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Molla HM, Miguelez Fernández AMM, Tseng KY. Late-adolescent onset of prefrontal endocannabinoid control of hippocampal and amygdalar inputs and its impact on trace-fear conditioning behavior. Neuropsychopharmacology 2024; 49:1417-1424. [PMID: 38467844 PMCID: PMC11250818 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-024-01844-z] [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: 11/16/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Prefrontal cortex (PFC) maturation during adolescence is characterized by structural and functional changes, which involve the remodeling of GABA and glutamatergic synapses, as well as changes in the endocannabinoid system. Yet, the way PFC endocannabinoid signaling interacts with local GABA and glutamatergic function to impact its processing of afferent transmission during the adolescent transition to adulthood remains unknown. Here we combined PFC local field potential recordings with local manipulations of 2-AG and anandamide levels to assess how PFC endocannabinoid signaling is recruited to modulate ventral hippocampal and basolateral amygdalar inputs in vivo in adolescent and adult male rats. We found that the PFC endocannabinoid signaling does not fully emerge until late-adolescence/young adulthood. Once present, both 2-AG and anandamide can be recruited in the PFC to limit the impact of hippocampal drive through a CB1R-mediated mechanism whereas basolateral amygdalar inputs are only inhibited by 2-AG. Similarly, the behavioral effects of increasing 2-AG and anandamide in the PFC do not emerge until late-adolescence/young adulthood. Using a trace fear conditioning paradigm, we found that elevating PFC 2-AG levels preferentially reduced freezing behavior during acquisition without affecting its extinction. In contrast, increasing anandamide levels in the PFC selectively disrupted the extinction of trace fear memory without affecting its acquisition. Collectively, these results indicate a protracted recruitment of PFC endocannabinoid signaling, which becomes online in late adolescence/young adulthood as revealed by its impact on hippocampal and amygdalar-evoked local field potential responses and trace fear memory behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna M Molla
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois Chicago - College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA
| | - Anabel M M Miguelez Fernández
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois Chicago - College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA
| | - Kuei Y Tseng
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois Chicago - College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
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2
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Obray JD, Wilkes ET, Scofield MD, Chandler LJ. Adolescent alcohol exposure promotes mechanical allodynia and alters synaptic function at inputs from the basolateral amygdala to the prelimbic cortex. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.17.599360. [PMID: 38948749 PMCID: PMC11212875 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.17.599360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
Binge drinking is common among adolescents despite mounting evidence linking it to various adverse health outcomes that include heightened pain perception. The prelimbic (PrL) cortex is vulnerable to insult from adolescent alcohol exposure and receives input from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) while sending projections to the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) - two brain regions implicated in nociception. In this study, adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) exposure was carried out in male and female rats using a vapor inhalation procedure. Assessments of mechanical and thermal sensitivity revealed that AIE exposure induced protracted mechanical allodynia. To investigate synaptic function at BLA inputs onto defined populations of PrL neurons, retrobeads and viral labelling were combined with optogenetics and slice electrophysiology. Recordings from retrobead labelled cells in the PrL revealed AIE reduced BLA driven feedforward inhibition of neurons projecting from the PrL to the vlPAG, resulting in augmented excitation/inhibition (E/I) balance and increased intrinsic excitability. Consistent with this finding, recordings from virally tagged PrL parvalbumin interneurons (PVINs) demonstrated that AIE exposure reduced both E/I balance at BLA inputs onto PVINs and PVIN intrinsic excitability. These findings provide compelling evidence that AIE alters synaptic function and intrinsic excitability within a prefrontal nociceptive circuit.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Daniel Obray
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425
| | - Erik T. Wilkes
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425
| | - Michael D. Scofield
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425
- Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425
| | - L. Judson Chandler
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, 29425
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3
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Blum K, Braverman ER, Gold MS, Dennen CA, Baron D, Thanos PK, Hanna C, Elman I, Gondre-Lewis MC, Ashford JW, Newberg A, Madigan MA, Jafari N, Zeine F, Sunder K, Giordano J, Barh D, Gupta A, Carney P, Bowirrat A, Badgaiyan RD. Addressing cortex dysregulation in youth through brain health check coaching and prophylactic brain development. INNOSC THERANOSTICS & PHARMACOLOGICAL SCIENCES 2024; 7:1472. [PMID: 38766548 PMCID: PMC11100020 DOI: 10.36922/itps.1472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
