"Synaptic organization of the prefrontal cortex"

Adam G Carter, PhD
Associate Professor
Center for Neural Science
New York University

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) controls a variety of cognitive and emotional behaviors and is disrupted is many neuropsychiatric disorders. I will talk about recent findings from my lab on the organization and functional properties of neurons and synapses in the mouse PFC. I will begin with a brief overview of the projection neurons and long-range afferents that link the PFC with other brain regions. I will primarily focus on connections between the PFC and two distinct higher-order nuclei in the thalamus. I will first describe how the PFC contacts reciprocally connected cells in the mediodorsal (MD) and ventromedial (VM) thalamus. I will then discuss how MD and VM contact different subpopulations of projection neurons found across layers of the PFC. Lastly, I will show how local connections in the PFC close the cortico-thalamo-cortical “loop”, allowing these brain regions to interact. I will then compare these results with other inputs to the PFC, including from amygdala, contralateral cortex and hippocampus. Finally, I will discuss some ongoing work, including the roles of different interneurons and neuromodulators.