1
|
Medina J, De Guzman RM, Workman JL. Prolactin mitigates chronic stress-induced maladaptive behaviors and physiology in ovariectomized female rats. Neuropharmacology 2024; 258:110095. [PMID: 39084597 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2024.110095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2024] [Revised: 06/05/2024] [Accepted: 07/27/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024]
Abstract
Stress is a major risk factor for several neuropsychiatric disorders in women, including postpartum depression. During the postpartum period, diminished ovarian hormone secretion increases susceptibility to developing depressive symptoms. Pleiotropic peptide hormones, like prolactin, are markedly released during lactation and suppress hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responses in women and acute stress-induced behavioral responses in female rodents. However, the effects of prolactin on chronic stress-induced maladaptive behaviors remain unclear. Here, we used chronic variable stress to induce maladaptive physiology in ovariectomized female rats and concurrently administered prolactin to assess its effects on several depression-relevant behavioral, endocrine, and neural characteristics. We found that chronic stress increased sucrose anhedonia and passive coping in saline-treated, but not prolactin-treated rats. Prolactin treatment did not alter stress-induced thigmotaxis, corticosterone (CORT) concentrations, hippocampal cell activation or survival. However, prolactin treatment reduced basal CORT concentrations and increased dopaminergic cells in the ventral tegmental area. Further, prolactin-treated rats had reduced microglial activation in the ventral hippocampus following chronic stress exposure. Together, these data suggest prolactin mitigates chronic stress-induced maladaptive behaviors and physiology in hypogonadal females. Moreover, these findings imply neuroendocrine-immune mechanisms by which peptide hormones confer stress resilience during periods of low ovarian hormone secretion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Medina
- Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY, 12222, USA.
| | - Rose M De Guzman
- Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY, 12222, USA
| | - Joanna L Workman
- Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY, 12222, USA; Center for Neuroscience Research, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY, 12222, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Brudzynski SM, Burgdorf JS, Moskal JR. From emotional arousal to executive action. Role of the prefrontal cortex. Brain Struct Funct 2024:10.1007/s00429-024-02837-w. [PMID: 39096390 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-024-02837-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2024] [Indexed: 08/05/2024]
Abstract
Emotional arousal is caused by the activity of two parallel ascending systems targeting mostly the subcortical limbic regions and the prefrontal cortex. The aversive, negative arousal system is initiated by the activity of the mesolimbic cholinergic system and the hedonic, appetitive, arousal is initiated by the activity of the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. Both ascending projections have a diffused nature and arise from the rostral, tegmental part of the brain reticular activating system. The mesolimbic cholinergic system originates in the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus and the mesolimbic dopaminergic system in the ventral tegmental area. Cholinergic and dopaminergic arousal systems have converging input to the medial prefrontal cortex. The arousal system can modulate cortical EEG with alpha rhythms, which enhance synaptic strength as shown by an increase in long-term potentiation (LTP), whereas delta frequencies are associated with decreased arousal and a decrease in synaptic strength as shown by an increase in long-term depotentiation (LTD). It is postulated that the medial prefrontal cortex is an adaptable node with decision making capability and may control the switch between positive and negative affect and is responsible for modifying or changing emotional state and its expression.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jeffrey S Burgdorf
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Joseph R Moskal
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Fraser KM, Pribut HJ, Janak PH, Keiflin R. From Prediction to Action: Dissociable Roles of Ventral Tegmental Area and Substantia Nigra Dopamine Neurons in Instrumental Reinforcement. J Neurosci 2023; 43:3895-3908. [PMID: 37185097 PMCID: PMC10217998 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0028-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2023] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Reward seeking requires the coordination of motor programs to achieve goals. Midbrain dopamine neurons are critical for reinforcement, and their activation is sufficient for learning about cues, actions, and outcomes. Here we examine in detail the mechanisms underlying the ability of ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra (SNc) dopamine neurons to support instrumental learning. By exploiting numerous behavioral tasks in combination with time-limited optogenetic manipulations in male and female rats, we reveal that VTA and SNc dopamine neurons generate reinforcement through separable psychological processes. VTA dopamine neurons imbue actions and their associated cues with motivational value that allows flexible and persistent pursuit, whereas SNc dopamine neurons support time-limited, precise, action-specific learning that is nonscalable and inflexible. This architecture is reminiscent of actor-critic reinforcement learning models with VTA and SNc instructing the critic and actor, respectively. Our findings indicate that heterogeneous dopamine systems support unique forms of instrumental learning that ultimately result in disparate reward-seeking strategies.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Dopamine neurons in the midbrain are essential for learning, motivation, and movement. Here we describe in detail the ability of VTA and SNc dopamine neurons to generate instrumental reinforcement, a process where an agent learns about actions they can emit to earn reward. While rats will avidly work and learn to respond for activation of VTA and SNc dopamine neurons, we find that only VTA dopamine neurons imbue actions and their associated cues with motivational value that spur continued pursuit of reward. Our data support a hypothesis that VTA and SNc dopamine neurons engage distinct psychological processes that have consequences for our understanding of these neurons in health and disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kurt M Fraser
