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Hoffman LJ, Foley JM, Leong JK, Sullivan-Toole H, Elliott BL, Olson IR. An in vivo Dissection, and Analysis of Socio-Affective Symptoms related to Cerebellum-Midbrain Reward Circuitry in Humans. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.09.29.560239. [PMID: 38798382 PMCID: PMC11118266 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.29.560239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Emerging research in non-human animals implicates cerebellar projections to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in appetitive behaviors, but these circuits have not been characterized in humans. Here, we mapped cerebello-VTA white-matter connectivity in humans using probabilistic tractography on diffusion imaging data from the Human Connectome Project. We uncovered the topographical organization of these connections by separately tracking from parcels of cerebellar lobule VI, crus I/II, vermis, paravermis, and cerebrocerebellum. Results revealed that connections from the cerebellum to the VTA predominantly originate in the right hemisphere, interposed nucleus, and paravermal cortex, and terminate mostly ipsilaterally. Paravermal crus I sends the most connections to the VTA compared to other lobules. We discovered a medial-to-lateral gradient of connectivity, such that the medial cerebellum has the highest connectivity with the VTA. Individual differences in microstructure were associated with measures of negative affect and social functioning. By splitting the tracts into quarters, we found that the socio-affective effects were driven by the third quarter of the tract, corresponding to the point at which the fibers leave the deep nuclei. Taken together, we produced detailed maps of cerebello-VTA structural connectivity for the first time in humans and established their relevance for trait differences in socio-affective regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda J. Hoffman
- Temple University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Julia M. Foley
- Temple University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Josiah K. Leong
- University of Arkansas, Department of Psychological Science, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | - Holly Sullivan-Toole
- Temple University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Blake L. Elliott
- Temple University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Ingrid R. Olson
- Temple University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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2
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Terburg D, van Honk J, Schutter DJLG. Doubling down on dual systems: A cerebellum-amygdala route towards action- and outcome-based social and affective behavior. Cortex 2024; 173:175-186. [PMID: 38417390 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.02.002] [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: 06/22/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/01/2024]
Abstract
The amygdala and cerebellum are both evolutionary preserved brain structures containing cortical as well as subcortical properties. For decades, the amygdala has been considered the fear-center of the brain, but recent advances have shown that the amygdala acts as a critical hub between cortical and subcortical systems and shapes social and affective behaviors beyond fear. Likewise, the cerebellum is a dedicated control unit that fine-tunes motor behavior to fit contextual requirements. There is however increasing evidence that the cerebellum strongly influences subcortical as well as cortical processes beyond the motor domain. These insights broadened the view on the cerebellum's functions to also include social and affective behavior. Here we explore how the amygdala and cerebellum might interact in shaping social and affective behaviors based on their roles in threat reactivity and reinforcement learning. A novel mechanistic neural framework of cerebellum-amygdala interactions will be presented which provides testable hypotheses for future social and affective neuroscientific research in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Terburg
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, the Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
| | - Jack van Honk
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, the Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), University of Cape Town, South Africa
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3
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Batsikadze G, Pakusch J, Klein M, Ernst TM, Thieme A, Nicksirat SA, Steiner KM, Nio E, Genc E, Maderwald S, Deuschl C, Merz CJ, Quick HH, Mark MD, Timmann D. Mild Deficits in Fear Learning: Evidence from Humans and Mice with Cerebellar Cortical Degeneration. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0365-23.2023. [PMID: 38176906 PMCID: PMC10897646 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0365-23.2023] [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: 09/13/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Functional brain imaging studies in humans suggest involvement of the cerebellum in fear conditioning but do not allow conclusions about the functional significance. The main aim of the present study was to examine whether patients with cerebellar degeneration show impaired fear conditioning and whether this is accompanied by alterations in cerebellar cortical activations. To this end, a 2 d differential fear conditioning study was conducted in 20 cerebellar patients and 21 control subjects using a 7 tesla (7 T) MRI system. Fear acquisition and extinction training were performed on day 1, followed by recall on day 2. Cerebellar patients learned to differentiate between the CS+ and CS-. Acquisition and consolidation of learned fear, however, was slowed. Additionally, extinction learning appeared to be delayed. The fMRI signal was reduced in relation to the prediction of the aversive stimulus and altered in relation to its unexpected omission. Similarly, mice with cerebellar cortical degeneration (spinocerebellar ataxia type 6, SCA6) were able to learn the fear association, but retrieval of fear memory was reduced. In sum, cerebellar cortical degeneration led to mild abnormalities in the acquisition of learned fear responses in both humans and mice, particularly manifesting postacquisition training. Future research is warranted to investigate the basis of altered fMRI signals related to fear learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgi Batsikadze
- Department of Neurology and Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
- Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany
| | - Johanna Pakusch
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany
| | - Michael Klein
- Department of Neurology and Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
| | - Thomas Michael Ernst
- Department of Neurology and Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
- Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany
| | - Andreas Thieme
- Department of Neurology and Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
| | - Seyed Ali Nicksirat
- Department of Neurology and Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
| | - Katharina Marie Steiner
- Department of Neurology and Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
- LVR-Hospital Essen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
| | - Enzo Nio
- Department of Neurology and Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
- Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany
| | - Erhan Genc
- Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Technical University of Dortmund (IfADo), 44139 Dortmund, Germany
| | - Stefan Maderwald
- Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany
| | - Cornelius Deuschl
- Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology and C-TNBS, Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
| | - Christian Josef Merz
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany
| | - Harald H Quick
- Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany
- High-Field and Hybrid MR Imaging, Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
| | - Melanie D Mark
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany
| | - Dagmar Timmann
- Department of Neurology and Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
- Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany
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4
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Healey K, Waters RC, Knight SG, Wandling GM, Hall NI, Jones BN, Shobande MJ, Melton JG, Pandey SC, Scott Swartzwelder H, Maldonado-Devincci AM. Adolescent intermittent ethanol exposure alters adult exploratory and affective behaviors, and cerebellar Grin2b expression in C57BL/6J mice. Drug Alcohol Depend 2023; 253:111026. [PMID: 38006668 PMCID: PMC10990063 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.111026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 09/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/27/2023]
Abstract
Binge drinking is one of the most common patterns (more than 90%) of alcohol consumption by young people. During adolescence, the brain undergoes maturational changes that influence behavioral control and affective behaviors, such as cerebellar brain volume and function in adulthood. We investigated long-term impacts of adolescent binge ethanol exposure on affective and exploratory behaviors and cerebellar gene expression in adult male and female mice. Further, the cerebellum is increasingly recognized as a brain region integrating a multitude of behaviors that span from the traditional primary sensory-motor to affective functions, such as anxiety and stress reactivity. Therefore, we investigated the persistent effects of adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) on exploratory and affective behaviors and began to elucidate the role of the cerebellum in these behaviors through excitatory signaling gene expression. We exposed C57BL/6J mice to AIE or air (control) vapor inhalation from postnatal day 28-42. After prolonged abstinence (>34 days), in young adulthood (PND 77+) we assessed behavior in the open field, light/dark, tail suspension, and forced swim stress tests to determine changes in affective behaviors including anxiety-like, depressive-like, and stress reactivity behavior. Excitatory signaling gene mRNA levels of fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein (FMR1), glutamate receptors (Grin2a, Grin2b and Grm5) and excitatory synaptic markers (PSD-95 and Eaat1) were measured in the cerebellum of adult control and AIE-exposed mice. AIE-exposed mice showed decreased exploratory behaviors in the open field test (OFT) where both sexes show reduced ambulation, however only females exhibited a reduction in rearing. Additionally, in the OFT, AIE-exposed females also exhibited increased anxiety-like behavior (entries to center zone). In the forced swim stress test, AIE-exposed male mice, but not females, spent less time immobile compared to their same-sex controls, indicative of sex-specific changes in stress reactivity. Male and female AIE-exposed mice showed increased Grin2b (Glutamate Ionotropic Receptor NMDA Type Subunit 2B) mRNA levels in the cerebellum compared to their same-sex controls. Together, these data show that adolescent binge-like ethanol exposure altered both exploratory and affective behaviors in a sex-specific manner and modified cerebellar Grin2b expression in adult mice. This indicates the cerebellum may serve as an important brain region that is susceptible to long-term molecular changes after AIE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kati Healey
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, 323 Foster St., Durham, NC 27701, United States
| | - Renee C Waters
- Department of Psychology, Hairston College of Health and Human Sciences, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, United States; Department of Psychology, Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, United States
| | - Sherilynn G Knight
- Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, United States
| | - Gabriela M Wandling
- Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Nzia I Hall
- Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, United States; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, NC 27516, United States
| | - Brooke N Jones
- Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, United States
| | - Mariah J Shobande
- Department of Chemical, Biological and Bioengineering, College of Engineering, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, United States
| | - Jaela G Melton
- Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, United States
| | - Subhash C Pandey
- Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, United States; Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - H Scott Swartzwelder
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, 323 Foster St., Durham, NC 27701, United States
| | - Antoniette M Maldonado-Devincci
- Department of Psychology, Hairston College of Health and Human Sciences, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, United States.
