Predictive goal coding by dentate gyrus somatostatin-expressing interneurons in male mice

Abstract To select appropriate behaviour, individuals must rely on encoding of relevant features within their environment in the context of current and past experiences. This function has been linked to goal-associated activity patterns of hippocampal principal cells. Using single-unit recordings fr...

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Main Authors: Mei Yuan, Aurore Cazala, Sven Goedeke, Christian Leibold, Jonas-Frederic Sauer, Marlene Bartos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-06-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60841-y
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author Mei Yuan
Aurore Cazala
Sven Goedeke
Christian Leibold
Jonas-Frederic Sauer
Marlene Bartos
author_facet Mei Yuan
Aurore Cazala
Sven Goedeke
Christian Leibold
Jonas-Frederic Sauer
Marlene Bartos
author_sort Mei Yuan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract To select appropriate behaviour, individuals must rely on encoding of relevant features within their environment in the context of current and past experiences. This function has been linked to goal-associated activity patterns of hippocampal principal cells. Using single-unit recordings from optogenetically identified somatostatin-expressing interneurons (SOMIs) in the dentate gyrus of head-fixed mice trained in a spatial goal-oriented reward-learning task in virtual realities, we show that SOMI activity temporally precedes reward-locations in expert mice characterized by goal-anticipatory behaviour. Predictive goal-encoding by SOMIs is lost after translocation of learned goals to novel previously unrewarded sites leading to rapid reductions in anticipatory behaviour and fast reconfiguration of SOMI activity to times after reward onset in association with reward consumption at novel goal-sites. Chemogenetic silencing of SOMIs caused a loss of memory that trained goal-sites were no longer available. Thus, our data reveal the ability of SOMIs to flexibly encode goal-locations depending on current and past experiences to bias behavioral outcomes.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2041-1723
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
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spelling doaj-art-5dc1202708ae4f53804e1e88c19bca6b2025-08-20T03:27:10ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-06-0116111610.1038/s41467-025-60841-yPredictive goal coding by dentate gyrus somatostatin-expressing interneurons in male miceMei Yuan0Aurore Cazala1Sven Goedeke2Christian Leibold3Jonas-Frederic Sauer4Marlene Bartos5Institute for Physiology I, Medical Faculty, University of FreiburgInstitute for Physiology I, Medical Faculty, University of FreiburgFaculty of Biology, University of FreiburgFaculty of Biology, University of FreiburgInstitute for Physiology I, Medical Faculty, University of FreiburgInstitute for Physiology I, Medical Faculty, University of FreiburgAbstract To select appropriate behaviour, individuals must rely on encoding of relevant features within their environment in the context of current and past experiences. This function has been linked to goal-associated activity patterns of hippocampal principal cells. Using single-unit recordings from optogenetically identified somatostatin-expressing interneurons (SOMIs) in the dentate gyrus of head-fixed mice trained in a spatial goal-oriented reward-learning task in virtual realities, we show that SOMI activity temporally precedes reward-locations in expert mice characterized by goal-anticipatory behaviour. Predictive goal-encoding by SOMIs is lost after translocation of learned goals to novel previously unrewarded sites leading to rapid reductions in anticipatory behaviour and fast reconfiguration of SOMI activity to times after reward onset in association with reward consumption at novel goal-sites. Chemogenetic silencing of SOMIs caused a loss of memory that trained goal-sites were no longer available. Thus, our data reveal the ability of SOMIs to flexibly encode goal-locations depending on current and past experiences to bias behavioral outcomes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60841-y
spellingShingle Mei Yuan
Aurore Cazala
Sven Goedeke
Christian Leibold
Jonas-Frederic Sauer
Marlene Bartos
Predictive goal coding by dentate gyrus somatostatin-expressing interneurons in male mice
Nature Communications
title Predictive goal coding by dentate gyrus somatostatin-expressing interneurons in male mice
title_full Predictive goal coding by dentate gyrus somatostatin-expressing interneurons in male mice
title_fullStr Predictive goal coding by dentate gyrus somatostatin-expressing interneurons in male mice
title_full_unstemmed Predictive goal coding by dentate gyrus somatostatin-expressing interneurons in male mice
title_short Predictive goal coding by dentate gyrus somatostatin-expressing interneurons in male mice
title_sort predictive goal coding by dentate gyrus somatostatin expressing interneurons in male mice
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60841-y
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