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
| | - Heather J Pribut
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
| | - Patricia H Janak
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
- Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
| | - Ronald Keiflin
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, 93106
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Wouterlood FG. Techniques to Render Dendritic Spines Visible in the Microscope. ADVANCES IN NEUROBIOLOGY 2023; 34:69-102. [PMID: 37962794 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-36159-3_2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
A tiny detail visible on certain neurons at the limit of resolution in light microscopy went in 130 years of neuroscience research through a dazzling career from suspicious staining artifact to what we recognize today as a complex postsynaptic molecular machine: the dendritic spine.This chapter deals with techniques to make spines visible. The original technique, Golgi silver staining, is still being used today. Electron microscopy and automated field ion beam scanning electron microscopy are ultrahigh resolution techniques, albeit specialized. Other methods are intracellular injection, uptake of dyes, and recently the exploitation of genetically modified animals in which certain neurons express fluorescent protein in all their processes, including the nooks and crannies of their dendritic spines.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Floris G Wouterlood
- Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Retrograde Labeling of Different Distribution Features of DRG P2X2 and P2X3 Receptors in a Neuropathic Pain Rat Model. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2020; 2020:9861459. [PMID: 32775458 PMCID: PMC7396081 DOI: 10.1155/2020/9861459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Revised: 07/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The distributions of P2X subtypes during peripheral neuropathic pain conditions and their differential roles are not fully understood. To explore these characteristics, the lumbosacral dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in the chronic constriction injury (CCI) sciatic nerve rat model was studied. Retrograde trace labeling combined with immunofluorescence technology was applied to analyze the distribution of neuropathic nociceptive P2X1-6 receptors. Our results suggest that Fluoro-Gold (FG) retrograde trace labeling is an efficient method for studying lumbosacral DRG neurons in the CCI rat model, especially when the DRG neurons are divided into small, medium, and large subgroups. We found that neuropathic nociceptive lumbosacral DRG neurons (i.e., FG-positive cells) were significantly increased in medium DRG neurons, while they declined in the large DRG neurons in the CCI group. P2X3 receptors were markedly upregulated in medium while P2X2 receptors were significantly decreased in small FG-positive DRG neurons. There were no significant changes in other P2X receptors (including P2X1, P2X4, P2X5, and P2X6). We anticipate that P2X receptors modulate nociceptive sensitivity primarily through P2X3 subtypes that are upregulated in medium neuropathic nociceptive DRG neurons and/or via the downregulation of P2X2 cells in neuropathic nociceptive small DRG neurons.
Collapse
|
6
|
Lüscher C, Robbins TW, Everitt BJ. The transition to compulsion in addiction. Nat Rev Neurosci 2020; 21:247-263. [PMID: 32231315 PMCID: PMC7610550 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-020-0289-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 217] [Impact Index Per Article: 54.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Compulsion is a cardinal symptom of drug addiction (severe substance use disorder). However, compulsion is observed in only a small proportion of individuals who repeatedly seek and use addictive substances. Here, we integrate accounts of the neuropharmacological mechanisms that underlie the transition to compulsion with overarching learning theories, to outline how compulsion develops in addiction. Importantly, we emphasize the conceptual distinctions between compulsive drug-seeking behaviour and compulsive drug-taking behaviour (that is, use). In the latter, an individual cannot stop using a drug despite major negative consequences, possibly reflecting an imbalance in frontostriatal circuits that encode reward and aversion. By contrast, an individual may compulsively seek drugs (that is, persist in seeking drugs despite the negative consequences of doing so) when the neural systems that underlie habitual behaviour dominate goal-directed behavioural systems, and when executive control over this maladaptive behaviour is diminished. This distinction between different aspects of addiction may help to identify its neural substrates and new treatment strategies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christian Lüscher
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Division of Neurology, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Trevor W Robbins
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Barry J Everitt
