Regional, Layer, and Cell-Type-Specific Connectivity of the Mouse Default Mode Network
Jennifer D. Whitesell, Adam Liska, L. Coletta, Karla E. Hirokawa, Phillip Bohn, Allison Williford, Peter A. Groblewski, Nile Graddis, L. Kuan, Joseph E. Knox, Anh Ho, Wayne Wakeman, P. Nicovich, T. Nguyen, C. Velthoven, Emma J. Garren, Olivia Fong, M. Naeemi, A. Henry, N. Dee, Kimberly A. Smith, Boaz P. Levi, David Feng, Lydia Ng, Bosiljka Tasic, Hongkui Zeng, Stefan Mihalas, A. Gozzi, Julie A. Harris
Neuron December 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.11.011 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study with co-registered imaging and tracing data Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Mice |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key findings | The mouse default mode network consists of preferentially interconnected cortical regions, with layer 2/3 neurons projecting almost exclusively within the DMN and layer 5 neurons projecting both in and out of the DMN. |
Abstract
Summary The evolutionarily conserved default mode network (DMN) is a distributed set of brain regions coactivated during resting states that is vulnerable to brain disorders. How disease affects the DMN is unknown, but detailed anatomical descriptions could provide clues. Mice offer an opportunity to investigate structural connectivity of the DMN across spatial scales with cell-type resolution. We co-registered maps from functional magnetic resonance imaging and axonal tracing experiments into the 3D Allen mouse brain reference atlas. We find that the mouse DMN consists of preferentially interconnected cortical regions. As a population, DMN layer 2/3 (L2/3) neurons project almost exclusively to other DMN regions, whereas L5 neurons project in and out of the DMN. In the retrosplenial cortex, a core DMN region, we identify two L5 projection types differentiated by in- or out-DMN targets, laminar position, and gene expression. These results provide a multi-scale description of the anatomical correlates of the mouse DMN.