The Carter Center has estimated that the addiction crisis in the United States (US), if continues to worsen at the same rate, may cost the country approximately 16 trillion dollars by 2030. In recent years, the well-being of youth has been compromised by not only the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic but also the alarming global opioid crisis, particularly in the US. Each year, deadly opioid drugs claim hundreds of thousands of lives, contributing to an ever-rising death toll. In addition, maternal usage of opioids and other drugs during pregnancy could compromise the neurodevelopment of children. A high rate of DNA polymorphic antecedents compounds the occurrence of epigenetic insults involving methylation of specific essential genes related to normal brain function. These genetic antecedent insults affect healthy DNA and mRNA transcription, leading to a loss of proteins required for normal brain development and function in youth. Myelination in the frontal cortex, a process known to extend until the late 20s, delays the development of proficient executive function and decision-making abilities. Understanding this delay in brain development, along with the presence of potential high-risk antecedent polymorphic variants or alleles and generational epigenetics, provides a clear rationale for embracing the Brain Research Commission's suggestion to mimic fitness programs with an adaptable brain health check (BHC). Implementing the BHC within the educational systems in the US and other countries could serve as an effective initiative for proactive therapies aimed at reducing juvenile mental health problems and eventually criminal activities, addiction, and other behaviors associated with reward deficiency syndrome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth Blum
- Division of Addiction Research and Education, Center for Sports, Exercise and Global Mental Health, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California, United States of America
- The Kenneth Blum Behavioral and Neurogenetic Institute LLC, Austin, Texas, United States of America
- Faculty of Education and Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Molecular Biology and Adelson School of Medicine, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
- Division of Personalized Medicine, Cross-Cultural Research and Educational Institute, San Clemente, California, United States of America
- Centre for Genomics and Applied Gene Technology, Institute of Integrative Omics and Applied Biotechnology, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India
- Division of Personalized Recovery Science, Transplicegen Therapeutics, Llc., Austin, Tx., United of States
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, United States of America
- Division of Personalized Medicine, Ketamine Clinic of South Florida, Pompano Beach, Florida, United States of America
| | - Eric R. Braverman
- The Kenneth Blum Behavioral and Neurogenetic Institute LLC, Austin, Texas, United States of America
| | - Mark S. Gold
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Catherine A. Dennen
- Department of Family Medicine, Jefferson Health Northeast, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - David Baron
- Division of Addiction Research and Education, Center for Sports, Exercise and Global Mental Health, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California, United States of America
| | - Panayotis K. Thanos
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Neuropharmacology and Neuroimaging Laboratory on Addictions, Research Institute on Addictions, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States of America
| | - Colin Hanna
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Neuropharmacology and Neuroimaging Laboratory on Addictions, Research Institute on Addictions, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States of America
| | - Igor Elman
- Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Marjorie C. Gondre-Lewis
- Department of Anatomy, Howard University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C., United States of America
| | - J. Wesson Ashford
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, United States of America
| | - Andrew Newberg
- Department of Integrative Medicine and Nutritional Sciences, Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Margaret A. Madigan
- The Kenneth Blum Behavioral and Neurogenetic Institute LLC, Austin, Texas, United States of America
| | - Nicole Jafari
- Division of Personalized Medicine, Cross-Cultural Research and Educational Institute, San Clemente, California, United States of America
- Department of Human Development, California State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, California, United States of America
| | - Foojan Zeine
- Department of Human Development, California State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, California, United States of America
- Awareness Integration Institute, San Clemente, California, United States of America
| | - Keerthy Sunder
- Department of Health Science, California State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, California, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry, University California, UC Riverside School of Medicine, Riverside, California, United States of America
| | - John Giordano
- Division of Personalized Medicine, Ketamine Clinic of South Florida, Pompano Beach, Florida, United States of America
| | - Debmayla Barh
- Centre for Genomics and Applied Gene Technology, Institute of Integrative Omics and Applied Biotechnology, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India
| | - Ashim Gupta
- Future Biologics, Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Paul Carney
- Division of Pediatric Neurology, University of Missouri Health Care-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Abdalla Bowirrat
- Department of Molecular Biology and Adelson School of Medicine, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
| | - Rajendra D. Badgaiyan
- Department of Psychiatry, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, New York, United States of America
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Wang Y, Wang Y, Wang H, Ma L, Eickhoff SB, Madsen KH, Chu C, Fan L. Spatio-molecular profiles shape the human cerebellar hierarchy along the sensorimotor-association axis. Cell Rep 2024; 43:113770. [PMID: 38363683 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.113770] [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: 09/26/2023] [Revised: 12/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Cerebellar involvement in both motor and non-motor functions manifests in specific regions of the human cerebellum, revealing the functional heterogeneity within it. One compelling theory places the heterogeneity within the cerebellar functional hierarchy along the sensorimotor-association (SA) axis. Despite extensive neuroimaging studies, evidence for the cerebellar SA axis from different modalities and scales was lacking. Thus, we establish a significant link between the cerebellar SA axis and spatio-molecular profiles. Utilizing the gene set variation analysis, we find the intermediate biological principles the significant genes leveraged to scaffold the cerebellar SA axis. Interestingly, we find these spatio-molecular profiles notably associated with neuropsychiatric dysfunction and recent evolution. Furthermore, cerebello-cerebral interactions at genetic and functional connectivity levels mirror the cerebral cortex and cerebellum's SA axis. These findings can provide a deeper understanding of how the human cerebellar SA axis is shaped and its role in transitioning from sensorimotor to association functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaping Wang