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5
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Rudolph S, Badura A, Lutzu S, Pathak SS, Thieme A, Verpeut JL, Wagner MJ, Yang YM, Fioravante D. Cognitive-Affective Functions of the Cerebellum. J Neurosci 2023; 43:7554-7564. [PMID: 37940582 PMCID: PMC10634583 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1451-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The cerebellum, traditionally associated with motor coordination and balance, also plays a crucial role in various aspects of higher-order function and dysfunction. Emerging research has shed light on the cerebellum's broader contributions to cognitive, emotional, and reward processes. The cerebellum's influence on autonomic function further highlights its significance in regulating motivational and emotional states. Perturbations in cerebellar development and function have been implicated in various neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. An increasing appreciation for neuropsychiatric symptoms that arise from cerebellar dysfunction underscores the importance of elucidating the circuit mechanisms that underlie complex interactions between the cerebellum and other brain regions for a comprehensive understanding of complex behavior. By briefly discussing new advances in mapping cerebellar function in affective, cognitive, autonomic, and social processing and reviewing the role of the cerebellum in neuropathology beyond the motor domain, this Mini-Symposium review aims to provide a broad perspective of cerebellar intersections with the limbic brain in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Rudolph
- Department of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York 10461
| | - Aleksandra Badura
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, 3015 GD, The Netherlands
| | - Stefano Lutzu
- Department of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York 10461
| | - Salil Saurav Pathak
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, Minnesota 55812
| | - Andreas Thieme
- Department of Neurology and Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences, University Hospital Essen, Essen, D-45147, Germany
| | - Jessica L Verpeut
- Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287
| | - Mark J Wagner
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20814
| | - Yi-Mei Yang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, Minnesota 55812
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
| | - Diasynou Fioravante
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California-Davis, Davis, California 95618
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California-Davis, Davis, California 95618
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6
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Paci E, Lumb BM, Apps R, Lawrenson CL, Moran RJ. Dynamic causal modeling reveals increased cerebellar- periaqueductal gray communication during fear extinction. Front Syst Neurosci 2023; 17:1148604. [PMID: 37266394 PMCID: PMC10229824 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2023.1148604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction The extinction of fear memories is an important component in regulating defensive behaviors, contributing toward adaptive processes essential for survival. The cerebellar medial nucleus (MCN) has bidirectional connections with the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) and is implicated in the regulation of multiple aspects of fear, such as conditioned fear learning and the expression of defensive motor outputs. However, it is unclear how communication between the MCN and vlPAG changes during conditioned fear extinction. Methods We use dynamic causal models (DCMs) to infer effective connectivity between the MCN and vlPAG during auditory cue-conditioned fear retrieval and extinction in the rat. DCMs determine causal relationships between neuronal sources by using neurobiologically motivated models to reproduce the dynamics of post-synaptic potentials generated by synaptic connections within and between brain regions. Auditory event related potentials (ERPs) during the conditioned tone offset were recorded simultaneously from MCN and vlPAG and then modeled to identify changes in the strength of the synaptic inputs between these brain areas and the relationship to freezing behavior across extinction trials. The DCMs were structured to model evoked responses to best represent conditioned tone offset ERPs and were adapted to represent PAG and cerebellar circuitry. Results With the use of Parametric Empirical Bayesian (PEB) analysis we found that the strength of the information flow, mediated through enhanced synaptic efficacy from MCN to vlPAG was inversely related to freezing during extinction, i.e., communication from MCN to vlPAG increased with extinction. Discussion The results are consistent with the cerebellum contributing to predictive processes that underpin fear extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Paci
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Bridget M. Lumb
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Richard Apps
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Charlotte L. Lawrenson
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Rosalyn J. Moran
- Department of Neuroimaging, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
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7
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Ciapponi C, Li Y, Osorio Becerra DA, Rodarie D, Casellato C, Mapelli L, D’Angelo E. Variations on the theme: focus on cerebellum and emotional processing. Front Syst Neurosci 2023; 17:1185752. [PMID: 37234065 PMCID: PMC10206087 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2023.1185752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The cerebellum operates exploiting a complex modular organization and a unified computational algorithm adapted to different behavioral contexts. Recent observations suggest that the cerebellum is involved not just in motor but also in emotional and cognitive processing. It is therefore critical to identify the specific regional connectivity and microcircuit properties of the emotional cerebellum. Recent studies are highlighting the differential regional localization of genes, molecules, and synaptic mechanisms and microcircuit wiring. However, the impact of these regional differences is not fully understood and will require experimental investigation and computational modeling. This review focuses on the cellular and circuit underpinnings of the cerebellar role in emotion. And since emotion involves an integration of cognitive, somatomotor, and autonomic activity, we elaborate on the tradeoff between segregation and distribution of these three main functions in the cerebellum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Ciapponi
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Yuhe Li
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | | | - Dimitri Rodarie
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Centro Ricerche Enrico Fermi, Rome, Italy
| | - Claudia Casellato
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Lisa Mapelli
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Egidio D’Angelo
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Brain Connectivity Center, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
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8
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Urrutia Desmaison JD, Sala RW, Ayyaz A, Nondhalee P, Popa D, Léna C. Cerebellar control of fear learning via the cerebellar nuclei-Multiple pathways, multiple mechanisms? Front Syst Neurosci 2023; 17:1176668. [PMID: 37229350 PMCID: PMC10203220 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2023.1176668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Fear learning is mediated by a large network of brain structures and the understanding of their roles and interactions is constantly progressing. There is a multitude of anatomical and behavioral evidence on the interconnection of the cerebellar nuclei to other structures in the fear network. Regarding the cerebellar nuclei, we focus on the coupling of the cerebellar fastigial nucleus to the fear network and the relation of the cerebellar dentate nucleus to the ventral tegmental area. Many of the fear network structures that receive direct projections from the cerebellar nuclei are playing a role in fear expression or in fear learning and fear extinction learning. We propose that the cerebellum, via its projections to the limbic system, acts as a modulator of fear learning and extinction learning, using prediction-error signaling and regulation of fear related thalamo-cortical oscillations.
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9
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da Silva GN, Seiffert N, Tovote P. Cerebellar contribution to the regulation of defensive states. Front Syst Neurosci 2023; 17:1160083. [PMID: 37064160 PMCID: PMC10102664 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2023.1160083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite fine tuning voluntary movement as the most prominently studied function of the cerebellum, early human studies suggested cerebellar involvement emotion regulation. Since, the cerebellum has been associated with various mood and anxiety-related conditions. Research in animals provided evidence for cerebellar contributions to fear memory formation and extinction. Fear and anxiety can broadly be referred to as defensive states triggered by threat and characterized by multimodal adaptations such as behavioral and cardiac responses integrated into an intricately orchestrated defense reaction. This is mediated by an evolutionary conserved, highly interconnected network of defense-related structures with functional connections to the cerebellum. Projections from the deep cerebellar nucleus interpositus to the central amygdala interfere with retention of fear memory. Several studies uncovered tight functional connections between cerebellar deep nuclei and pyramis and the midbrain periaqueductal grey. Specifically, the fastigial nucleus sends direct projections to the ventrolateral PAG to mediate fear-evoked innate and learned freezing behavior. The cerebellum also regulates cardiovascular responses such as blood pressure and heart rate-effects dependent on connections with medullary cardiac regulatory structures. Because of the integrated, multimodal nature of defensive states, their adaptive regulation has to be highly dynamic to enable responding to a moving threatening stimulus. In this, predicting threat occurrence are crucial functions of calculating adequate responses. Based on its role in prediction error generation, its connectivity to limbic regions, and previous results on a role in fear learning, this review presents the cerebellum as a regulator of integrated cardio-behavioral defensive states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Neubert da Silva
- Defense Circuits Lab, Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Nina Seiffert
- Defense Circuits Lab, Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Philip Tovote
- Defense Circuits Lab, Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- Center for Mental Health, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- *Correspondence: Philip Tovote,
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10
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Chin PW, Augustine GJ. The cerebellum and anxiety. Front Cell Neurosci 2023; 17:1130505. [PMID: 36909285 PMCID: PMC9992220 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2023.1130505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Although the cerebellum is traditionally known for its role in motor functions, recent evidence points toward the additional involvement of the cerebellum in an array of non-motor functions. One such non-motor function is anxiety behavior: a series of recent studies now implicate the cerebellum in anxiety. Here, we review evidence regarding the possible role of the cerebellum in anxiety-ranging from clinical studies to experimental manipulation of neural activity-that collectively points toward a role for the cerebellum, and possibly a specific topographical locus within the cerebellum, as one of the orchestrators of anxiety responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei Wern Chin
- Program in Neuroscience & Mental Health, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - George J Augustine
- Program in Neuroscience & Mental Health, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
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11
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Frazier MR, Hoffman LJ, Popal H, Sullivan-Toole H, Olino TM, Olson IR. A missing link in affect regulation: the cerebellum. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2022; 17:1068-1081. [PMID: 35733348 PMCID: PMC9714429 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsac042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The cerebellum is one-third the size of the cerebrum yet holds twice the number of neurons. Historically, its sole function was thought to be in the calibration of smooth movements through the creation and ongoing modification of motor programs. This traditional viewpoint has been challenged by findings showing that cerebellar damage can lead to striking changes in non-motor behavior, including emotional changes. In this manuscript, we review the literature on clinical and subclinical affective disturbances observed in individuals with lesions to the cerebellum. Disorders include pathological laughing and crying, bipolar disorder, depression and mixed mood changes. We propose a theoretical model based on cerebellar connectivity to explain how the cerebellum calibrates affect. We conclude with actionable steps for future researchers to test this model and improve upon the limitations of past literature.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Linda J Hoffman
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
| | - Haroon Popal
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
| | | | - Thomas M Olino
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
| | - Ingrid R Olson
- Correspondence should be addressed to Ingrid R. Olson, Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. E-mail:
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12
