subpopulation of claustral glutamatergic neurons. These neurons received inputs from and sent outputs to widespread neocortical areas. The claustral neuronal firings mostly correlated with cortical SW activity. In vitro optogenetic stimulation of the claustrum induced excitatory postsynaptic responses in most neocortical neurons, but elicited action potentials primarily in inhibitory interneurons. In vivo optogenetic stimulation induced a synchronized down-state featuring prolonged silencing of neural activity in all layers of many cortical areas, followed by a down-to-up state transition. In contrast, genetic ablation of claustral neurons attenuated SW activity in the frontal cortex. These results demonstrate a crucial role of claustral neurons in synchronizing inhibitory interneurons across wide cortical areas for the spatiotemporal coordination of SW activity.

The functional link between tail-pinch-induced food intake and emotionality and its possible role in stress coping in rats.

Tail pinch facilitates eating in rats. We investigated an unidentified link between tail-pinch-induced eating behavior and individual emotionality in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Anxiety-like behavior was assessed on the elevated plus maze (EPM) and in the open field test (OFT). Tail-pinch-induced eating was observed as follows: After a 30-min habituation period, the tail pinch was applied for 5 min, followed by a 30-min recovery period. During the habituation and recovery periods, rats were allowed to access food ad libitum. During the recovery period, 14 of 24 rats ate more food than during the habituation period. Thus, we named them "high responders" and the others as "low responders". The food intake was significantly greater, while the times spent in the open arms in the EPM and in the center area in the OFT were significantly shorter in high responders than in low responders. This result suggests that the rats consuming more food after mild stress have higher anxiety.

Water spray-induced grooming is negatively correlated with depressive behavior in the forced swimming test in rats.

Rodents show grooming, a typical self-care behavior, under stress and non-stress conditions. Previous studies revealed that grooming under stress conditions such as the open-field test (OFT) or the elevated plus-maze test (EPM) is associated with anxiety, but the roles of grooming under non-stress conditions are not well understood. Here, we examined spray-induced grooming as a model of grooming under a non-stress condition to investigate the relationship between this grooming and depression-like behavior in the forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test, and we compared spray-induced grooming with OFT- and EPM-induced grooming. The main finding was that the duration of spray-induced grooming, but not that of OFT/EPM-induced grooming, was negatively correlated with the duration of immobility in the FST, an index of depression-like behavior. The results suggest that spray-induced grooming is functionally different from the grooming in the OFT and EPM and is related to reduction of depressive behavior.

Sharp wave-associated synchronized inputs from the piriform cortex activate olfactory tubercle neurons during slow-wave sleep.

During slow-wave sleep, anterior piriform cortex neurons show highly synchronized discharges that accompany olfactory cortex sharp waves (OC-SPWs). The OC-SPW-related synchronized activity of anterior piriform cortex neurons travel down to the olfactory bulb and is thought to be involved in the reorganization of bulbar neuronal circuitry. However, influences of the OC-SPW-related activity on other regions of the central olfactory system are still unknown. Olfactory tubercle is an area of OC and part of ventral striatum that plays a key role in reward-directed motivational behaviors. In this study, we show that in freely behaving rats, olfactory tubercle receives OC-SPW-associated synchronized inputs during slow-wave sleep. Local field potentials in the olfactory tubercle showed SPW-like activities that were in synchrony with OC-SPWs. Single-unit recordings showed that a subpopulation of olfactory tubercle neurons discharged in synchrony with OC-SPWs. Furthermore, correlation analysis of spike activity of anterior piriform cortex and olfactory tubercle neurons revealed that the discharges of anterior piriform cortex neurons tended to precede those of olfactory tubercle neurons. Current source density analysis in urethane-anesthetized rats indicated that the current sink of the OC-SPW-associated input was located in layer III of the olfactory tubercle. These results indicate that OC-SPW-associated synchronized discharges of piriform cortex neurons travel to the deep layer of the olfactory tubercle and drive discharges of olfactory tubercle neurons. The entrainment of olfactory tubercle neurons in the OC-SPWs suggests that OC-SPWs coordinate reorganization of neuronal circuitry across wide areas of the central olfactory system including olfactory tubercle during slow-wave sleep.

Olfactory consciousness and gamma oscillation couplings across the olfactory bulb, olfactory cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex.

The orbitofrontal cortex receives multi-modality sensory inputs, including olfactory input, and is thought to be involved in conscious perception of the olfactory image of objects. Generation of olfactory consciousness may require neuronal circuit mechanisms for the "binding" of distributed neuronal activities, with each constituent neuron representing a specific component of an olfactory percept. The shortest neuronal pathway for odor signals to reach the orbitofrontal cortex is olfactory sensory neuron-olfactory bulb-olfactory cortex-orbitofrontal cortex, but other pathways exist, including transthalamic pathways. Here, we review studies on the structural organization and functional properties of the shortest pathway, and propose a model of neuronal circuit mechanisms underlying the temporal bindings of distributed neuronal activities in the olfactory cortex. We describe a hypothesis that suggests functional roles of gamma oscillations in the bindings. This hypothesis proposes that two types of projection neurons in the olfactory bulb, tufted cells and mitral cells, play distinct functional roles in bindings at neuronal circuits in the olfactory cortex: tufted cells provide specificity-projecting circuits which send odor information with early-onset fast gamma synchronization, while mitral cells give rise to dispersedly-projecting feed-forward binding circuits which transmit the response synchronization timing with later-onset slow gamma synchronization. This hypothesis also suggests a sequence of bindings in the olfactory cortex: a small-scale binding by the early-phase fast gamma synchrony of tufted cell inputs followed by a larger-scale binding due to the later-onset slow gamma synchrony of mitral cell inputs. We discuss that behavioral state, including wakefulness and sleep, regulates gamma oscillation couplings across the olfactory bulb, olfactory cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex.

Multisensory interaction mediates the social transmission of avoidance in rats: dissociation from social transmission of fear.

Social interaction enables animals to transmit various types of sensory information that can modulate learned avoidance behavior and fear responses, which are important to survival. We previously reported that, under a passive avoidance paradigm, avoidance behavior is facilitated when a rat observes another rat (demonstrator) receiving a shock when performing a specific behavior. However, the sensory mechanisms underlying this 'social facilitation of avoidance' are not well understood. The present study examined the role of sensory pathways for social transmission of avoidance, focusing on the olfactory and visual systems. The olfactory ability of observer rats was blocked by an intranasal application of ZnSO4, and their visual ability was blocked by an opaque partition placed between observer and demonstrator rats. We found that blocking either olfactory or visual input drastically diminished the social transmission of avoidance. Interestingly the social transmission of fear responses remained intact even when olfactory or visual information was blocked. These results indicate that the social transmission of avoidance is mediated not by any single sensory modality but by multisensory interaction in rats, suggesting a distinct sensory mechanism from that underlying the social transmission of fear.