- Sino-Danish Center, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Yufan Wang
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Haiyan Wang
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Liang Ma
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Kristoffer Hougaard Madsen
- Sino-Danish Center, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark; Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital-Amager and Hvidovre, 2650 Hvidovre, Denmark
| | - Congying Chu
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
| | - Lingzhong Fan
- Sino-Danish Center, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; School of Health and Life Sciences, University of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Qingdao 266000, China.
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5
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Usui K, Kirihara K, Araki T, Tada M, Koshiyama D, Fujioka M, Nishimura R, Ando S, Koike S, Sugiyama H, Shirakawa T, Toriyama R, Masaoka M, Fujikawa S, Endo K, Yamasaki S, Nishida A, Kasai K. Longitudinal change in mismatch negativity (MMN) but not in gamma-band auditory steady-state response (ASSR) is associated with psychological difficulties in adolescence. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:11070-11079. [PMID: 37815245 PMCID: PMC10631957 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Adolescence is a critical period for psychological difficulties. Auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) and gamma-band auditory steady-state response (ASSR) are representative electrophysiological indices that mature during adolescence. However, the longitudinal association between MMN/ASSR and psychological difficulties among adolescents remains unclear. We measured MMN amplitude for duration and frequency changes and ASSR twice in a subsample (n = 67, mean age 13.4 and 16.1 years, respectively) from a large-scale population-based cohort. No significant longitudinal changes were observed in any of the electroencephalography indices. Changes in SDQ-TD were significantly associated with changes in duration MMN, but not frequency MMN and ASSR. Furthermore, the subgroup with higher SDQ-TD at follow-up showed a significant duration MMN decrease over time, whereas the subgroup with lower SDQ-TD did not. The results of our population neuroscience study suggest that insufficient changes in electroencephalography indices may have been because of the short follow-up period or non-monotonic change during adolescence, and indicated that the longitudinal association with psychological difficulties was specific to the duration MMN. These findings provide new insights that electrophysiological change may underlie the development of psychosocial difficulties emerging in adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaori Usui
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
- Department of Community Mental Health & Law, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
| | - Kenji Kirihara
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
- Disability Services Office, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
| | - Tsuyoshi Araki
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Teikyo University Hospital, Mizonokuchi, Tokyo, 213-8507, Japan
| | - Mariko Tada
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
- Office for Mental Health Support, Center for Research on Counseling and Support Services, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
- The International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
| | - Daisuke Koshiyama
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
| | - Mao Fujioka
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
| | - Ryoichi Nishimura
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
| | - Shuntaro Ando
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shinsuke Koike
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
- The International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
- University of Tokyo Institute for Diversity & Adaptation of Human Mind (UTIDAHM), Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
- Center for Evolutionary Cognitive Sciences, Graduate School of Art and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Sugiyama
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
| | - Toru Shirakawa
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Faculty of Systems Design, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, 192-0397 Japan
| | - Rie Toriyama
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
| | - Mio Masaoka
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
| | - Shinya Fujikawa
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
| | - Kaori Endo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Syudo Yamasaki
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Atsushi Nishida
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kiyoto Kasai
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
- The International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
- University of Tokyo Institute for Diversity & Adaptation of Human Mind (UTIDAHM), Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
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6
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Perica MI, Luna B. Impact of stress on excitatory and inhibitory markers of adolescent cognitive critical period plasticity. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 153:105378. [PMID: 37643681 PMCID: PMC10591935 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Adolescence is a time of significant neurocognitive development. Prolonged maturation of prefrontal cortex (PFC) through adolescence has been found to support improvements in executive function. Changes in excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms of critical period plasticity have been found to be present in the PFC through adolescence, suggesting that environment may have a greater effect on development during this time. Stress is one factor known to affect neurodevelopment increasing risk for psychopathology. However, less is known about how stress experienced during adolescence could affect adolescent-specific critical period plasticity mechanisms and cognitive outcomes. In this review, we synthesize findings from human and animal literatures looking at the experience of stress during adolescence on cognition and frontal excitatory and inhibitory neural activity. Studies indicate enhancing effects of acute stress on cognition and excitation within specific contexts, while chronic stress generally dampens excitatory and inhibitory processes and impairs cognition. We propose a model of how stress could affect frontal critical period plasticity, thus potentially altering neurodevelopmental trajectories that could lead to risk for psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria I Perica
