Reorganization of Adolescent Prefrontal Cortex Circuitry is Required for Mouse Cognitive Maturation

Overview

Journal Neuron

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Neurology

Date 2023 Nov 18

PMID 37979584

Authors

Jastyn A Popplau

Timo Schwarze

Mariia Dorofeikova

Irina Pochinok

Anne Gunther

Annette Marquardt

Ileana L Hanganu-Opatz

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Most cognitive functions involving the prefrontal cortex emerge during late development. Increasing evidence links this delayed maturation to the protracted timeline of prefrontal development, which likely does not reach full maturity before the end of adolescence. However, the underlying mechanisms that drive the emergence and fine-tuning of cognitive abilities during adolescence, caused by circuit wiring, are still unknown. Here, we continuously monitored prefrontal activity throughout the postnatal development of mice and showed that an initial activity increase was interrupted by an extensive microglia-mediated breakdown of activity, followed by the rewiring of circuit elements to achieve adult-like patterns and synchrony. Interfering with these processes during adolescence, but not adulthood, led to a long-lasting microglia-induced disruption of prefrontal activity and neuronal morphology and decreased cognitive abilities. These results identified a nonlinear reorganization of prefrontal circuits during adolescence and revealed its importance for adult network function and cognitive processing.

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