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Bohne P, Rybarski M, Mourabit DBE, Krause F, Mark MD. Cerebellar contribution to threat probability in a SCA6 mouse model. Hum Mol Genet 2022; 31:3807-3828. [PMID: 35708512 PMCID: PMC9652111 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddac135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Fear and anxiety have proven to be essential during the evolutionary process. However, the mechanisms involved in recognizing and categorizing threat probability (i.e. low to high) to elicit the appropriate defensive behavior are yet to be determined. In this study, we investigated the cerebellar contribution in evoking appropriate defensive escape behavior using a purely cerebellar, neurodegenerative mouse model for spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 which is caused by an expanded CAG repeat in exon 47 of the P/Q type calcium channel α1A subunit. These mice overexpress the carboxy terminus (CT) of the P/Q type calcium channel containing an expanded 27 CAG repeat specifically in cerebellar Purkinje cells (CT-longQ27PC). We found that our CT-longQ27PC mice exhibit anxiolytic behavior in the open field, elevated plus maze and light/dark place preference tests, which could be recovered with more threatening conditions such as brighter lighting, meowing sounds and an ultrasound repellent. Their innate fear to find safety in the Barnes maze and visual cliff tests was also diminished with subsequent trials, which could be partially recovered with an ultrasound repellent in the Barnes maze. However, under higher threat conditions such as in the light/dark place preference with ultrasound repellent and in the looming tests, CT-longQ27PC mice responded with higher defensive escape behaviors as controls. Moreover, CT-longQ27PC mice displayed increased levels of CT-labeled aggregates compared with controls. Together these data suggest that cerebellar degeneration by overexpression of CT-longQ27PC is sufficient to impair defensive escape responses in those mice.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Felix Krause
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum D-44780, Germany
| | - Melanie D Mark
- To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Behavioral Neuroscience, ND7/32, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, Bochum D-44780, Germany. Tel: +49 2343227913; Fax: +49 2343204363;
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13
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Austin R, Chander P, Zimmerman AJ, Overby M, Digilio L, Yap CC, Linsenbardt DN, Müller HK, Weick JP. Global loss of Neuron-specific gene 1 causes alterations in motor coordination, increased anxiety, and diurnal hyperactivity in male mice. GENES, BRAIN, AND BEHAVIOR 2022; 21:e12816. [PMID: 35577358 PMCID: PMC9262855 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Revised: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The Neuron-specific gene family (NSG1-3) consists of small endolysosomal proteins that are critical for trafficking multiple receptors and signaling molecules in neurons. NSG1 has been shown to play a critical role in AMPAR recycling from endosomes to plasma membrane during synaptic plasticity. However, to date nothing is known about whether NSG1 is required for normal behavior at an organismal level. Here we performed a battery of behavioral tests to determine whether loss of NSG1 would affect motor, cognitive, and/or affective behaviors, as well as circadian-related activity. Consistent with unique cerebellar expression of NSG1 among family members, we found that NSG1 was obligatory for motor coordination but not for gross motor function or learning. NSG1 knockout (KO) also altered performance across other behavioral modalities including anxiety-related and diurnal activity paradigms. Surprisingly, NSG1 KO did not cause significant impairments across all tasks within a given modality, but had specific effects within each modality. For instance, we found increases in anxiety-related behaviors in tasks with multiple stressors (e.g., elevation and exposure), but not those with a single main stressor (e.g., exposure). Interestingly, NSG1 KO animals displayed a significant increase in locomotor activity during subjective daytime, suggesting a possible impact on diurnal activity rhythms or vigilance. Surprisingly, loss of NSG1 had no effect on hippocampal-dependent learning despite previous studies showing deficits in CA1 long-term potentiation. Together, these findings do not support a role of NSG1 in hippocampal-dependent learning, but support a role in mediating proper neuronal function across amygdalar and cerebellar circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Austin
- Department of NeurosciencesUniversity of New Mexico School of MedicineAlbuquerqueNew MexicoUSA
| | - Praveen Chander
- Department of NeurosciencesUniversity of New Mexico School of MedicineAlbuquerqueNew MexicoUSA
| | - Amber J. Zimmerman
- Department of NeurosciencesUniversity of New Mexico School of MedicineAlbuquerqueNew MexicoUSA
| | - Malene Overby
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Translational Neuropsychiatry UnitAarhus UniversityAarhus CDenmark
| | - Laura Digilio
- Department of Cell BiologyUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesvilleVirginiaUSA
| | - Chan Choo Yap
- Department of Cell BiologyUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesvilleVirginiaUSA
| | - David N. Linsenbardt
- Department of NeurosciencesUniversity of New Mexico School of MedicineAlbuquerqueNew MexicoUSA
| | - Heidi Kaastrup Müller
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Translational Neuropsychiatry UnitAarhus UniversityAarhus CDenmark
| | - Jason P. Weick
- Department of NeurosciencesUniversity of New Mexico School of MedicineAlbuquerqueNew MexicoUSA
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14
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Jung SJ, Vlasov K, D’Ambra AF, Parigi A, Baya M, Frez EP, Villalobos J, Fernandez-Frentzel M, Anguiano M, Ideguchi Y, Antzoulatos EG, Fioravante D. Novel Cerebello-Amygdala Connections Provide Missing Link Between Cerebellum and Limbic System. Front Syst Neurosci 2022; 16:879634. [PMID: 35645738 PMCID: PMC9136059 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2022.879634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The cerebellum is emerging as a powerful regulator of cognitive and affective processing and memory in both humans and animals and has been implicated in affective disorders. How the cerebellum supports affective function remains poorly understood. The short-latency (just a few milliseconds) functional connections that were identified between the cerebellum and amygdala—a structure crucial for the processing of emotion and valence—more than four decades ago raise the exciting, yet untested, possibility that a cerebellum-amygdala pathway communicates information important for emotion. The major hurdle in rigorously testing this possibility is the lack of knowledge about the anatomy and functional connectivity of this pathway. Our initial anatomical tracing studies in mice excluded the existence of a direct monosynaptic connection between the cerebellum and amygdala. Using transneuronal tracing techniques, we have identified a novel disynaptic circuit between the cerebellar output nuclei and the basolateral amygdala. This circuit recruits the understudied intralaminar thalamus as a node. Using ex vivo optophysiology and super-resolution microscopy, we provide the first evidence for the functionality of the pathway, thus offering a missing mechanistic link between the cerebellum and amygdala. This discovery provides a connectivity blueprint between the cerebellum and a key structure of the limbic system. As such, it is the requisite first step toward obtaining new knowledge about cerebellar function in emotion, thus fundamentally advancing understanding of the neurobiology of emotion, which is perturbed in mental and autism spectrum disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Se Jung Jung
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Ksenia Vlasov
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Alexa F. D’Ambra
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Abhijna Parigi
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Mihir Baya
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Edbertt Paul Frez
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | | | | | - Maribel Anguiano
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Yoichiro Ideguchi
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Evan G. Antzoulatos
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Diasynou Fioravante
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- *Correspondence: Diasynou Fioravante
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15
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Hwang KD, Kim SJ, Lee YS. Cerebellar Circuits for Classical Fear Conditioning. Front Cell Neurosci 2022; 16:836948. [PMID: 35431810 PMCID: PMC9005982 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2022.836948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Accumulating evidence indicates that the cerebellum is critically involved in modulating non-motor behaviors, including cognition and emotional processing. Both imaging and lesion studies strongly suggest that the cerebellum is a component of the fear memory network. Given the well-established role of the cerebellum in adaptive prediction of movement and cognition, the cerebellum is likely to be engaged in the prediction of learned threats. The cerebellum is activated by fear learning, and fear learning induces changes at multiple synaptic sites in the cerebellum. Furthermore, recent technological advances have enabled the investigation of causal relationships between intra- and extra-cerebellar circuits and fear-related behaviors such as freezing. Here, we review the literature on the mechanisms underlying the modulation of cerebellar circuits in a mammalian brain by fear conditioning at the cellular and synaptic levels to elucidate the contributions of distinct cerebellar structures to fear learning and memory. This knowledge may facilitate a deeper understanding and development of more effective treatment strategies for fear-related affective disorders including post-traumatic stress or anxiety related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyoung-Doo Hwang
- Department of Physiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Biomedical Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Sang Jeong Kim
- Department of Physiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Biomedical Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
- Neuroscience Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
- Wide River Institute of Immunology, Seoul National University, Hongcheon, South Korea
| | - Yong-Seok Lee
- Department of Physiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Biomedical Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
- Neuroscience Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
- Wide River Institute of Immunology, Seoul National University, Hongcheon, South Korea
- *Correspondence: Yong-Seok Lee
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16
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Lawrenson C, Paci E, Pickford J, Drake RAR, Lumb BM, Apps R. Cerebellar modulation of memory encoding in the periaqueductal grey and fear behaviour. eLife 2022; 11:76278. [PMID: 35287795 PMCID: PMC8923669 DOI: 10.7554/elife.76278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The pivotal role of the periaqueductal grey (PAG) in fear learning is reinforced by the identification of neurons in male rat ventrolateral PAG (vlPAG) that encode fear memory through signalling the onset and offset of an auditory-conditioned stimulus during presentation of the unreinforced conditioned tone (CS+) during retrieval. Some units only display CS+ onset or offset responses, and the two signals differ in extinction sensitivity, suggesting that they are independent of each other. In addition, understanding cerebellar contributions to survival circuits is advanced by the discovery that (i) reversible inactivation of the medial cerebellar nucleus (MCN) during fear consolidation leads in subsequent retrieval to (a) disruption of the temporal precision of vlPAG offset, but not onset responses to CS+, and (b) an increase in duration of freezing behaviour. And (ii) chemogenetic manipulation of the MCN-vlPAG projection during fear acquisition (a) reduces the occurrence of fear-related ultrasonic vocalisations, and (b) during subsequent retrieval, slows the extinction rate of fear-related freezing. These findings show that the cerebellum is part of the survival network that regulates fear memory processes at multiple timescales and in multiple ways, raising the possibility that dysfunctional interactions in the cerebellar-survival network may underlie fear-related disorders and comorbidities. Anxiety disorders are a cluster of mental health conditions characterised by persistent and excessive amounts of fear and worry. They affect millions of people worldwide, but treatments can sometimes be ineffective and have unwanted side effects. Understanding which brain regions are involved in fear and anxiety-related behaviours, and how those areas are connected, is the first step towards designing more effective treatments. A region known as the periaqueductal grey (or PAG) sits at the centre of the brain’s fear and anxiety network, regulating pain, encoding fear memories and responding to threats and stressors. It also controls survival behaviours such as the ‘freeze’ response, when an animal is frightened. A more recent addition to the fear and anxiety network is the cerebellum, which sits at the base of the brain. Two-way connections between this region and the PAG have been well described, but how the cerebellum might influence fear and anxiety-related behaviours remains unclear. To explore this role, Lawrenson, Paci et al. investigated whether the cerebellum modulates brain activity within the PAG and if so, how this relates to fear behaviours. Rats had electrodes implanted in their brains to record the activity of nerve cells within the PAG. A common fear-conditioning task was then used to elicit ‘freeze’ responses: a sound was paired with mild foot shocks until the animals learned to fear the auditory signal. In the rats, a subset of neurons within the PAG responded to the tone, consistent with those cells encoding a fear memory. But when a drug blocked the cerebellum’s output during fear conditioning, the timing of the PAG response was less precise and the rats’ freeze response lasted longer. Lawrenson, Paci et al. concluded that the cerebellum, through its interactions with the brain’s fear and anxiety network, might be responsible for coordinating the most appropriate behavioural response to fear, and how long ‘freezing’ lasts. In summary, these findings show that the cerebellum is a part of the brain’s survival network which regulates fear-memory processes. It raises the possibility that disruption of the cerebellum might underlie anxiety and other fear-related disorders, thereby providing a new target for future therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Lawrenson