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Beatriz Luna
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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7
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Kohler CG, Wolf DH, Abi-Dargham A, Anticevic A, Cho YT, Fonteneau C, Gil R, Girgis RR, Gray DL, Grinband J, Javitch JA, Kantrowitz JT, Krystal JH, Lieberman JA, Murray JD, Ranganathan M, Santamauro N, Van Snellenberg JX, Tamayo Z, Gur RC, Gur RE, Calkins ME. Illness Phase as a Key Assessment and Intervention Window for Psychosis. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY GLOBAL OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 3:340-350. [PMID: 37519466 PMCID: PMC10382701 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2022.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2021] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The phenotype of schizophrenia, regardless of etiology, represents the most studied psychotic disorder with respect to neurobiology and distinct phases of illness. The early phase of illness represents a unique opportunity to provide effective and individualized interventions that can alter illness trajectories. Developmental age and illness stage, including temporal variation in neurobiology, can be targeted to develop phase-specific clinical assessment, biomarkers, and interventions. We review an earlier model whereby an initial glutamate signaling deficit progresses through different phases of allostatic adaptation, moving from potentially reversible functional abnormalities associated with early psychosis and working memory dysfunction, and ending with difficult-to-reverse structural changes after chronic illness. We integrate this model with evidence of dopaminergic abnormalities, including cortical D1 dysfunction, which develop during adolescence. We discuss how this model and a focus on a potential critical window of intervention in the early stages of schizophrenia impact the approach to research design and clinical care. This impact includes stage-specific considerations for symptom assessment as well as genetic, cognitive, and neurophysiological biomarkers. We examine how phase-specific biomarkers of illness phase and brain development can be incorporated into current strategies for large-scale research and clinical programs implementing coordinated specialty care. We highlight working memory and D1 dysfunction as early treatment targets that can substantially affect functional outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian G. Kohler
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Daniel H. Wolf
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Anissa Abi-Dargham
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook
| | - Alan Anticevic
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Youngsun T. Cho
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
- Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Clara Fonteneau
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Roberto Gil
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook
| | - Ragy R. Girgis
- Departments of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York
| | - David L. Gray
- Cerevel Therapeutics Research and Development, East Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Jack Grinband
- Departments of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York
| | - Jonathan A. Javitch
- Departments of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York
- Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York
- Division of Molecular Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York
| | - Joshua T. Kantrowitz
- Departments of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York
- Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, New York
| | - John H. Krystal
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Jeffrey A. Lieberman
- Departments of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York
| | - John D. Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Mohini Ranganathan
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Nicole Santamauro
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Jared X. Van Snellenberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook
| | - Zailyn Tamayo
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Ruben C. Gur
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Raquel E. Gur
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Monica E. Calkins
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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8
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Delavari F, Rafi H, Sandini C, Murray RJ, Latrèche C, Van De Ville D, Eliez S. Amygdala subdivisions exhibit aberrant whole-brain functional connectivity in relation to stress intolerance and psychotic symptoms in 22q11.2DS. Transl Psychiatry 2023; 13:145. [PMID: 37142582 PMCID: PMC10160125 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02458-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The amygdala is a key region in emotional regulation, which is often impaired in psychosis. However, it is unclear if amygdala dysfunction directly contributes to psychosis, or whether it contributes to psychosis through symptoms of emotional dysregulation. We studied the functional connectivity of amygdala subdivisions in patients with 22q11.2DS, a known genetic model for psychosis susceptibility. We investigated how dysmaturation of each subdivision's connectivity contributes to positive psychotic symptoms and impaired tolerance to stress in deletion carriers. Longitudinally-repeated MRI scans from 105 patients with 22q11.2DS (64 at high-risk for psychosis and 37 with impaired tolerance to stress) and 120 healthy controls between the ages of 5 to 30 years were included. We calculated seed-based whole-brain functional connectivity