An accessory prefrontal cortex-thalamus circuit sculpts maternal behavior in virgin female mice (2022)
Figure 2

Figure 2. Identification of prefrontal-thalamic circuit changes during experienced-induced parental behavior in virgin females.

A, Reconstruction of the mouse brain following anterograde labeling with AAV-GFP in the ACC (I); representative coronal images showing site of injection and axonal distribution pattern in the dorsal striatum (II) and central lateral nucleus of the thalamus (III, IV). Images in aI-aIV were taken from the Allen Mouse Brain Connectivity Atlas, https://connectivity.brain-map.org/projection/experiment/139520203.

B, Schematic representation of the dual anterograde and retrograde tracing to- and from the ACC, in FLEX/tdTomato mice.

C, A representative coronal section showing labeling pattern at the site of injection. White arrows in the magnified image (C, right) point to double-labeled putative starter cells for transsynaptic retrograde labeling. Scale bar indicates 500 µm, 10× magnification (left image) and 100 µm, 20× magnification (right image).

D, Representative coronal sections showing bidirectional connectivity patterns with the thalamus (I) and monosynaptic input to the ACC from the claustrum (II) and ventral CA1 (III). Scale bars 500 µm, 10× magnification (left images) and 100 µm, 20× magnification (right images).

E, Graphic representation and z-scores of the ACC synaptic outputs (top, n = 3) and inputs (bottom, n = 4). ACC anterior cingulate cortex, ATN anterior group of the dorsal thalamus, BLA basolateral amygdala, CLA claustrum, CP caudo-putamen, GENv geniculate group-ventral part, GPe globus pallidus-external segment, GPi globus pallidus-internal segment, ILM intralaminar nucleus of the thalamus, LAT lateral group of the dorsal thalamus, LH lateral habenula, LZ hypothalamic lateral zone, MB midbrain, MED medial group of the dorsal thalamus, MEZ hypothalamic medial zone, MTN midline group of the dorsal thalamus, NAc nucleus accumbens, RT reticular nucleus of the thalamus, SPF subparafascicular nucleus, VENT ventral group of the dorsal thalamus.

F, Infographic showing the relative proportion of projection density to ACC for each region in a form of pie chart and z-scores for the difference in c-Fos expression between the first- and the last day of behavioral testing in brain regions projecting to the ACC represented in a form of heat-map.

G, Representative coronal sections of the dorsal thalamus, following c-Fos immunolabeling on day 1 (left) and day 3 (right), with the ILM subnuclei indicated; CM central medial nucleus, CL central lateral nucleus, PCN paracentral nucleus, RH rhomboid nucleus. Scale bar 200 µm, 10× magnification. Foster mothers (n=5), virgins with pups (n=6), virgins with object (n=7).

H, Fraction of c-Fos+ cells in different ILM subnuclei, virgin exposed to pups (left), in foster mothers (middle), and virgin exposed to object (right), on day 1 and day 3 of behavioral testing. Foster mothers (n=5), virgins with pups (n=6), virgins with object (n=7). Data were analyzed using 2-way ANOVA with repeated measures and are expressed as mean ± s.e.m; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Data information: Images and data shown in (A, E) were taken from the Allen Mouse Brain Connectivity Atlas.