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Elena Paci
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Jasmine Pickford
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Robert A R Drake
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Bridget M Lumb
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Richard Apps
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
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17
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Cerebellum and Emotion Memory. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2022; 1378:53-73. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-99550-8_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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18
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Kang S, Jun S, Baek SJ, Park H, Yamamoto Y, Tanaka-Yamamoto K. Recent Advances in the Understanding of Specific Efferent Pathways Emerging From the Cerebellum. Front Neuroanat 2021; 15:759948. [PMID: 34975418 PMCID: PMC8716603 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2021.759948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The cerebellum has a long history in terms of research on its network structures and motor functions, yet our understanding of them has further advanced in recent years owing to technical developments, such as viral tracers, optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulation, and single cell gene expression analyses. Specifically, it is now widely accepted that the cerebellum is also involved in non-motor functions, such as cognitive and psychological functions, mainly from studies that have clarified neuronal pathways from the cerebellum to other brain regions that are relevant to these functions. The techniques to manipulate specific neuronal pathways were effectively utilized to demonstrate the involvement of the cerebellum and its pathways in specific brain functions, without altering motor activity. In particular, the cerebellar efferent pathways that have recently gained attention are not only monosynaptic connections to other brain regions, including the periaqueductal gray and ventral tegmental area, but also polysynaptic connections to other brain regions, including the non-primary motor cortex and hippocampus. Besides these efferent pathways associated with non-motor functions, recent studies using sophisticated experimental techniques further characterized the historically studied efferent pathways that are primarily associated with motor functions. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, there are no articles that comprehensively describe various cerebellar efferent pathways, although there are many interesting review articles focusing on specific functions or pathways. Here, we summarize the recent findings on neuronal networks projecting from the cerebellum to several brain regions. We also introduce various techniques that have enabled us to advance our understanding of the cerebellar efferent pathways, and further discuss possible directions for future research regarding these efferent pathways and their functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seulgi Kang
- Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, South Korea
- Division of Bio-Medical Science and Technology, KIST School, University of Science and Technology (UST), Seoul, South Korea
| | - Soyoung Jun
- Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, South Korea
- Division of Bio-Medical Science and Technology, KIST School, University of Science and Technology (UST), Seoul, South Korea
| | - Soo Ji Baek
- Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, South Korea
- Division of Bio-Medical Science and Technology, KIST School, University of Science and Technology (UST), Seoul, South Korea
| | - Heeyoun Park
- Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, South Korea
| | - Yukio Yamamoto
- Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, South Korea
| | - Keiko Tanaka-Yamamoto
- Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, South Korea
- Division of Bio-Medical Science and Technology, KIST School, University of Science and Technology (UST), Seoul, South Korea
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19
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Mouly AM, Bouillot C, Costes N, Zimmer L, Ravel N, Litaudon P. PET Metabolic Imaging of Time-Dependent Reorganization of Olfactory Cued Fear Memory Networks in Rats. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:2717-2728. [PMID: 34668524 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Revised: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Memory consolidation involves reorganization at both the synaptic and system levels. The latter involves gradual reorganization of the brain regions that support memory and has been mostly highlighted using hippocampal-dependent tasks. The standard memory consolidation model posits that the hippocampus becomes gradually less important over time in favor of neocortical regions. In contrast, this reorganization of circuits in amygdala-dependent tasks has been less investigated. Moreover, this question has been addressed using primarily lesion or cellular imaging approaches thus precluding the comparison of recent and remote memory networks in the same animals. To overcome this limitation, we used microPET imaging to characterize, in the same animals, the networks activated during the recall of a recent versus remote memory in an olfactory cued fear conditioning paradigm. The data highlighted the drastic difference between the extents of the two networks. Indeed, although the recall of a recent odor fear memory activates a large network of structures spanning from the prefrontal cortex to the cerebellum, significant activations during remote memory retrieval are limited to the piriform cortex. These results strongly support the view that amygdala-dependent memories also undergo system-level reorganization, and that sensory cortical areas might participate in the long-term storage of emotional memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne-Marie Mouly
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron Cedex 69675, France
| | | | | | - Luc Zimmer
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron Cedex 69675, France.,CERMEP-Life Imaging, Bron Cedex 69677, France.,Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon 69002, France
| | - Nadine Ravel
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron Cedex 69675, France
| | - Philippe Litaudon
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron Cedex 69675, France
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20
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Pierce JE, Péron J. The basal ganglia and the cerebellum in human emotion. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 15:599-613. [PMID: 32507876 PMCID: PMC7328022 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Revised: 04/03/2020] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The basal ganglia (BG) and the cerebellum historically have been relegated to a functional role in producing or modulating motor output. Recent research, however, has emphasized the importance of these subcortical structures in multiple functional domains, including affective processes such as emotion recognition, subjective feeling elicitation and reward valuation. The pathways through the thalamus that connect the BG and cerebellum directly to each other and with extensive regions of the cortex provide a structural basis for their combined influence on limbic function. By regulating cortical oscillations to guide learning and strengthening rewarded behaviors or thought patterns to achieve a desired goal state, these regions can shape the way an individual processes emotional stimuli. This review will discuss the basic structure and function of the BG and cerebellum and propose an updated view of their functional role in human affective processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan E Pierce
- Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology Laboratory, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Julie Péron
- Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology Laboratory, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland.,Neuropsychology Unit, Neurology Department, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
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21
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Coccaro EF, Keedy S, Lee R, Phan KL. Neuronal responses to adverse social threat in healthy human subjects. J Psychiatr Res 2021; 136:47-53. [PMID: 33556904 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Revised: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Social-emotional information processing (SEIP) is critical for appropriate human interaction. It is composed of processes that underlie how we behave towards others, especially in response to adverse social threat. We conducted a study in 26 healthy participants who completed a validated Video-SEIP (V-SEIP) task in the fMRI scanning environment. The V-SEIP phases studied included encoding (ENC) of socially relevant information, hostile attribution (HA) of motive, and the negative emotional response (NER) the participant would have in the context of the video vignettes. The ENC phase was associated with activation of amygdala, left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, right middle temporal gyrus, and visual cortex, the HA phase associated with activation of several brain regions including frontal and temporal cortex as well as basal ganglia and cerebellum, while the NER phase was associated with activation in the midbrain with regions involving the periaqueductal gray, basal ganglia, and the cerebellum. We suggest that this V-SEIP task represents a novel neuro-biomarker for the study of SEIP and that it can be extended for use in a number of psychiatric conditions in which anger, irritability, and impulsive aggressive are prominent features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emil F Coccaro
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
| | - Sarah Keedy
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Royce Lee
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - K Luan Phan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA
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22
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Marshall-Phelps KLH, Riedel G, Wulff P, Woloszynowska-Fraser M. Cerebellar molecular layer interneurons are dispensable for cued and contextual fear conditioning. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20000. [PMID: 33203929 PMCID: PMC7672060 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76729-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Purkinje cells are the only output cell of the cerebellar cortex. Their spatiotemporal activity is controlled by molecular layer interneurons (MLIs) through GABAA receptor-mediated inhibition. Recently, it has been reported that the cerebellar cortex is required for consolidation of conditioned fear responses during fear memory formation. Although the relevance of MLIs during fear memory formation is currently not known, it has been shown that synapses made between MLIs and Purkinje cells exhibit long term plasticity following fear conditioning. The present study examined the role of cerebellar MLIs in the formation of fear memory using a genetically-altered mouse line (PC-∆γ2) in which GABAA receptor-mediated signaling at MLI to Purkinje cell synapses was functionally removed. We found that neither acquisition nor recall of fear memories to tone and context were altered after removal of MLI-mediated inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katy L H Marshall-Phelps
- Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK.,Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh, EH16 4SB, UK
| | - Gernot Riedel
- Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK.
| | - Peer Wulff
- Institute of Physiology, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, 24098, Kiel, Germany.
| | - Marta Woloszynowska-Fraser
- Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK.,National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA
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23
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Bidirectional control of fear memories by cerebellar neurons projecting to the ventrolateral periaqueductal grey. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5207. [PMID: 33060630 PMCID: PMC7566591 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18953-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2019] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Fear conditioning is a form of associative learning that is known to involve different brain areas, notably the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex and the periaqueductal grey (PAG). Here, we describe the functional role of pathways that link the cerebellum with the fear network. We found that the cerebellar fastigial nucleus (FN) sends glutamatergic projections to vlPAG that synapse onto glutamatergic and GABAergic vlPAG neurons. Chemogenetic and optogenetic manipulations revealed that the FN-vlPAG pathway controls bi-directionally the strength of the fear memories, indicating an important role in the association of the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, a function consistent with vlPAG encoding of fear prediction error. Moreover, FN-vlPAG projections also modulate extinction learning. We also found a FN-parafascicular thalamus pathway, which may relay cerebellar influence to the amygdala and modulates anxiety behaviors. Overall, our results reveal multiple contributions of the cerebellum to the emotional system. The cerebellum has a role in motor control, but may also contribute to other functions. Here the authors demonstrate a role for the cerebellar fastigial nucleus projection onto ventrolateral periaqueductal grey neurons during fear acquisition.