for amygdalar subdivisions and employed a longitudinal multivariate approach to evaluate the developmental trajectory of functional connectivity across groups. Patients with 22q11.2DS presented a multivariate pattern of decreased basolateral amygdala (BLA)-frontal connectivity alongside increased BLA-hippocampal connectivity. Moreover, associations between developmental drops in centro-medial amygdala (CMA)-frontal connectivity to both impaired tolerance to stress and positive psychotic symptoms in deletion carriers were detected. Superficial amygdala hyperconnectivity to the striatum was revealed as a specific pattern arising in patients who develop mild to moderate positive psychotic symptoms. Overall, CMA-frontal dysconnectivity was found as a mutual neurobiological substrate in both impaired tolerance to stress and psychosis, suggesting a role in prodromal dysregulation of emotions in psychosis. While BLA dysconnectivity was found to be an early finding in patients with 22q11.2DS, which contributes to impaired tolerance to stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farnaz Delavari
- Developmental Imaging and Psychopathology Laboratory, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Neuro-X Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Halima Rafi
- Developmental Imaging and Psychopathology Laboratory, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland
- Developmental Clinical Psychology Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Corrado Sandini
- Developmental Imaging and Psychopathology Laboratory, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Ryan J Murray
- Psychiatry Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Campus Biotech, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Caren Latrèche
- Developmental Imaging and Psychopathology Laboratory, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Dimitri Van De Ville
- Neuro-X Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, University of Geneva (UNIGE), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Stephan Eliez
- Developmental Imaging and Psychopathology Laboratory, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland
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9
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Chen H, Belanger MJ, Garbusow M, Kuitunen-Paul S, Huys QJM, Heinz A, Rapp MA, Smolka MN. Susceptibility to interference between Pavlovian and instrumental control predisposes risky alcohol use developmental trajectory from ages 18 to 24. Addict Biol 2023; 28:e13263. [PMID: 36692874 DOI: 10.1111/adb.13263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Pavlovian cues can influence ongoing instrumental behaviour via Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) processes. While appetitive Pavlovian cues tend to promote instrumental approach, they are detrimental when avoidance behaviour is required, and vice versa for aversive cues. We recently reported that susceptibility to interference between Pavlovian and instrumental control assessed via a PIT task was associated with risky alcohol use at age 18. We now investigated whether such susceptibility also predicts drinking trajectories until age 24, based on AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) consumption and binge drinking (gramme alcohol/drinking occasion) scores. The interference PIT effect, assessed at ages 18 and 21 during fMRI, was characterized by increased error rates (ER) and enhanced neural responses in the ventral striatum (VS), the lateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortices (dmPFC) during conflict, that is, when an instrumental approach was required in the presence of an aversive Pavlovian cue or vice versa. We found that a stronger VS response during conflict at age 18 was associated with a higher starting point of both drinking trajectories but predicted a decrease in binge drinking. At age 21, high ER and enhanced neural responses in the dmPFC were associated with increasing AUDIT-C scores over the next 3 years until age 24. Overall, susceptibility to interference between Pavlovian and instrumental control might be viewed as a predisposing mechanism towards hazardous alcohol use during young adulthood, and the identified high-risk group may profit from targeted interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Chen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Matthew J Belanger
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Maria Garbusow
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sören Kuitunen-Paul
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Quentin J M Huys
- Division of Psychiatry and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, UK
| | - Andreas Heinz
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael A Rapp
- Social and Preventive Medicine, Area of Excellence Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Michael N Smolka
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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10
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Peters KZ, Naneix F. The role of dopamine and endocannabinoid systems in prefrontal cortex development: Adolescence as a critical period. Front Neural Circuits 2022; 16:939235. [PMID: 36389180 PMCID: PMC9663658 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2022.939235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex plays a central role in the control of complex cognitive processes including action control and decision making. It also shows a specific pattern of delayed maturation related to unique behavioral changes during adolescence and allows the development of adult cognitive processes. The adolescent brain is extremely plastic and critically vulnerable to external insults. Related to this vulnerability, adolescence is also associated with the emergence of numerous neuropsychiatric disorders involving alterations of prefrontal functions. Within prefrontal microcircuits, the dopamine and the endocannabinoid systems have widespread effects on adolescent-specific ontogenetic processes. In this review, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of the maturation of the dopamine system and the endocannabinoid system in the prefrontal cortex during adolescence. We discuss how they interact with GABA and glutamate neurons to modulate prefrontal circuits and how they can be altered by different environmental events leading to long-term neurobiological and behavioral changes at adulthood. Finally, we aim to identify several future research directions to help highlight gaps in our current knowledge on the maturation of these microcircuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Zara Peters
