Organization of long-range inputs and outputs of frontal cortex for top-down control
Open accessAbstract
Long-range projections from the frontal cortex are known to modulate sensory processing in multiple modalities. Although the mouse has become an increasingly important animal model for studying the circuit basis of behavior, the functional organization of its frontal cortical long-range connectivity remains poorly characterized. Here we used virus-assisted circuit mapping to identify the brain networks for top-down modulation of visual, somatosensory and auditory processing. The visual cortex is reciprocally connected to the anterior cingulate area, whereas the somatosensory and auditory cortices are connected to the primary and secondary motor cortices. Anterograde and retrograde tracing identified the cortical and subcortical structures belonging to each network. Furthermore, using new viral techniques to target subpopulations of frontal neurons projecting to the visual cortex versus the superior colliculus, we identified two distinct subnetworks within the visual network. These findings provide an anatomical foundation for understanding the brain mechanisms underlying top-down control of behavior.
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ACC neurons are a heterogeneous population in terms of both gene expression and projection patterns.
“ACC neurons are a heterogenous population in terms of both gene expression and projection patterns22,23.”
From Dissociable roles of prefrontal plasticity in decision-making strategy and execution of habitual behavior (2026) · cites this paper as [22]
The Results section, “Outputs of VIS- and SC-projecting ACA neurons” (page unavailable), reports distinct projection patterns for two ACA neuron subpopulations. The paper also examines PV-, SOM-, and VIP-defined inhibitory neuron subtypes in ACA, but it does not establish the claimed heterogeneity of ACC neurons in gene expression. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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“ACC neurons are a heterogenous population in terms of both gene expression and projection patterns 22,23 .”
- Authors
- Zhang, S., Xu, M., Chang, W.-C., Ma, C., Hoang Do, J. P., Jeong, D., Lei, T., Fan, J. L., & Dan, Y.
- Affiliations
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Dan, Yang
- Venue
- Nature Neuroscience
- Published
- 2016-10-17
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1733-1742
- ISSN
- 1097-6256 (ISSN-L)
- 1546-1726
- PMC
- PMC5127741
- OpenAlex
- W2537955564
- Cited by
- 242
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 4
- FWCI
- 11.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- National Institutes of Health
- University of California, San Diego
- National Eye Institute (R01EY018861)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Keywords
- top-down control, frontal cortex, long-range projections, sensory processing, visual cortex, somatosensory cortex, auditory cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, motor cortex, superior colliculus, sensory modality specificity
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Auditory Cortex, Brain Mapping, Cognition, Gyrus Cinguli, Motor Cortex, Neural Pathways, Neurons, Sensation, Visual Cortex, Mice
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