# The Functional Role of Mediodorsal Thalamic Input onto the Mouse Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex in Incentive Learning

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2021 · $25,717

## Abstract

Project Summary
Executive functions controlled by the prefrontal cortex (PFC) grant us flexibility in our behavior and allow us to
behave adaptively in the current context. The functional interaction between the PFC and the mediodorsal
thalamus (MD), a higher-order thalamic nucleus, has been shown to be important for a variety of cognitive tasks
requiring executive control. Disrupted functional and anatomical connectivity of these two reciprocally connected
brain regions has been observed in clinical populations such as schizophrenia patients. While a topographic
organization of MDàPFC projections has been identified across species, little is known about how changes in
specific components of the broader MD-PFC circuitry lead to certain cognitive deficits. The availability of powerful
molecular and genetic tools in mice has now made it possible to study the functional influence of defined
projection populations on cortical processing. In particular, the functional role of distinct MD projections onto the
lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) has yet to be investigated in depth. The lOFC is thought to maintain a cognitive
map -- a representation of different task states -- in order to ensure adaptive decision-making in different contexts
determined by external and internal variables. To better understand how the MD may be contributing to this
cortical function, real-time activity patterns of the MDàlOFC projection population and the lOFC population will
be measured using fiber photometry in freely behaving mice, during an incentive learning task that depends on
the lOFC. This technique will allow us to study the functional relationship between the MD and lOFC when a
motivationally-induced task state change occurs, and when this task state change informs the control of
instrumental behavior. Ex vivo electrophysiology will be used to investigate how MDàlOFC synaptic
transmission may change following the encoding of a new task state in incentive learning. Together, the proposed
experiments will help determine the manner in which the MD influences lOFC activity during state-dependent
decision-making, and more generally, they will add to our understanding of how higher-order thalamic nuclei
contribute to cortical computations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10101689
- **Project number:** 5F31MH118933-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Ege Ayse Yalcinbas
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $25,717
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-01 → 2021-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10101689

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10101689, The Functional Role of Mediodorsal Thalamic Input onto the Mouse Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex in Incentive Learning (5F31MH118933-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10101689. Licensed CC0.

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