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, United Kingdom
| | - Fabien Naneix
- The Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom,*Correspondence: Fabien Naneix
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11
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Benoit LJ, Canetta S, Kellendonk C. Thalamocortical Development: A Neurodevelopmental Framework for Schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 2022; 92:491-500. [PMID: 35550792 PMCID: PMC9999366 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Revised: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Adolescence is a period of increased vulnerability for the development of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) undergoes substantial maturation during this period, and PFC dysfunction is central to cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. As a result, impaired adolescent maturation of the PFC has been proposed as a mechanism in the etiology of the disorder and its cognitive symptoms. In adulthood, PFC function is tightly linked to its reciprocal connections with the thalamus, and acutely inhibiting thalamic inputs to the PFC produces impairments in PFC function and cognitive deficits. Here, we propose that thalamic activity is equally important during adolescence because it is required for proper PFC circuit development. Because thalamic abnormalities have been observed early in the progression of schizophrenia, we further postulate that adolescent thalamic dysfunction can have long-lasting consequences for PFC function and cognition in patients with schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura J Benoit
- Graduate Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York
| | - Sarah Canetta
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York; Division of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
| | - Christoph Kellendonk
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York; Department of Pharmacology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York; Division of Molecular Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York.
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12
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Benoit LJ, Holt ES, Posani L, Fusi S, Harris AZ, Canetta S, Kellendonk C. Adolescent thalamic inhibition leads to long-lasting impairments in prefrontal cortex function. Nat Neurosci 2022; 25:714-725. [PMID: 35590075 PMCID: PMC9202412 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01072-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Impaired cortical maturation is a postulated mechanism in the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia. In the sensory cortex, activity relayed by the thalamus during a postnatal sensitive period is essential for proper cortical maturation. Whether thalamic activity also shapes prefrontal cortical maturation is unknown. We show that inhibiting the mediodorsal and midline thalamus in mice during adolescence leads to a long-lasting decrease in thalamo-prefrontal projection density and reduced excitatory drive to prefrontal neurons. It also caused prefrontal-dependent cognitive deficits during adulthood associated with disrupted prefrontal cross-correlations and task outcome encoding. Thalamic inhibition during adulthood had no long-lasting consequences. Exciting the thalamus in adulthood during a cognitive task rescued prefrontal cross-correlations, task outcome encoding and cognitive deficits. These data point to adolescence as a sensitive window of thalamocortical circuit maturation. Furthermore, by supporting prefrontal network activity, boosting thalamic activity provides a potential therapeutic strategy for rescuing cognitive deficits in neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura J Benoit
- Graduate Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Emma S Holt
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- Division of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Lorenzo Posani
- Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Stefano Fusi
- Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- Kavli Institute for Brain Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Alexander Z Harris
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- Division of Systems Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sarah Canetta
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- Division of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Christoph Kellendonk
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
- Division of Molecular Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
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13
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Sicher AR, Duerr A, Starnes WD, Crowley NA. Adolescent Alcohol and Stress Exposure Rewires Key Cortical Neurocircuitry. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:896880. [PMID: 35655755 PMCID: PMC9152326 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.896880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Human adolescence is a period of development characterized by wide ranging emotions and behavioral risk taking, including binge drinking (Konrad et al., 2013). These behavioral manifestations of adolescence are complemented by growth in the neuroarchitecture of the brain, including synaptic pruning (Spear, 2013) and increases in overall white matter volume (Perrin et al., 2008). During this period of profound physiological maturation, the adolescent brain has a unique vulnerability to negative perturbations. Alcohol consumption and stress exposure, both of which are heightened during adolescence, can individually and synergistically alter these neurodevelopmental trajectories in positive and negative ways (conferring both resiliency and susceptibility) and influence already changing neurotransmitter systems and circuits. Importantly, the literature is rapidly changing and evolving in our understanding of basal sex differences in the brain, as well as the interaction between biological sex and life experiences. The animal literature provides the distinctive opportunity to explore sex-specific stress- and alcohol- induced changes in neurocircuits on a relatively rapid time scale. In addition, animal models allow for the investigation of individual neurons and signaling molecules otherwise inaccessible in the human brain. Here, we review the human and rodent literature with a focus on cortical development, neurotransmitters, peptides, and steroids, to characterize the field's current understanding of the interaction between adolescence, biological sex, and exposure to stress and alcohol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avery R. Sicher
