BAC-Cre driver lines with expression in cerebral cortical and basal ganglia circuits are described
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Cortical Cre lines include those selective for PT and IT corticostriatal subtypes
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Striatal Cre lines include direct/indirect pathway and patch/matrix compartments
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These Cre lines provide a resource for optogenetic studies of circuit function
Summary
Recent development of molecular genetic techniques are rapidly advancing understanding of the functional role of brain circuits in behavior. Critical to this approach is the ability to target specific neuron populations and circuits. The collection of over 250 BAC Cre-recombinase driver lines produced by the GENSAT project provides a resource for such studies. Here we provide characterization of GENSAT BAC-Cre driver lines with expression in specific neuroanatomical pathways within the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia.