The Enhancement of P300 Amplitude and Event-Related Gaba Release by Decision-Making in the Mpfc of Mice

Abstract

Although P300 (P3) is widely accepted as a useful tool in both medical and engineering fields, the mechanism it generates from cognition, and its neurochemical substrates, remain largely unknown. In the present study, the influence of exogenous stimuli and endogenous decision-making processes on P3 was obtained. According to the event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of trained awake mice in the oddball paradigm, a significantly larger P3 fluctuation was observed in trials in which a low-probability target stimulus was presented or with the lick of mice. This result suggested that the presentation of stimuli and the decisions of mice may be able to influence P3 generation. The other purpose of this study is to explore the role of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the formation of P3 components during the ERP process. Enhanced P3 amplitude was detected along with stronger event-related GABA release (ERGR) after mice were stimulated by target tones or made the response decision. The results in this study indicated that P3 was influenced by the decision-making process and that GABA engaged directly with an earlier time in the P3 process.

Note:
Funding declaration: This work was supported by the STI 2030-Major Projects (#2022ZD0208500), the Key R&D projects of Science & Technology Department of Sichuan Province (#2023YFS0324), and Sichuan Science and Technology Program (Grant No. 2022NSFSC1481)

Conflict of Interests: No

Ethical Approval: All experimental procedures were in accordance with SfN’s Policies on the Use of Animals and Humans in Neuroscience Research, and experimental protocols were approved by the Ethical Committee on Animal Experimentation of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC).

Keywords: Event-related potential, GABA, odd-ball paradigm, decision-making