Biology subjects

Gilin, N.

Publications and source records attributed to Gilin, N..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Synchronous activation of striatal cholinergic interneurons induces local serotonin release

Striatal cholinergic interneurons (CINs) activate nicotinic acetylcholine receptors on dopamine axons to extend the range of dopamine release. Here we show that synchronous activation of CINs induces and extends the range of local serotonin release via a similar mechanism. This process is exaggerated in the hypercholinergic striatum of a mouse model of OCD-like behavior, implicating CINs as critical regulators of serotonin levels in the healthy and pathological striatum.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Striatal neurons are recruited dynamically into collective representations of self-initiated and learned actions in freely-moving mice

Striatal spiny projection neurons are hyperpolarized-at-rest (HaR) and are driven to spike threshold by a small number of powerful inputs - an input-output configuration that is detrimental to response reliability. Because the striatum is important for habitual behaviors and goal-directed learning, we conducted microendoscopic imaging in freely-moving mice that express a genetically-encoded calcium indicator sparsely in striatal HaR neurons to compare their response reliability during self-initiated movements and operant conditioning. The sparse expression was critical for longitudinal studies of response reliability, and for studying correlations among HaR neurons while minimizing spurious correlations arising from contamination by the background neuropil signal. We found that HaR neurons are recruited dynamically into action representation through a moment-by-moment formation of distinct cell assemblies. While individual neurons respond with little reliability, the population response remained reliable. Moreover, we found evidence for the formation of correlated cell assemblies during conditioned (but not innate) behaviors, but this correlation was independent of the distance between neurons.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Mechanism of dopamine traveling waves in the striatum: theory and experiment

Striatal dopamine (DA) encodes reward, with recent work showing that DA release occurs in spatiotemporal waves. However, the mechanism of DA waves is unknown. Here we report that the striatal cholinergic neuropil also exhibits wave-like activity, and that the spatial scale of striatal DA release is extended by nicotinic receptors. Based on these findings we hypothesized that the local reciprocal interaction between cholinergic interneurons (CIN) and DA axons suffices to drive endogenous traveling waves. We show that the morphological and physiological properties of the CIN-DA interaction can be modeled as a reaction-diffusion system that gives rise to traveling waves. Analytically-tractable versions of the model show that the structure and the nature of propagation of CIN and DA traveling waves depend on their coupling, and that traveling waves can give rise to empirically observed correlations between these signals. Our model provides a biophysical mechanism for wave formation and predicts that the observed DA and CIN waves are strongly coupled phenomena.

neuroscience↗