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24
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Belser-Ehrlich J, Lafo JA, Mangal P, Bradley M, Wicklund M, Bowers D. Neurocognitive profile of a man with Dandy-Walker malformation: Evidence of subtle cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome. Clin Neuropsychol 2020; 34:591-610. [PMID: 30821610 PMCID: PMC6717685 DOI: 10.1080/13854046.2019.1569724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Revised: 01/09/2019] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Background: The Dandy-Walker Malformation (DWM) is a congenital birth malformation that is characterized by a triad of features: cerebellar dysgenesis, cystic dilation of the fourth ventricle, and an enlarged posterior fossa that displaces the dural sinuses and the tentorium. Despite this defining triad, clinical presentation can be highly heterogeneous in part due to severity of structural changes. To date, there been limited consideration of cognitive-behavioral symptoms of DWM in relation to nonmotor functions of the cerebellum, specifically cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome (CCAS).Method: In this case study, we describe the neuropsychological and behavioral profile of a 48-year-old man with DWM who was seen due to concerns, expressed solely by the patient's father, about his son's atypical housing, employment and social skills.Results: Neuropsychological test findings revealed high average intellect on standard intellectual measures (WAIS-IV), with stronger verbal (superior) than perceptual reasoning (average) skills. Across all cognitive domains, performance was generally within expectations, although bilateral fine motor skills were impaired. In contrast, he exhibited weaknesses on nontraditional neuropsychological measures assessing orbitofrontal-limbic circuitry, including reward sensitivity decision making and indices of threat-related emotional physiology.Conclusions: Through the use of traditional and nontraditional neuropsychological measures, subtle cognitive weaknesses in fronto-executive and affective regulation were illuminated and likely explain the patient's functional difficulties. Etiologically, these findings are consistent with the nonmotor functions of the cerebellum as described by CCAS.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Paul Mangal
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida
| | | | | | - Dawn Bowers
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida
- Department of Neurology, University of Florida
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Emotional Stress Induces Structural Plasticity in Bergmann Glial Cells via an AC5-CPEB3-GluA1 Pathway. J Neurosci 2020; 40:3374-3384. [PMID: 32229518 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0013-19.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2018] [Revised: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 02/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Stress alters brain function by modifying the structure and function of neurons and astrocytes. The fine processes of astrocytes are critical for the clearance of neurotransmitters during synaptic transmission. Thus, experience-dependent remodeling of glial processes is anticipated to alter the output of neural circuits. However, the molecular mechanisms that underlie glial structural plasticity are not known. Here we show that a single exposure of male and female mice to an acute stress produced a long-lasting retraction of the lateral processes of cerebellar Bergmann glial cells. These cells express the GluA1 subunit of AMPA-type glutamate receptors, and GluA1 knockdown is known to shorten the length of glial processes. We found that stress reduced the level of GluA1 protein and AMPA receptor-mediated currents in Bergmann glial cells, and these effects were absent in mice devoid of CPEB3, a protein that binds to GluA1 mRNA and regulates GluA1 protein synthesis. Administration of a β-adrenergic receptor blocker attenuated the reduction in GluA1, and deletion of adenylate cyclase 5 prevented GluA1 suppression. Therefore, stress suppresses GluA1 protein synthesis via an adrenergic/adenylyl cyclase/CPEB3 pathway, and reduces the length of astrocyte lateral processes. Our results identify a novel mechanism for GluA1 subunit plasticity in non-neuronal cells and suggest a previously unappreciated role for AMPA receptors in stress-induced astrocytic remodeling.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Astrocytes play important roles in synaptic transmission by extending fine processes around synapses. In this study, we showed that a single exposure to an acute stress triggered a retraction of lateral/fine processes in mouse cerebellar astrocytes. These astrocytes express GluA1, a glutamate receptor subunit known to lengthen astrocyte processes. We showed that astrocytic structural changes are associated with a reduction of GluA1 protein levels. This requires activation of β-adrenergic receptors and is triggered by noradrenaline released during stress. We identified adenylyl cyclase 5, an enzyme that elevates cAMP levels, as a downstream effector and found that lowering GluA1 levels depends on CPEB3 proteins that bind to GluA1 mRNA. Therefore, stress regulates GluA1 protein synthesis via an adrenergic/adenylyl cyclase/CPEB3 pathway in astrocytes and remodels their fine processes.
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Yu H, Chen L, Li H, Xin H, Zhang J, Wei Z, Peng D. Abnormal resting-state functional connectivity of amygdala subregions in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2019; 15:977-987. [PMID: 31114206 PMCID: PMC6489564 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s191441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2018] [Accepted: 03/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: The amygdala is one of the core areas of the emotional circuits. Previous neuroimaging studies have revealed that patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have aberrant structure and function in several brain areas (including the amygdala). However, the resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) of amgydala subregions remains uncertain. Objective: To determine whether aberrant rs-FC exists between the amygdala subregions and other brain areas and whether such abnormalities are related to emotional disorders and cognitive impairment in OSA. Methods: The resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data of 40 male severe OSA patients and 40 matched healthy controls (HCs) were collected. The rs-FC between the amygdala subregions and other brain areas was compared between the two groups. The correlations between aberrant rs-FC and clinical variables and neuropsychological assessments were evaluated. Results: Compared with the HCs, the OSA patients showed significantly increased rs-FC between the left dorsal amygdala (DA) and the anterior lobe of the cerebellum, among the left ventrolateral amygdala (VA), the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the left superior temporal gyrus (STG), and between the right VA and the left IFG. However, significantly decreased rs-FC was observed between the right DA and the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) in OSA patients. No regional differences in rs-FC were found between the OSA patients and HCs in the bilateral medial amygdala (MA). Conclusion: In this study, male severe OSA patients showed complex rs-FC patterns in the amygdala subregions, which may be the result of OSA-related selective damage to the amygdala, and abnormal rs-FC between the amygdala subregions and brain regions associated with emotional, cognitive and executive functions may partly explain the affective deficits and cognitive impairment observed in male severe OSA patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Honghui Yu
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Liting Chen
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Haijun Li
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Huizhen Xin
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Juan Zhang
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhipeng Wei
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Dechang Peng
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China
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Apps R, Hawkes R, Aoki S, Bengtsson F, Brown AM, Chen G, Ebner TJ, Isope P, Jörntell H, Lackey EP, Lawrenson C, Lumb B, Schonewille M, Sillitoe RV, Spaeth L, Sugihara I, Valera A, Voogd J, Wylie DR, Ruigrok TJH. Cerebellar Modules and Their Role as Operational Cerebellar Processing Units: A Consensus paper [corrected]. CEREBELLUM (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2018; 17:654-682. [PMID: 29876802 PMCID: PMC6132822 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-018-0952-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The compartmentalization of the cerebellum into modules is often used to discuss its function. What, exactly, can be considered a module, how do they operate, can they be subdivided and do they act individually or in concert are only some of the key questions discussed in this consensus paper. Experts studying cerebellar compartmentalization give their insights on the structure and function of cerebellar modules, with the aim of providing an up-to-date review of the extensive literature on this subject. Starting with an historical perspective indicating that the basis of the modular organization is formed by matching olivocorticonuclear connectivity, this is followed by consideration of anatomical and chemical modular boundaries, revealing a relation between anatomical, chemical, and physiological borders. In addition, the question is asked what the smallest operational unit of the cerebellum might be. Furthermore, it has become clear that chemical diversity of Purkinje cells also results in diversity of information processing between cerebellar modules. An additional important consideration is the relation between modular compartmentalization and the organization of the mossy fiber system, resulting in the concept of modular plasticity. Finally, examination of cerebellar output patterns suggesting cooperation between modules and recent work on modular aspects of emotional behavior are discussed. Despite the general consensus that the cerebellum has a modular organization, many questions remain. The authors hope that this joint review will inspire future cerebellar research so that we are better able to understand how this brain structure makes its vital contribution to behavior in its most general form.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Apps
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Richard Hawkes
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
| | - Sho Aoki
- Neurobiology Research Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Onna, Japan
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Fredrik Bengtsson
- Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Amanda M. Brown
- Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX USA
- Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX USA
| | - Gang Chen
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN USA
| | - Timothy J. Ebner
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN USA
| | - Philippe Isope
- Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives, CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Henrik Jörntell
- Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Elizabeth P. Lackey
- Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX USA
- Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX USA
| | - Charlotte Lawrenson
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Bridget Lumb
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Martijn Schonewille
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Roy V. Sillitoe
- Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX USA
- Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX USA
- Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX USA
| | - Ludovic Spaeth
- Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives, CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Izumi Sugihara
- Department of Systems Neurophysiology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Antoine Valera
- Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives, CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Jan Voogd
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Douglas R. Wylie
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada
| | - Tom J. H. Ruigrok
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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Bambico FR, Comai S, Diwan M, Hasan SN, Conway JD, Darvish-Ghane S, Hamani C, Gobbi G, Nobrega JN. High frequency stimulation of the anterior vermis modulates behavioural response to chronic stress: involvement of the prefrontal cortex and dorsal raphe? Neurobiol Dis 2018; 116:166-178. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2018.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Revised: 02/17/2018] [Accepted: 03/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
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Moreno-Rius J. The cerebellum in fear and anxiety-related disorders. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2018; 85:23-32. [PMID: 29627508 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2018.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2017] [Revised: 03/29/2018] [Accepted: 04/04/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Fear and anxiety-related disorders are highly prevalent psychiatric conditions characterized by avoidant and fearful reactions towards specific stimuli or situations, which are disproportionate given the real threat such stimuli entail. These conditions comprise the most common mental disorder group. There are a high proportion of patients who fail to achieve remission and the presence of high relapse rates indicate the therapeutic options available are far from being fully efficient. Despite an increased understanding the neural circuits underlying fear and anxiety-related behaviors in the last decades, a factor that could be partially contributing to the lack of adequate therapies may be an insufficient understanding of the core features of the disorders and their associated neurobiology. Interestingly, the cerebellum shows connections with fear and anxiety-related brain areas and functional involvement in such processes, but explanations for its role in anxiety disorders are lacking. Therefore, the aims of this review are to provide an overview of the neural circuitry of fear and anxiety and its connections to the cerebellum, and of the animal studies that directly assess an involvement of the cerebellum in these processes. Then, the studies performed in patients suffering from anxiety disorders that explore the cerebellum will be discussed. Finally, we'll propose a function for the cerebellum in these disorders, which could guide future experimental approaches to the topic and lead to a better understanding of the neurobiology of anxiety-related disorders, ultimately helping to develop more effective treatments for these conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josep Moreno-Rius
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
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Lawrenson C, Bares M, Kamondi A, Kovács A, Lumb B, Apps R, Filip P, Manto M. The mystery of the cerebellum: clues from experimental and clinical observations. CEREBELLUM & ATAXIAS 2018; 5:8. [PMID: 29610671 PMCID: PMC5877388 DOI: 10.1186/s40673-018-0087-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2017] [Accepted: 03/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The cerebellum has a striking homogeneous cytoarchitecture and participates in both motor and non-motor domains. Indeed, a wealth of evidence from neuroanatomical, electrophysiological, neuroimaging and clinical studies has substantially modified our traditional view on the cerebellum as a sole calibrator of sensorimotor functions. Despite the major advances of the last four decades of cerebellar research, outstanding questions remain regarding the mechanisms and functions of the cerebellar circuitry. We discuss major clues from both experimental and clinical studies, with a focus on rodent models in fear behaviour, on the role of the cerebellum in motor control, on cerebellar contributions to timing and our appraisal of the pathogenesis of cerebellar tremor. The cerebellum occupies a central position to optimize behaviour, motor control, timing procedures and to prevent body oscillations. More than ever, the cerebellum is now considered as a major actor on the scene of disorders affecting the CNS, extending from motor disorders to cognitive and affective disorders. However, the respective roles of the mossy fibres, the climbing fibres, cerebellar cortex and cerebellar nuclei remains unknown or partially known at best in most cases. Research is now moving towards a better definition of the roles of cerebellar modules and microzones. This will impact on the management of cerebellar disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Lawrenson
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tankard’s Close, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TD UK
| | - Martin Bares
- First Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University and St. Anne’s Teaching Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
| | - Anita Kamondi
- Department of Neurology, National Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, Amerikai út 57, Budapest, 1145 Hungary
- Department of Neurology, Semmelweis University, Üllői út 26, Budapest, 1083 Hungary
| | - Andrea Kovács
- Department of Neurology, National Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, Amerikai út 57, Budapest, 1145 Hungary
- János Szentágothai Doctoral School of Neurosciences, Semmelweis University, Üllői út 26, Budapest, 1083 Hungary
| | - Bridget Lumb
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tankard’s Close, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TD UK
| | - Richard Apps
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tankard’s Close, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TD UK
| | - Pavel Filip
- First Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University and St. Anne’s Teaching Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Mario Manto
- FNRS ULB-Erasme, 808 Route de Lennik, 1070 Bruxelles, Belgium
- Service des Neurosciences, UMons, 7000 Mons, Belgium
- Department of Neurology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Charleroi, 6000 Charleroi, Belgium
- Laboratoire de Médecine Expérimentale, Site Vésale, ULB Unité 222, 6110 Montigny-le-Tilleul, Belgium
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31
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Behavioral Animal Model of the Emotional Response to Tinnitus and Hearing Loss. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2017; 19:67-81. [PMID: 29047013 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-017-0642-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2016] [Accepted: 09/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Increased prevalence of emotional distress is associated with tinnitus and hearing loss. The underlying mechanisms of the negative emotional response to tinnitus and hearing loss remain poorly understood, and it is challenging to disentangle the emotional consequences of hearing loss from those specific to tinnitus in listeners experiencing both. We addressed these questions in laboratory rats using three common rodent anxiety screening assays: elevated plus maze, open field test, and social interaction test. Open arm activity in the elevated plus maze decreased substantially after one trial in controls, indicating its limited utility for comparing pre- and post-treatment behavior. Open field exploration and social interaction behavior were consistent across multiple sessions in control animals. Individual sound-exposed and salicylate-treated rats showed a range of phenotypes in the open field, including reduced entries into the center in some subjects and reduced locomotion overall. In rats screened for tinnitus, less locomotion was associated with higher tinnitus scores. In salicylate-treated animals, locomotion was correlated with age. Sound-exposed and salicylate-treated rats also showed reduced social interaction. These results suggest that open field exploratory activity is a selective measure for identifying tinnitus distress in individual animals, whereas social interaction reflects the general effects of hearing loss. This animal model will facilitate future studies of the structural and functional changes in the brain pathways underlying emotional distress associated with hearing dysfunction, as well as development of novel interventions to ameliorate or prevent negative emotional responses.