- The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
| | - Arielle Duerr
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
| | - William D. Starnes
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
| | - Nicole A. Crowley
- The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
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14
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Zhang YX, Xing B, Li YC, Yan CX, Gao WJ. NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic transmission in prefrontal neurons underlies social memory retrieval in female mice. Neuropharmacology 2022; 204:108895. [PMID: 34813859 PMCID: PMC8688302 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Revised: 10/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Social memory is the ability to discriminate familiar conspecific from the unknown ones. Prefrontal neurons are essentially required for social memory, but the mechanism associated with this regulation remains unknown. It is also unclear to what extent the neuronal representations of social memory formation and retrieval events overlap in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and which event drives social memory strength. Here we asked these questions by using a repeated social training paradigm for social recognition in FosTRAP mice. We found that after 4 days' repeated social training, female mice developed stable social memory. Specifically, repeated social training activated more cells that were labeled with tdTomato during memory retrieval compared with the first day of memory encoding. Besides, combining TRAP with c-Fos immunostaining, we found about 30% of the FosTRAPed cells were reactivated during retrieval. Moreover, the number of retrieval-induced but not first-day encoding-induced tdTomato neurons correlates with the social recognition ratio in the prelimbic but not other subregions. The activated cells during the retrieval session also showed increased NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic transmission compared with that in non-labeled pyramidal neurons. Blocking NMDA receptors by MK-801 impaired social memory but not sociability. Therefore, our results reveal that repetitive training elevates mPFC involvement in social memory retrieval via enhancing NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic transmission, thus rendering stable social memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Xiang Zhang
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA,College of Forensic Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710061, China
| | - Bo Xing
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA
| | - Yan-Chun Li
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA
| | - Chun-Xia Yan
- College of Forensic Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710061, China.
| | - Wen-Jun Gao
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA.
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15
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Yang S, Tseng KY. Maturation of Corticolimbic Functional Connectivity During Sensitive Periods of Brain Development. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2022; 53:37-53. [PMID: 34386969 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2021_239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The maturation of key corticolimbic structures and the prefrontal cortex during sensitive periods of brain development from early life through adolescence is crucial for the acquisition of a variety of cognitive and affective processes associated with adult behavior. In this chapter, we first review how key cellular and circuit level changes during adolescence dictate the development of the prefrontal cortex and its capacity to integrate contextual and emotional information from the ventral hippocampus and the amygdala. We further discuss how afferent transmission from ventral hippocampal and amygdala inputs displays unique age-dependent trajectories that directly impact prefrontal functional maturation through adolescence. We conclude by proposing that time-sensitive strengthening of specific corticolimbic synapses is a critical contributing factor for the protracted maturation of cognitive and emotional regulation by the prefrontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaolin Yang
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Kuei Y Tseng
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago - College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
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16
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Aberrant maturation and connectivity of prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia-contribution of NMDA receptor development and hypofunction. Mol Psychiatry 2022; 27:731-743. [PMID: 34163013 PMCID: PMC8695640 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-021-01196-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2020] [Revised: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The neurobiology of schizophrenia involves multiple facets of pathophysiology, ranging from its genetic basis over changes in neurochemistry and neurophysiology, to the systemic level of neural circuits. Although the precise mechanisms associated with the neuropathophysiology remain elusive, one essential aspect is the aberrant maturation and connectivity of the prefrontal cortex that leads to complex symptoms in various stages of the disease. Here, we focus on how early developmental dysfunction, especially N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) development and hypofunction, may lead to the dysfunction of both local circuitry within the prefrontal cortex and its long-range connectivity. More specifically, we will focus on an "all roads lead to Rome" hypothesis, i.e., how NMDAR hypofunction during development acts as a convergence point and leads to local gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) deficits and input-output dysconnectivity in the prefrontal cortex, which eventually induce cognitive and social deficits. Many outstanding questions and hypothetical mechanisms are listed for future investigations of this intriguing hypothesis that may lead to a better understanding of the aberrant maturation and connectivity associated with the prefrontal cortex.
