Visual Sequences Drive Experience-Dependent Plasticity in Mouse Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Cell Rep. 2020 Sep 15;32(11):108152. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108152.

Authors

Michael S Sidorov¹, Hyojin Kim², Marie Rougie², Brittany Williams², Jennifer J Siegel³, Jeffrey P Gavornik⁴, Benjamin D Philpot²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC 20010, USA; Departments of Pediatrics and Pharmacology & Physiology, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC 20052, USA. Electronic address: msidorov@childrensnational.org.
² Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
³ Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
⁴ Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Abstract

Mechanisms of experience-dependent plasticity have been well characterized in mouse primary visual cortex (V1), including a form of potentiation driven by repeated presentations of a familiar visual sequence ("sequence plasticity"). The prefrontal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) responds to visual stimuli, yet little is known about if and how visual experience modifies ACC circuits. We find that mouse ACC exhibits sequence plasticity, but in contrast to V1, the plasticity expresses as a change in response timing, rather than a change in response magnitude. Sequence plasticity is absent in ACC, but not V1, in a mouse model of a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with intellectual disability and autism-like features. Our results demonstrate that simple sensory stimuli can be used to reveal how experience functionally (or dysfunctionally) modifies higher-order prefrontal circuits and suggest a divergence in how ACC and V1 encode familiarity.

Keywords: Angelman syndrome; anterior cingulate; plasticity; visual cortex; visually evoked potential.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Angelman Syndrome / physiopathology
Animals
Disease Models, Animal
Female
Gyrus Cinguli / physiology*
Male
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Neurodevelopmental Disorders / pathology
Neurodevelopmental Disorders / physiopathology
Neuronal Plasticity / physiology*
Photic Stimulation
Time Factors
Visual Cortex / physiology
Visual Pathways / physiology*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding