Cited by 536Neurological disorders and treatmentsNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchMemory and Neural Mechanisms

A comprehensive excitatory input map of the striatum reveals novel functional organization

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Hunnicutt, Barbara J, Jongbloets, Bart C, Birdsong, William T, Gertz, Katrina J, Zhong, Haining, Mao, Tianyi·2016·eLife

Abstract

The striatum integrates excitatory inputs from the cortex and the thalamus to control diverse functions. Although the striatum is thought to consist of sensorimotor, associative and limbic domains, their precise demarcations and whether additional functional subdivisions exist remain unclear. How striatal inputs are differentially segregated into each domain is also poorly understood. This study presents a comprehensive map of the excitatory inputs to the mouse striatum. The input patterns reveal boundaries between the known striatal domains. The most posterior striatum likely represents the 4th functional subdivision, and the dorsomedial striatum integrates highly heterogeneous, multimodal inputs. The complete thalamo-cortico-striatal loop is also presented, which reveals that the thalamic subregions innervated by the basal ganglia preferentially interconnect with motor-related cortical areas. Optogenetic experiments show the subregion-specific heterogeneity in the synaptic properties of striatal inputs from both the cortex and the thalamus. This projectome will guide functional studies investigating diverse striatal functions.

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Crossref · 10.7554/elife.19103

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  • LOFC neurons send inputs to a subregion of striatum ranging from dorsomedial to central striatum, with dense inputs in the central subregion.

    “Consistently, it has repeatedly been reported that LOFC neurons send inputs to a subregion of the striatum ranging from the dorsomedial to the central striatum. Dense inputs are observed in the central subregion60–63.”

    From Dissociable roles of prefrontal plasticity in decision-making strategy and execution of habitual behavior (2026) · cites this paper as [60]

    The Results section on clustered striatal subdivisions (page unavailable) identifies LO/VO as a primary input to the dorsomedial striatum. But the Results section on corticostriatal input distribution patterns places its dense projections in the anterior, medial striatum and describes broader projections as diffuse; it does not support dense LO/VO inputs in a central subregion. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Recent histological analyses revealed distinct projections to striatal regions from each cortical region, suggesting these histologically separated pathways have distinct functions.

    “However, recent histological analyses revealed distinct projections to striatal regions from each cortical region59,60 suggesting that these histologically separated pathways have distinct functions.”
  • Execution of motor behavior is controlled by top-down projections from cortical areas to the dorsal striatum, which form strong excitatory synaptic connections onto striatal output neurons.

    “The execution of motor behavior is controlled by top-down projections from cortical areas to the dorsal striatum (caudate putamen in primates), which form strong excitatory synaptic connections onto striatal output neurons [3][4][5].”

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Jones EG 2007 The Thalamus 2nd edn Cambridge University Press

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Authors
Hunnicutt, B. J., Jongbloets, B. C., Birdsong, W. T., Gertz, K. J., Zhong, H., & Mao, T.
Affiliations
Oregon Health & Science University (US)
Corresponding author
Mao, Tianyi
Venue
eLife
Published
2016-11-28
Volume
5
ISSN
2050-084X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2558788280
Cited by
536
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 50 · 2025: 76 · 2024: 63 · 2023: 64 · 2022: 57 · 2021: 65 · 2020: 55 · 2019: 51 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 16
FWCI
26.54
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • eLife (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • National Institute of Mental Health (DP2OD008425)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (U01NS094247, R01NS081071)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Neurological disorders and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Keywords
striatum, dorsomedial striatum, thalamic subregions, synaptic properties, basal ganglia, mouse striatum
MeSH terms
Animals, Brain Mapping, Corpus Striatum, Mice, Optogenetics

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