Maturation of frontal-subcortical cognitive loops in relation to early synchronized neuronal activity: mechanisms and relevance for perinatal ischemia
Final Report Abstract
Cognitive performance relies on the entrainment of neuronal networks in oscillatory patterns of electrical activity. They ensure the spatiotemporal orchestration of neuronal activity and enable information transfer and storage, as exemplified in the case of functional interplay between the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Coupling of the neuronal networks in oscillatory rhythms is not a hallmark of the adult brain but rather emerges early during development. However, the contribution of coordinated activity for the maturation of neuronal networks accounting for cognitive processing remains largely unknown. The Emmy Noether-funded project elucidated the mechanisms controlling the development of structural and functional coupling within prefrontal-hippocampal networks of rodents from birth until juvenile stage of development. In particular, the cellular interactions accounting for emergence of long-range communication in the immature brain were dissected in detail. Moreover, the impaired maturation of functional communication within hippocampal-prefrontal networks, was characterized as a possible mechanism underlying the pathophysiology of cognitive deficits in neurological disorders, such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. The knowledge gain from the funded project opens new perspectives for a better understanding of brain ontogeny in health and disease as well as for development of tailored therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders.
Publications
- (2011) Cholinergic control in developing prefrontal-hippocampal networks. J Neurosci 31: 17955-17970
Janiesch, P.C., Krüger, H-S., Pöschel, B., Hanganu-Opatz, I.L.
- (2011) Coupled oscillations mediate directed interactions between prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of the neonatal rat. Neuron 71: 332-347
Brockmann, M.D., Pöschel, B., Cichon, N., Hanganu-Opatz, I.L.
- (2013) Hypoxia-ischemia disrupts directed interactions within neonatal prefrontal-hippocampal networks. PLoS One 8: e83074
Brockmann, M.D., Kukovic, M., Schönfeld, M., Sedlacik, J., Hanganu-Opatz, I.L.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083074) - (2013) Oscillatory coupling within neonatal prefrontalhippocampal networks is independent of selective removal of GABAergic neurons in the hippocampus. Neuropharmacology 77: 57-67
Bitzenhofer, S.H., Hanganu-Opatz, I.L.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2013.09.007) - (2013) Oscillatory entrainment of primary somatosensory cortex encodes visual control of tactile processing. J Neurosci 33: 5736-49
Sieben, K., Röder, B., Hanganu-Opatz, I.L.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4432-12.2013) - (2014) Unsupervised classification of neocortical activity patterns in neonatal and pre-juvenile rodents. Front Neural Circuits 8: 50
Cichon, N.B., Denker, M., Grün, S., Hanganu-Opatz, I.L.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2014.00050) - (2015) Neonatal hypoxia-ischemia impairs juvenile recognition memory by disrupting the maturation of prefrontal-hippocampal networks. Exp Neurol 273:202-14
Domnick, N.K., Gretenkord, S., De Feo, V., Sedlacik, J., Brockmann, M.D., Hanganu-Opatz, I.L.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expneurol.2015.08.017) - (2015) Neonatal Restriction of Tactile Inputs Leads to Long-Lasting Impairments of Cross-Modal Processing. PLoS Biol 13: e1002304
Sieben, K., Bieler, M., Röder, B., Hanganu-Opatz, I.L.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002304) - (2015) Oscillatory activity in developing prefrontal networks results from theta-gamma modulated synaptic inputs. Cell Reports 11: 486-97
Bitzenhofer, S.H., Sieben, K., Siebert, K., Spehr, M., Hanganu-Opatz, I.L.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2015.03.031) - (2016) Thalamic and Entorhinal Network Activity Differently Modulates the Functional Development of Prefrontal-Hippocampal Interactions. J Neurosci 36(13): 3676-90
Hartung, H., Brockmann, M.D., Pöschel, B., De Feo, V., Hanganu-Opatz, I.L.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3232-15.2016)
