@article{118226,
  author = {Adam Brockett and Gary Kane and Patrick Monari and Brandy Briones and Pierre-Antoine Vigneron and Gabriela Barber and Andres Bermudez and Uma Dieffenbach and Alexander Kloth and Timothy Buschman and Elizabeth Gould},
  title = {Evidence supporting a role for astrocytes in the regulation of cognitive flexibility and neuronal oscillations through the Ca2+ binding protein S100β},
  abstract = { <p style="text-align:justify">
	<span style={\textquoteright}SansProLight",sans-serif{\textquoteright}><span style="color:$\#$3b3838">The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is important for cognitive flexibility, the ability to switch between two task-relevant dimensions. Changes in neuronal oscillations and alterations in the coupling across frequency ranges have been correlated with attention and cognitive flexibility. Here we show that astrocytes in the mPFC of adult male Sprague Dawley rats, participate in cognitive flexibility through the astrocyte-specific Ca<sup>2+</sup> binding protein S100</span></span><span><span style="color:$\#$3b3838">β</span></span><span style={\textquoteright}SansProLight",sans-serif{\textquoteright}><span style="color:$\#$3b3838">, which improves cognitive flexibility and increases phase amplitude coupling between theta and gamma oscillations. We further show that reduction of astrocyte number in the mPFC impairs cognitive flexibility and diminishes delta, alpha and gamma power. Conversely, chemogenetic activation of astrocytic intracellular Ca<sup>2+</sup> signaling in the mPFC enhances cognitive flexibility, while inactivation of endogenous S100</span></span><span><span style="color:$\#$3b3838">β</span></span><span style={\textquoteright}SansProLight",sans-serif{\textquoteright}><span style="color:$\#$3b3838"> among chemogenetically activated astrocytes in the mPFC prevents this improvement. Collectively, our work suggests that astrocytes make important contributions to cognitive flexibility and that they do so by releasing a Ca<sup>2+</sup> binding protein which in turn enhances coordinated neuronal oscillations.</span></span>
</p>
 },
  year = {2018},
  journal = {PLOS ONE},
  volume = {13},
  pages = {e0195726},
  language = {eng},
}