Sristi Raj Rai, Amity University Kolkata
Throughout the evolution of the primate’s brain from the rear end to the foremost part – the prefrontal cortex (PFC) makes Homo sapiens the most intelligent species known on this planet. PFC, the rational part of the brain has evolutionarily specialized cognitive abilities such as complex decision making. Due to the higher relative volume of cortex and neuron packing densities, primates have relatively higher processing capacities. Making of flawless life choices counts upon the instant memory stored by PFC under stable emotional expression. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is in charge of complex cognition and ventromedial subgenual cingulate area 25 (A25) is identified by emotional behaviour. These two functionally disparate areas can be finely tuned by pregenual anterior cingulate area 32 (A32) of the anterior cingulated cortex (ACC).
The investigation by Joyce et al. pinpointed the relay pathway using bidirectional neuron tracers in rhesus monkeys of both sexes; revealed A32 is the mediator and has its roots in the deepest layers of DLPFC and almost all over A25. When DLPFC is actively functioning, A32 can send signals to the inhibitory neurons of A25, as it houses 20% of A32 terminations ending both in deep (inhibitory parvalbumin neurons) and superficial layers (disinhibitory calretinin neurons). Thus, area 32 can conveniently recruit/dismiss the operations of A25, thereby maintaining emotional equilibrium in a healthy brain. Disturbances in the communicative circuit without any dampening effect on A23 outcome will have repercussions on the ability to modulate cognitive and affective processes based on context. Depression is a result of super active A25 when DLPFC goes silent. Therefore, have to be controlled externally by rapid-acting anti-depressants which reduces excitability by binding to NMDA receptors present in high density in A25 this reconfirms the existence of the neurotypical serial pathway.
SOURCE – “Serial Prefrontal Pathways Are Positioned To Balance Cognition and Emotion in Primates” by Mary Kate P. Joyce, Miguel Ángel García-Cabezas, Yohan J. John and Helen Barbas, 28 September 2020, Journal of Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0860-20.2020
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