Fig. 5: Activation of mPFC-NAc pathway decreased functional connectivity of M2 circuits.
From: Frontostriatal regulation of brain circuits contributes to flexible decision making
A The top showed M2 seed, which was defined as the region showing significance in the analysis on functional connectivity with the NAc seed. SESSION (baseline, post-injection) × GROUP (hM3Dq, control) × TREATMENT (CNO, VEH) ANOVA showed a significant interaction effect in functional connectivity of M2 with orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), insula (INS), cingulate cortex (CG), striatum (STR), sensory cortex (SEN), M2, hippocampus (HIP) and auditory cortex (AU). Results were corrected for whole-brain multiple comparisons at pcorr < 0.05. B GROUP × TREATMENT ANOVA showed a significant interaction effect on functional connectivity of M2 with OFC, INS, mPFC, CG, STR, SEN and M2 after injection. However, there was no significant effect in the baseline. Results were corrected for whole-brain multiple comparisons at pcorr < 0.05. C Post hoc analyses showed significant differences in functional connectivity of M2 with OFC, INS, mPFC, CG, STR, SEN and M2 between rats with CNO or VEH injection in the hM3Dq group but not the control group. Results were corrected for whole-brain multiple comparisons at pcorr < 0.05. D Chemogenetic activation of mPFC-NAc pathway decreased functional connectivity of the above M2-related circuits. E Loadings of M2-related circuits on the PCA dimension were clustered into two networks. F Functional connectivity of Network 1 but not Network 2 significantly correlated with number of total trials to reach criterion. Statistical significance was preset at puncorr < 0.025 for multiple comparisons correction. N = 10 per group. Coordinates represent distance relative to bregma (in millimeters). VEH vehicle, CNO clozapine N-oxide.
