Presynaptic dysregulation of the paraventricular thalamic nucleus causes depression-like behavior

The paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVT) is a part of epithalamus and sends outputs to emotion-related brain areas such as the medial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and amygdala. Various functional roles of the PVT in emotion-related behaviors are drawing attention. Here, we investigated the effect of manipulation of PVT neurons on the firing patterns of medial prefrontal cortical (mPFC) neurons and depression-like behavior. Extracellular single-unit recordings revealed that acute activation of PVT neurons by hM3Dq, an activation type of designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs), and administration of clozapine N-oxide (CNO) caused firing rate changes in mPFC neurons. Moreover, chronic presynaptic inhibition in PVT neurons by tetanus toxin (TeTX) increased the proportion of interneurons among firing neurons in mPFC and shortened the immobility time in the forced swimming test, whereas long-term activation of PVT neurons by hM3Dq caused recurrent hypoactivity episodes. These findings suggest that PVT neurons regulate the excitation/inhibition balance in the mPFC and mood stability.