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Aversive stimuli exacerbate defensive motor behaviour in motor conversion disorder. Neuropsychologia 2016; 93:229-241. [PMID: 27842291 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2016] [Revised: 10/06/2016] [Accepted: 11/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Conversion disorder or functional neurological symptom disorder (FND) can affect the voluntary motor system, without an organic cause. Functional symptoms are thought to be generated unconsciously, arising from underlying psychological stressors. However, attempts to demonstrate a direct relationship between the limbic system and disrupted motor function in FND are lacking. We tested whether negative affect would exacerbate alterations of motor control and corresponding brain activations in individuals with FND. Ten patients and ten healthy controls produced an isometric precision-grip contraction at 10% of maximum force while either viewing visual feedback of their force output, or unpleasant or pleasant emotional images (without feedback). Force magnitude was continuously recorded together with change in brain activity using fMRI. For controls, force output decayed from the target level while viewing pleasant and unpleasant images. Patients however, maintained force at the target level without decay while viewing unpleasant images, indicating a pronounced effect of negative affect on force output in FND. This emotional modulation of force control was associated with different brain activation patterns between groups. Contrasting the unpleasant with the pleasant condition, controls showed increased activity in the inferior frontal cortex and pre-supplementary motor area, whereas patients had greater activity in the cerebellum (vermis), posterior cingulate cortex, and hippocampus. Engagement of a cerebellar-limbic network in patients is consistent with heightened processing of emotional salience, and supports the role of the cerebellum in freezing responses in the presence of aversive events. These data highlight a possible neural circuit through which psychological stressors elicit defensive behaviour and modulate motor function in FND.
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Li W, Cui H, Zhu Z, Kong L, Guo Q, Zhu Y, Hu Q, Zhang L, Li H, Li Q, Jiang J, Meyers J, Li J, Wang J, Yang Z, Li C. Aberrant Functional Connectivity between the Amygdala and the Temporal Pole in Drug-Free Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Front Hum Neurosci 2016; 10:549. [PMID: 27867352 PMCID: PMC5095112 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2016] [Accepted: 10/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The amygdala and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) play important roles in “emotion dysregulation,” which has a profound impact on etiologic research of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The present study analyzed both eyes-open and eyes-closed resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) of 43 subjects (21 GAD patients with medicine free and 22 matched healthy controls). The amygdala and the DLPFC were defined as regions of interest (ROI) to analyze functional connectivity (FC) in GAD patients compared with healthy controls. The main findings revealed GAD patients had increased FC between the amygdala and the temporal pole compared to healthy controls, which was found in both eyes-open and eyes-closed rs-fMRI. And altered FC between the ROIs and brain regions that mainly belonged to the default mode network (DMN) were found. These findings suggest that the abnormal FC between the amygdala and the temporal pole may contribute to the pathophysiology of GAD, and provide insights into the current understanding of the emotion dysregulation of anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Li
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Shanghai, China
| | - Huiru Cui
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Shanghai, China
| | - Zhipei Zhu
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Shanghai, China
| | - Li Kong
- College of Education, Shanghai Normal University Shanghai, China
| | - Qian Guo
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Shanghai, China
| | - Yikang Zhu
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Shanghai, China
| | - Qiang Hu
- Department of Psychology, Qiqihar Mental Health Center Qiqihar, China
| | | | - Hui Li
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Shanghai, China
| | - Qingwei Li
- Department of Psychiatry, Tongji Hospital of Tongji University Shanghai, China
| | - Jiangling Jiang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Shanghai, China
| | - Jordan Meyers
- Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research New York, NY, USA
| | - Jianqi Li
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, Department of Physics, East China Normal University Shanghai, China
| | - Jijun Wang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghai, China; Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Bio-X Institutes, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai, China; Brain Science and Technology Research Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai, China
| | - Zhi Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science and MRI Research Center, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China
| | - Chunbo Li
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghai, China; Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Bio-X Institutes, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai, China; Brain Science and Technology Research Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai, China
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Abstract
Great attention has been given so far to cerebellar control of posture and of skilled movements despite the well-demonstrated interconnections between the cerebellum and the autonomic nervous system. Here is a review of the link between these two structures and a report on the recently acquired evidence for its involvement in the world of emotions. In rodents, the reversible inactivation of the vermis during the consolidation or the reconsolidation period hampers the retention of the fear memory trace. In this region, there is a long-term potentiation of both the excitatory synapses between the parallel fibres and the Purkinje cells and of the feed-forward inhibition mediated by molecular layer interneurons. This concomitant potentiation ensures the temporal fidelity of the system. Additional contacts between mossy fibre terminals and Golgi cells provide morphological evidence of the potentiation of another feed-forward inhibition in the granular layer. Imaging experiments show that also in humans the cerebellum is activated during mental recall of emotional personal episodes and during learning of a conditioned or unconditioned association involving emotions. The vermis participates in fear learning and memory mechanisms related to the expression of autonomic and motor responses of emotions. In humans, the cerebellar hemispheres are also involved at a higher emotional level. The importance of these findings is evident when considering the cerebellar malfunctioning in psychiatric diseases like autism and schizophrenia which are characterized behaviourally by emotion processing impairments.
