The mPFC-reuniens-hippocampus pathway links brain circuitry and neural plasticity in antidepressant response

Abstract

The pathophysiology of depression involves multiple biological processes, including circuit dysfunction and impaired neuroplasticity, yet an integrative view linking these processes remains elusive. Here, we identify a convergent circuit for antidepressant response and plasticity modulation. We demonstrate that chemogenetic activation of the infralimbic cortex (IL) exerts rapid antidepressant-like effects across multiple behavioral domains in a mouse model of stress-induced depression. IL stimulation exerts top-down control over the hippocampus, enhancing structural plasticity, restoring long-term potentiation deficits and improving state-dependent network dynamics in the ventral hippocampus (vHIPP). We identify the thalamic nucleus reuniens (RE) as a necessary mediator of these effects. Notably, direct inhibition of RE, its inputs from IL or projections to vHIPP, blocks both IL stimulation-induced antidepressant response and the therapeutic and neuroplastic effects of ketamine. Our findings demonstrate that the functional IL → RE→vHIPP circuit plays a central role in the antidepressant response, linking circuit activity, hippocampal plasticity, and depressive-like behaviors. Neural mechanisms underlying depression are not fully understood. This study identifies a prefrontal–thalamic–hippocampal circuit that links antidepressant-like behavior with restored neural plasticity and is required for ketamine’s behavioral and neuroplastic effects in mice.