Monteiro P, Barak B, Zhou Y, McRae R, Rodrigues D, Wickersham IR, Feng G. J Physiol. 2018 May 29. doi: 10.1113/JP275936. [Epub ahead of print]
Dorsomedial striatum circuitry is involved in goal-directed actions or movements that upon repetition become habits, encoded by dorsolateral striatum. An inability to shift from habits can compromise action-control and prevent behavioral adaptation. But although these regions seem to be clearly behaviorally distinct, little is known about their distinct physiology. Parvalbumin (PV) interneurons are a major source of striatal inhibition and are usually considered as a homogeneous population in the entire dorsal striatum. Here, we recorded PV interneurons in dorsal striatum slices from WT male mice and suggest the existence of two electrophysiological dichotomous populations. We found that PV interneurons located at the dorsomedial striatum region have increased intrinsic excitability as compared to PV interneurons in dorsolateral region. We also found that PV interneurons in dorsomedial region, but not dorsolateral striatum region, receive short-latency excitatory inputs from cingulate cortex. Therefore, our results demonstrate the importance of considering region specific parvalbumin interneuron populations when studying dorsal striatal function. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.