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Abstract
In addition to coordinating movement, the cerebellum participates in motor learning, emotional behavior, and fear memory. Fear learning is reflected in a change of autonomic and somatic responses, such as heart rate and freezing, elicited by a neutral stimulus that has been previously paired with a painful one. Manipulation of the vermis affects these responses, and its reversible inactivation during the consolidation period impairs fear memory. The neural correlate of cerebellar involvement in fear consolidation is provided by a behaviorally induced long-term increase of synaptic efficacy between parallel fibers and a Purkinje cell. Similar synaptic changes after fear conditioning are well documented in the amygdala and hippocampus, providing a link between emotional experiences and changes in neural activity. In addition, in hotfoot mice, with a primary deficiency of parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synapse, short- and long-term fear memories are affected. All these data support the idea that the cerebellum participates in fear learning. The functional interconnection of the vermis with hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus suggests a more complex role of the cerebellum as part of an integrated network regulating emotional behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benedetto Sacchetti
- Rita Levi-Montalcini Center for Brain Repair, Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
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Lange I, Kasanova Z, Goossens L, Leibold N, De Zeeuw CI, van Amelsvoort T, Schruers K. The anatomy of fear learning in the cerebellum: A systematic meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 59:83-91. [PMID: 26441374 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2014] [Revised: 09/25/2015] [Accepted: 09/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Recent neuro-imaging studies have implicated the cerebellum in several higher-order functions. Its role in human fear conditioning has, however, received limited attention. The current meta-analysis examines the loci of cerebellar contributions to fear conditioning in healthy subjects, thus mapping, for the first time, the neural response to conditioned aversive stimuli onto the cerebellum. By using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) technique for analyses, we identified several distinct regions in the cerebellum that activate in response to the presentation of the conditioned stimulus: the cerebellar tonsils, lobules HIV-VI, and the culmen. These regions have separately been implicated in fear acquisition, consolidation of fear memories and expression of conditioned fear responses. Their specific role in these processes may be attributed to the general contribution of cerebellar cortical networks to timing and prediction. Our meta-analysis highlights the potential role of the cerebellum in human cognition and emotion in general, and addresses the possibility how deficits in associative cerebellar learning may play a role in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders. Future studies are needed to further clarify the mechanistic role of the cerebellum in higher order functions and neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Lange
- Maastricht University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Zuzana Kasanova
- Maastricht University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Liesbet Goossens
- Maastricht University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Nicole Leibold
- Maastricht University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Chris I De Zeeuw
- Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Erasmus Medical Center, Department of Neuroscience, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Therese van Amelsvoort
- Maastricht University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Koen Schruers
- Maastricht University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht, The Netherlands; University of Leuven, Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, Leuven, Belgium
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Liu WJ, Yin DZ, Cheng WH, Fan MX, You MN, Men WW, Zang LL, Shi DH, Zhang F. Abnormal functional connectivity of the amygdala-based network in resting-state FMRI in adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder. Med Sci Monit 2015; 21:459-67. [PMID: 25673008 PMCID: PMC4335563 DOI: 10.12659/msm.893373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND We aimed to investigate the disruptions of functional connectivity of amygdala-based networks in adolescents with untreated generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 26 adolescents with first-episode GAD and 20 normal age-matched volunteers underwent resting-state and T1 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We analyzed the correlation of fMRI signal fluctuation between the amygdala and other brain regions. The variation of amygdala-based functional connectivity and its correlation with anxiety severity were investigated. RESULTS Decreased functional connectivity was found between the left amygdala and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. An increased right amygdala functional connectivity with right posterior and anterior lobes of the cerebellum, insula, superior temporal gyrus, putamen, and right amygdala were found in our study. Negative correlations between GAD scores and functional connectivity of the right amygdala with the cerebellum were also observed in the GAD adolescents. CONCLUSIONS Adolescents with GAD have abnormalities in brain regions associated with the emotional processing pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen-jing Liu
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China (mainland)
| | - Da-zhi Yin
- Department of Physics, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China (mainland)
| | - Wen-hong Cheng
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China (mainland)
| | - Ming-xia Fan
- Department of Physics, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China (mainland)
| | - Mei-na You
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China (mainland)
| | - Wei-wei Men
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China (mainland)
| | - Li-li Zang
- Department of Physics, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China (mainland)
| | - Dian-hong Shi
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China (mainland)
| | - Fang Zhang
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China (mainland)
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Alterations in amygdala functional connectivity reflect early temperament. Biol Psychol 2014; 103:248-54. [PMID: 25261727 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2013] [Revised: 07/22/2014] [Accepted: 09/12/2014] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament identified early in life that is associated with increased risk for anxiety disorders. Amygdala hyperresponsivity, found both in behaviorally inhibited and anxious individuals, suggests that amygdala dysfunction may represent a marker of anxiety risk. However, broader amygdala networks have not been examined in individuals with a history of childhood BI. This study uses resting state fMRI to assess amygdala intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) in 38 healthy young adults (19 with a history of BI, 19 with no history of BI) selected from a longitudinal study. Centromedial, basolateral, and superficial amygdala iFCs were compared between groups and examined in relation to self-report measures of anxiety. Group differences were observed in amygdala iFC with prefrontal cortex, striatum, anterior insula, and cerebellum. Adults characterized with BI in childhood endorsed greater state anxiety prior to entering the scanner, which was associated with several of the group differences. Findings support enduring effects of BI on amygdala circuitry, even in the absence of current psychopathology.
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39
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Magal A, Mintz M. Inhibition of the amygdala central nucleus by stimulation of cerebellar output in rats: a putative mechanism for extinction of the conditioned fear response. Eur J Neurosci 2014; 40:3548-55. [PMID: 25185877 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.12714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2014] [Revised: 07/29/2014] [Accepted: 08/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The amygdala and the cerebellum serve two distinctively different functions. The amygdala plays a role in the expression of emotional information, whereas the cerebellum is involved in the timing of discrete motor responses. Interaction between these two systems is the basis of the two-stage theory of learning, according to which an encounter with a challenging event triggers fast classical conditioning of fear-conditioned responses in the amygdala and slow conditioning of motor-conditioned responses in the cerebellum. A third stage was hypothesised when an apparent interaction between amygdala and cerebellar associative plasticity was observed: an adaptive rate of cerebellum-dependent motor-conditioned responses was associated with a decrease in amygdala-dependent fear-conditioned responses, and was interpreted as extinction of amygdala-related fear-conditioned responses by the cerebellar output. To explore this hypothesis, we mimicked some components of classical eyeblink conditioning in anesthetised rats by applying an aversive periorbital pulse as an unconditioned stimulus and a train of pulses to the cerebellar output nuclei as a cerebellar neuronal-conditioned response. The central amygdala multiple unit response to the periorbital pulse was measured with or without a preceding train to the cerebellar output nuclei. The results showed that activation of the cerebellar output nuclei prior to periorbital stimulation produced diverse patterns of inhibition of the amygdala response to the periorbital aversive stimulus, depending upon the nucleus stimulated, the laterality of the nucleus stimulated, and the stimulus interval used. These results provide a putative extinction mechanism of learned fear behavior, and could have implications for the treatment of pathologies involving abnormal fear responses by using motor training as therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ari Magal
- Psychobiology Research Unit, School of Psychological Sciences, Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel
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40
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Roy AK, Fudge JL, Kelly C, Perry JS, Daniele T, Carlisi C, Benson B, Castellanos FX, Milham MP, Pine DS, Ernst M. Intrinsic functional connectivity of amygdala-based networks in adolescent generalized anxiety disorder. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2013; 52:290-299.e2. [PMID: 23452685 PMCID: PMC3760686 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2012.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 187] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2012] [Revised: 11/30/2012] [Accepted: 12/18/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) typically begins during adolescence and can persist into adulthood. The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this disorder remain unclear. Recent evidence from resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) studies in adults suggests disruptions in amygdala-based circuitry; the present study examines this issue in adolescents with GAD. METHOD Resting state fMRI scans were obtained from 15 adolescents with GAD and 20 adolescents without anxiety who were group matched on age, sex, scanner, and intelligence. Functional connectivity of the centromedial, basolateral, and superficial amygdala subdivisions was compared between groups. We also assessed the relationship between amygdala network dysfunction and anxiety severity. RESULTS Adolescents with GAD exhibited disruptions in amygdala-based intrinsic functional connectivity networks that included regions in medial prefrontal cortex, insula, and cerebellum. Positive correlations between anxiety severity scores and amygdala functional connectivity with insula and superior temporal gyrus were also observed within the GAD group. There was some evidence of greater overlap (less differentiation of connectivity patterns) of the right basolateral and centromedial amygdala networks in the adolescents with, relative to those without, GAD. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that adolescents with GAD manifest alterations in amygdala circuits involved in emotion processing, similar to findings in adults. In addition, disruptions were observed in amygdala-based networks involved in fear processing and the coding of interoceptive states.
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Abstract
Fear is an emotion that has powerful effects on behaviour and physiology across animal species. It is accepted that the amygdala has a central role in processing fear. However, it is less widely appreciated that distinct amygdala outputs and downstream circuits are involved in different types of fear. Data show that fear of painful stimuli, predators and aggressive members of the same species are processed in independent neural circuits that involve the amygdala and downstream hypothalamic and brainstem circuits. Here, we discuss data supporting multiple fear pathways and the implications of this distributed system for understanding and treating fear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cornelius T Gross
- Mouse Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, via Ramarini 32, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy.
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42
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Blond BN, Fredericks CA, Blumberg HP. Functional neuroanatomy of bipolar disorder: structure, function, and connectivity in an amygdala-anterior paralimbic neural system. Bipolar Disord 2012; 14:340-55. [PMID: 22631619 PMCID: PMC3880745 DOI: 10.1111/j.1399-5618.2012.01015.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES In past decades, neuroimaging research in bipolar disorder has demonstrated a convergence of findings in an amygdala-anterior paralimbic cortex neural system. This paper reviews behavioral neurology literature that first suggested a central role for this neural system in the disorder and the neuroimaging evidence that supports it. METHODS Relevant articles are reviewed to provide an amygdala-anterior paralimbic cortex neural system model of bipolar disorder, including articles from the fields of behavioral neurology and neuroanatomy, and neuroimaging. RESULTS The literature is highly supportive of key roles for the amygdala, anterior paralimbic cortices, and connections among these structures in the emotional dysregulation of bipolar disorder. The functions subserved by their more widely distributed connection sites suggest that broader system dysfunction could account for the range of functions-from neurovegetative to cognitive-disrupted in the disorder. Abnormalities in some components of this neural system are apparent by adolescence, while others, such as those in rostral prefrontal regions, appear to progress over adolescence and young adulthood, suggesting a neurodevelopmental model of the disorder. However, some findings conflict, which may reflect the small sample sizes of some studies, and clinical heterogeneity and methodological differences across studies. CONCLUSIONS Consistent with models derived from early behavioral neurology studies, neuroimaging studies support a central role for an amygdala-anterior paralimbic neural system in bipolar disorder, and implicate abnormalities in the development of this system in the disorder. This system will be an important focus of future studies on the developmental pathophysiology, detection, treatment, and prevention of the disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin N Blond
- Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Carolyn A Fredericks
- Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Hilary P Blumberg
- Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA,Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA,The Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA,Research Enhancement Award Program Depression Center, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
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43
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Abstract
In the last decade a growing body of data revealed that the cerebellum is involved in the regulation of the affective reactions as well as in forming the association between sensory stimuli and their emotional values. In humans, cerebellar areas around the vermis are activated during mental recall of emotional personal episodes and during learning of a CS-US association. Lesions of the cerebellar vermis may affect retention of a fear memory without altering baseline motor/autonomic responses to the frightening stimuli in both human and animal models. Reversible inactivation of the vermis during the consolidation period impairs retention of fear memory in rodents. Recent findings demonstrate that long-term potentiation (LTP) of synapses in the cerebellar cortex occurs in relation to associative fear learning similar to previously reported data in the hippocampus and amygdala. Plastic changes affect both excitatory and inhibitory synapses. This concomitant potentiation allows the cerebellar cortical network to detect coincident inputs, presumably conveying sensorial stimuli, with better efficacy by keeping the time resolution of the system unchanged. Collectively, these data suggest that the vermis participates in forming new CS-US association and translate an emotional state elaborated elsewhere into autonomic and motor responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. STRATA
- National Institute Neuroscience-Italy, Turin, Italy
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44
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Dorsomedial pallium lesions impair taste aversion learning in goldfish. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2011; 96:297-305. [PMID: 21689770 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2011.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2011] [Revised: 05/24/2011] [Accepted: 06/06/2011] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The present work shows that the dorsomedial telencephalic pallium of teleost fish, proposed as homologous to the amygdala of mammals, is involved in taste aversion learning (TAL). To analyze the behavioral properties of TAL in goldfish, in Experiment 1, we used a delayed procedure similar to that employed with mammals, which consists of the presentation of two flavors on different days, one followed by lithium chloride and the other by saline, both after a 10-min delay. The results showed that goldfish developed a strong aversion to the gustatory stimulus followed by visceral discomfort and that, as in mammals, this learning was rapidly acquired, highly flexible and maintained for a long time. Experiment 2 showed that dorsomedial pallium lesions and the ablation of the telencephalic lobes impaired the acquisition of taste aversion in goldfish, whereas damage to the dorsolateral pallium (hippocampus homologue) or cerebellar corpus did not produce significant changes in this learning. Experiment 3 showed that these TAL deficits were not due to a lesion-related disruption of taste discrimination; goldfish with telencephalon ablation were able to learn to distinguish between the two tested flavors in a differential conditioning procedure. These functional data demonstrate that the dorsomedial pallium in teleosts is, like the amygdala, an essential component of the telencephalon-dependent taste aversion memory system and provide further support concerning the homology between both structures.
