Timing-dependent limbic-motor synaptic integration in the nucleus accumbens.

Abstract

The nucleus accumbens is a brain region in which limbic and motor inputs converge. How these information modalities shape accumbens output is not clearly understood. Here, we report that synaptic inputs from the prefrontal cortex and limbic structures interact differently depending on their timing. Coincident inputs may result in enhancing information flow through the nucleus accumbens. Responses to asynchronous inputs are affected by their relative order of arrival, with limbic inputs allowing subsequent prefrontal responses, and prefrontal inputs dampening limbic responses. These mechanisms allow for both coincidence detection and input selection in this integrative brain region.