Thalamic control of sensory selection in divided attention
Open accessAbstract
How the brain selects appropriate sensory inputs and suppresses distractors is unknown. Given the well-established role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in executive function, its interactions with sensory cortical areas during attention have been hypothesized to control sensory selection. To test this idea and, more generally, dissect the circuits underlying sensory selection, we developed a cross-modal divided-attention task in mice that allowed genetic access to this cognitive process. By optogenetically perturbing PFC function in a temporally precise window, the ability of mice to select appropriately between conflicting visual and auditory stimuli was diminished. Equivalent sensory thalamocortical manipulations showed that behaviour was causally dependent on PFC interactions with the sensory thalamus, not sensory cortex. Consistent with this notion, we found neurons of the visual thalamic reticular nucleus (visTRN) to exhibit PFC-dependent changes in firing rate predictive of the modality selected. visTRN activity was causal to performance as confirmed by bidirectional optogenetic manipulations of this subnetwork. Using a combination of electrophysiology and intracellular chloride photometry, we demonstrated that visTRN dynamically controls visual thalamic gain through feedforward inhibition. Our experiments introduce a new subcortical model of sensory selection, in which the PFC biases thalamic reticular subnetworks to control thalamic sensory gain, selecting appropriate inputs for further processing.
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Thalamic input amplifies PFC connectivity, sustaining attentional control and enabling sensory selection in divided attention.
“Thalamic input amplifies PFC connectivity, sustaining attentional control 24 and enabling sensory selection in divided attention 25.”
From Mechanisms of synaptic transmission dysregulation in the prefrontal cortex: pathophysiological implications (2022) · cites this paper as [25]
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“Thalamic input ampli fi es PFC connectivity, sustaining attentional control [24], and enabling sensory selection in divided attention [25].”
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- Authors
- Wimmer, R. D., Schmitt, L. I., Davidson, T. J., Nakajima, M., Deisseroth, K., & Halassa, M. M.
- Affiliations
- NYU Langone Health (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Halassa, Michael M.
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2015-10
- Volume
- 526
- Issue
- 7575
- Pages
- 705-709
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- PMC
- PMC4626291
- OpenAlex
- W1841190780
- Cited by
- 530
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 40 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 43 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 81 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 51 · 2018: 56 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 5
- FWCI
- 28.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (151786)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R25MH094612, R01MH107680)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R00NS078115)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Multisensory perception and integration
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Keywords
- divided attention, thalamic reticular nucleus, visual thalamus, feedforward inhibition, prelimbic cortex, prefrontal cortex, top-down control, cross-modal attention, lateral geniculate nucleus, thalamocortical circuits, optogenetics, mice, distractor suppression
- MeSH terms
- Acoustic Stimulation, Animals, Attention, Gyrus Cinguli, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Models, Neurological, Neural Inhibition, Neural Pathways, Photic Stimulation, Sensory Receptor Cells, Thalamic Nuclei, Thalamus, Prefrontal Cortex, Mice, Optogenetics
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