瑞典卡罗林斯卡学院Marie Carlén团队取得一项新突破。他们研制了基于单神经元活动的前额叶皮层图谱。相关论文于2026年1月20日发表于国际顶尖学术期刊《自然—神经科学》杂志上。

该研究团队通过分析在清醒小鼠中记录的24000个神经元的活动和空间位置来接近组织。PFC的高分辨率活动图与细胞结构定义的亚区不一致。相反，在行为任务中自发的活动和对选择的调整都与PFC内部的层次结构有关，这表明是连通性而不是细胞结构塑造了PFC的活动格局。低速率、有规律的自发放电是PFC和高层的标志。令人惊讶的是，选择调谐在显示高自发放电率的单元中被过度代表，将基于连接的层次结构与不同神经元群体的不同功能特性联系起来。他们的数据驱动方法为探索不同大脑区域和物种的功能组织提供了可扩展的路线图，为获得大脑活动、结构和功能的综合视图开辟了途径。

据了解，前额叶皮层（PFC）核心认知作用的内在组织尚不清楚。

附：英文原文

Title: A prefrontal cortex map based on single-neuron activity

Author: Le Merre, Pierre, Heining, Katharina, Slashcheva, Marina, Jung, Felix, Moysiadou, Eleni, Guyon, Nicolas, Yahya, Ram, Park, Hyunsoo, Wernstal, Fredrik, Carln, Marie

Issue&Volume: 2026-01-20

Abstract: The intrinsic organization underlying the central cognitive role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is poorly understood. We approached organization by profiling the activity and spatial location of >24,000 neurons recorded in awake mice. High-resolution activity maps of the PFC did not align with cytoarchitecturally defined subregions. Instead, spontaneous activity and tuning to choice during a behavioral task were both related to intra-PFC hierarchy, suggesting that connectivity, rather than cytoarchitecture, shapes the PFC’s activity landscape. Low-rate, regular spontaneous firing was a hallmark of both the PFC and high hierarchy. Surprisingly, choice tuning was overrepresented in units displaying high spontaneous firing rates, linking connectivity-based hierarchy to distinct functional properties in separate neuronal populations. Our data-driven approach provides a scalable roadmap to explore functional organizations in diverse brain regions and species, opening avenues to obtain an integrated view of activity, structure and function in the brain.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-025-02190-z

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02190-z