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45
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Wang F, Kalmar JH, Womer FY, Edmiston EE, Chepenik LG, Chen R, Spencer L, Blumberg HP. Olfactocentric paralimbic cortex morphology in adolescents with bipolar disorder. Brain 2011; 134:2005-12. [PMID: 21666263 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awr124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The olfactocentric paralimbic cortex plays a critical role in the regulation of emotional and neurovegetative functions that are disrupted in core features of bipolar disorder. Adolescence is thought to be a critical period in both the maturation of the olfactocentric paralimbic cortex and in the emergence of bipolar disorder pathology. Together, these factors implicate a central role for the olfactocentric paralimbic cortex in the development of bipolar disorder and suggest that abnormalities in this cortex may be expressed by adolescence in the disorder. We tested the hypothesis that differences in olfactocentric paralimbic cortex structure are a morphological feature in adolescents with bipolar disorder. Subjects included 118 adolescents (41 with bipolar disorder and 77 healthy controls). Cortical grey matter volume differences between adolescents with and without bipolar disorder were assessed with voxel-based morphometry analyses of high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging scans. Compared with healthy comparison adolescents, adolescents with bipolar disorder demonstrated significant volume decreases in olfactocentric paralimbic regions, including orbitofrontal, insular and temporopolar cortices. Findings in these regions survived small volume correction (P < 0.05, corrected). Volume decreases in adolescents with bipolar disorder were also noted in inferior prefrontal and superior temporal gyri and cerebellum. The findings suggest that abnormalities in the morphology of the olfactocentric paralimbic cortex may contribute to the bipolar disorder phenotype that emerges in adolescence. The morphological development of the olfactocentric paralimbic cortex has received little study. The importance of these cortices in emotional and social development, and support for a central role for these cortices in the development of bipolar disorder, suggest that study of the development of these cortices in health and in bipolar disorder is critically needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
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46
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Thermenos HW, Makris N, Whitfield-Gabrieli S, Brown AB, Giuliano AJ, Lee EH, Faraone SV, Tsuang MT, Seidman LJ. A functional MRI study of working memory in adolescents and young adults at genetic risk for bipolar disorder: preliminary findings. Bipolar Disord 2011; 13:272-86. [PMID: 21676130 PMCID: PMC3822581 DOI: 10.1111/j.1399-5618.2011.00920.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES In this report, we seek to (i) identify a potential neuroimaging endophenotype for bipolar disorder (BD) in emotion regulatory and autonomic circuitry in young first-degree relatives of persons with BD; and (ii) replicate our previous work identifying the functional neuroanatomy of working memory (WM) in an older sample of relatives of persons with BD. METHODS Ten adolescent and young adult (age 13-24) unmedicated, non-ill, first-degree relatives of persons with BD (RELS) and 10 demographically comparable healthy controls performed a 2-back WM task and a 0-back control task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). fMRI data were collected on a 1.5 Tesla scanner and analyzed using SPM-2. Mood was assessed on the day of scanning. RESULTS The groups did not differ on any demographic, neuropsychological, or in-scanner task performance variables. In contrast to controls, RELS showed (i) weak task-dependent modulation activity in the cerebellar vermis (CV), insula, and amygdala/parahippocampal region, and (ii) exaggerated modulation of activity in the frontopolar cortex and brainstem, even after controlling for potential confounders. Many of the group differences were driven by differences in activity in the low-level (0-back) baseline task. CONCLUSIONS Young, unmedicated RELS exhibited altered task-dependent modulation of frontopolar, CV, and insula activity during WM, especially during the low-level (0-back) baseline task. Results are largely consistent with our initial study of older adult RELS, suggesting these alterations may represent biomarkers of genetic risk for BD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi W Thermenos
- Division of Public Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, USA.
| | - Nikos Makris
- Massachusetts General Hospital/Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown
,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
,Departments of Neurology and Radiology, Center for Morphometric Analysis, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
| | - Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
| | - Ariel B Brown
- Massachusetts General Hospital/Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown
,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
,McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
| | - Anthony J Giuliano
- Division of Public Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston
| | - Erica H Lee
- Division of Public Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston
| | - Stephen V Faraone
- Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Physiology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY
| | - Ming T Tsuang
- Department of Psychiatry, Center for Behavioral Genomics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Larry J Seidman
- Division of Public Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston
,Massachusetts General Hospital/Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown
,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
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Womer FY, Wang F, Chepenik LG, Kalmar JH, Spencer L, Edmiston E, Pittman BP, Constable RT, Papademetris X, Blumberg HP. Sexually dimorphic features of vermis morphology in bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disord 2009; 11:753-8. [PMID: 19839998 PMCID: PMC2844245 DOI: 10.1111/j.1399-5618.2009.00745.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The cerebellar vermis is increasingly implicated in bipolar disorder (BD). In this study, we investigated vermis morphology in BD using a quantitative volumetric analysis. METHODS Volumes for total vermis and vermis subregions V1 (lobules I-V), V2 (lobules VI-VII), and V3 (lobules VIII-X) were calculated using high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging obtained from 44 individuals with BD (25 females and 19 males) and 43 healthy comparison (HC) subjects (26 females and 17 males). Total vermis volumes were compared between the BD and HC groups. Potential effects of vermis subregions and clinical features were explored. RESULTS Total vermis volumes were significantly larger in the BD group than in the HC group (p = 0.02). There was a significant group-by-sex interaction (p = 0.02). Total vermis volumes were significantly larger in males with BD than HC males (p = 0.004); vermis volumes did not differ significantly between females with and without BD (p = 0.95). Subregion analyses showed a trend-level interaction between diagnosis and subregion (p = 0.07) in which subregion V1 volumes were significantly larger in BD participants (p = 0.001), with differences primarily driven by males (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate increases in cerebellar vermis volumes in males with BD. These findings support the presence of structural alterations in the cerebellar vermis in BD and furthermore the influence of sex on such changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fay Y. Womer
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
| | - Fei Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT,Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT
| | - Lara G. Chepenik
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT,Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT
| | - Jessica H. Kalmar
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT,Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT
| | - Linda Spencer
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT,Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT
| | - Erin Edmiston
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT,Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT
| | - Brian P. Pittman
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
| | - R. Todd Constable
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
| | - Xenophon Papademetris
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
| | - Hilary P. Blumberg
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT,Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT,Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT
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Sacchetti B, Scelfo B, Strata P. Cerebellum and emotional behavior. Neuroscience 2009; 162:756-62. [PMID: 19409218 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.01.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2008] [Revised: 01/26/2009] [Accepted: 01/27/2009] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Fear conditioning involves learning that a previously neutral stimulus (CS) predicts an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US). Lesions of the cerebellar vermis may affect fear memory without altering baseline motor/autonomic responses to the frightening stimuli. Reversible inactivation of the vermis during the consolidation period impairs retention of fear memory. In patients with medial cerebellar lesions conditioned bradycardia is impaired. In humans, cerebellar areas around the vermis are activated during mental recall of emotional personal episodes, if a loved partner receives a pain stimulus, and during learning of a CS-US association. Moreover, patients with cerebellar stroke may fail to show overt emotional changes. In such patients, however, the activity of several areas, including ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, pulvinar and insular cortex, is significantly increased relative to healthy subjects when exposed to frightening stimuli. Therefore, other structures may serve to maintain fear response after cerebellar damage. These data indicate that the vermis is involved in the formation of fear memory traces. We suggest that the vermis is not only involved in regulating the autonomic/motor responses, but that it also participates in forming new CS-US associations thus eliciting appropriate responses to new stimuli or situations. In other words, the cerebellum may translate an emotional state elaborated elsewhere into autonomic and motor responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Sacchetti
- Department of Neuroscience and National Institute of Neuroscience-Italy, University of Turin, Corso Raffaello 30, 10125 Turin, Italy.
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50
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Sacchetti B, Sacco T, Strata P. Reversible inactivation of amygdala and cerebellum but not perirhinal cortex impairs reactivated fear memories. Eur J Neurosci 2007; 25:2875-84. [PMID: 17466022 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2007.05508.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The cerebellum, amygdala and perirhinal cortex are involved in fear learning but the different roles that these three structures play in aversive learning are not well defined. Here we show that in adult rats amygdala or cerebellar vermis blockade causes amnesia when performed immediately, but not 1 h, after the recall of fear memories. Thus, the cerebellum, as well as the amygdala, influences long-term fear memories. These effects are long lasting, as they do not recover over time, even after a reminder shock administration. However, all of the subjects were able to form new fear memories in the absence of inactivation. By increasing the strength of conditioning, we observed that stronger fear memories are affected by the combined but not independent amygdala and cerebellar blockade. These results demonstrate that the cerebellum supports the memory processes even in the absence of a crucial site for emotions like the amygdala. Furthermore, they suggest that the amygdala is only one of the neural sites underlying long-term fear memories. Finally, the inactivation of the perirhinal cortex never alters retrieved fear traces, showing important differences between the amygdala, cerebellum and perirhinal cortex in emotional memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benedetto Sacchetti
- Rita Levi-Montalcini Center for Brain Repair, Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
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