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Lanciego JL, Wouterlood FG. Neuroanatomical tract-tracing techniques that did go viral. Brain Struct Funct 2020; 225:1193-1224. [PMID: 32062721 PMCID: PMC7271020 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-020-02041-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2019] [Accepted: 01/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Neuroanatomical tracing methods remain fundamental for elucidating the complexity of brain circuits. During the past decades, the technical arsenal at our disposal has been greatly enriched, with a steady supply of fresh arrivals. This paper provides a landscape view of classical and modern tools for tract-tracing purposes. Focus is placed on methods that have gone viral, i.e., became most widespread used and fully reliable. To keep an historical perspective, we start by reviewing one-dimensional, standalone transport-tracing tools; these including today's two most favorite anterograde neuroanatomical tracers such as Phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin and biotinylated dextran amine. Next, emphasis is placed on several classical tools widely used for retrograde neuroanatomical tracing purposes, where Fluoro-Gold in our opinion represents the best example. Furthermore, it is worth noting that multi-dimensional paradigms can be designed by combining different tracers or by applying a given tracer together with detecting one or more neurochemical substances, as illustrated here with several examples. Finally, it is without any doubt that we are currently witnessing the unstoppable and spectacular rise of modern molecular-genetic techniques based on the use of modified viruses as delivery vehicles for genetic material, therefore, pushing the tract-tracing field forward into a new era. In summary, here, we aim to provide neuroscientists with the advice and background required when facing a choice on which neuroanatomical tracer-or combination thereof-might be best suited for addressing a given experimental design.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jose L Lanciego
- Neurosciences Department, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), University of Navarra, Pio XII Avenue 55, 31008, Pamplona, Spain.
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CiberNed), Pamplona, Spain.
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain.
| | - Floris G Wouterlood
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Location VUmc, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, P.O. Box 7057, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Wouterlood FG, Engel A, Daal M, Houwen G, Meinderts A, Jordà Siquier T, Beliën JAM, van Dongen YC, Scheel-Krüger J, Thierry AM, Groenewegen HJ, Deniau JM. Mesencephalic dopamine neurons interfacing the shell of nucleus accumbens and the dorsolateral striatum in the rat. J Neurosci Res 2018; 96:1518-1542. [PMID: 29696690 PMCID: PMC6099426 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2018] [Revised: 02/26/2018] [Accepted: 03/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Parallel corticostriatonigral circuits have been proposed that separately process motor, cognitive, and emotional‐motivational information. Functional integration requires that interactions exist between neurons participating in these circuits. This makes it imperative to study the complex anatomical substrate underlying corticostriatonigral circuits. It has previously been proposed that dopaminergic neurons in the ventral mesencephalon may play a role in this circuit interaction. Therefore, we studied in rats convergence of basal ganglia circuits by depositing an anterograde neuroanatomical tracer into the ventral striatum together with a retrograde fluorescent tracer ipsilaterally in the dorsolateral striatum. In the mesencephalon, using confocal microscopy, we looked for possible appositions of anterogradely labeled fibers and retrogradely labeled neurons, “enhancing” the latter via intracellular injection of Lucifer Yellow. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunofluorescence served to identify dopaminergic neurons. In neurophysiological experiments, we combined orthodromic stimulation in the medial ventral striatum with recording from ventral mesencephalic neurons characterized by antidromic stimulation from the dorsal striatum. We observed terminal fields of anterogradely labeled fibers that overlap populations of retrogradely labeled nigrostriatal cell bodies in the substantia nigra pars compacta and lateral ventral tegmental area (VTA), with numerous close appositions between boutons of anterogradely labeled fibers and nigrostriatal, TH‐immunopositive neurons. Neurophysiological stimulation in the medial ventral striatum caused inhibition of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons projecting to the ventrolateral striatal territory. Responding nigrostriatal neurons were located in the medial substantia nigra and adjacent VTA. Our results strongly suggest a functional link between ventromedial, emotional‐motivational striatum, and the sensorimotor dorsal striatum via dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Floris G Wouterlood
- Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Angela Engel
- Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Mariah Daal
- Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Gertjan Houwen
- Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Aileen Meinderts
- Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tomàs Jordà Siquier
- Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jeroen A M Beliën
- Department of Pathology, VU University Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Yvette C van Dongen
- Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U114, Chaire de Neuropharmacologie, Collège de France, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Jørgen Scheel-Krüger
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Nørrebrogade 44, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Anne-Marie Thierry
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U114, Chaire de Neuropharmacologie, Collège de France, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Henk J Groenewegen
- Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jean-Michel Deniau
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U114, Chaire de Neuropharmacologie, Collège de France, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
| |
Collapse
|