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17
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Sydnor VJ, Larsen B, Bassett DS, Alexander-Bloch A, Fair DA, Liston C, Mackey AP, Milham MP, Pines A, Roalf DR, Seidlitz J, Xu T, Raznahan A, Satterthwaite TD. Neurodevelopment of the association cortices: Patterns, mechanisms, and implications for psychopathology. Neuron 2021; 109:2820-2846. [PMID: 34270921 PMCID: PMC8448958 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 234] [Impact Index Per Article: 78.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Revised: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The human brain undergoes a prolonged period of cortical development that spans multiple decades. During childhood and adolescence, cortical development progresses from lower-order, primary and unimodal cortices with sensory and motor functions to higher-order, transmodal association cortices subserving executive, socioemotional, and mentalizing functions. The spatiotemporal patterning of cortical maturation thus proceeds in a hierarchical manner, conforming to an evolutionarily rooted, sensorimotor-to-association axis of cortical organization. This developmental program has been characterized by data derived from multimodal human neuroimaging and is linked to the hierarchical unfolding of plasticity-related neurobiological events. Critically, this developmental program serves to enhance feature variation between lower-order and higher-order regions, thus endowing the brain's association cortices with unique functional properties. However, accumulating evidence suggests that protracted plasticity within late-maturing association cortices, which represents a defining feature of the human developmental program, also confers risk for diverse developmental psychopathologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerie J Sydnor
- Penn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Bart Larsen
- Penn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Danielle S Bassett
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering & Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, School of Engineering & Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
| | - Aaron Alexander-Bloch
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Damien A Fair
- Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain, Institute of Child Development, College of Education and Human Development, Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55414, USA
| | - Conor Liston
- Department of Psychiatry and Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Allyson P Mackey
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Michael P Milham
- Center for the Developing Brain, Child Mind Institute, New York, NY 10022, USA; Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA
| | - Adam Pines
- Penn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - David R Roalf
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Jakob Seidlitz
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Ting Xu
- Center for the Developing Brain, Child Mind Institute, New York, NY 10022, USA
| | - Armin Raznahan
- Section on Developmental Neurogenomics, NIMH Intramural Research Program, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Theodore D Satterthwaite
- Penn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Center for Biomedical Image Computing and Analytics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
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18
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Effects of the GluN2B antagonist, Ro 25-6981, on extinction consolidation following adolescent- or adult-onset methamphetamine self-administration in male and female rats. Behav Pharmacol 2021; 31:748-758. [PMID: 32925228 DOI: 10.1097/fbp.0000000000000586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Previous work suggests adolescent rats have deficient extinction consolidation relative to adults. Although the mechanisms underlying this age difference are currently unknown, studies in adult rats have implicated GluN2B-containing N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor function in extinction consolidation of drug-associated memory. Importantly, GluN2B neurotransmission emerges during adolescent development, and drugs of abuse during adolescence may delay the development of extinction consolidation by disrupting the ontogeny of GluN2B function. Here, we trained Sprague-Dawley rats of both sexes to self-administer methamphetamine [METH, 0.1 mg/kg/infusion intravenous (i.v.)] beginning during adolescence [postnatal (P) day 41] or adulthood (P91). Rats were given short access (2 h) to self-administer METH in seven daily sessions followed by 14 sessions with long access (6 h). Subsequently, rats underwent four daily 30-minute extinction sessions with immediate postsession injections of either a GluN2B antagonist [Ro25-6981; 6 mg/kg, intraperitoneal (i.p.)] or a vehicle solution. After four daily 2-h extinction sessions, a priming injection (1 mg/kg METH, i.p.) was given prior to a final 2-h reinstatement session. During LgA, adolescent-onset rats earn more METH than adult-onset rats and display greater drug-loading behavior. Rats reduced their drug-seeking behavior across the extinction sessions, with no significant group differences. Rats reinstated drug-seeking following the METH-priming injection, with females displaying greater reinstatement than males. These results do not support our a priori hypothesis that adolescent-onset METH use disrupts the ontogeny of GluN2B transmission and contributes to age-of-onset differences in extinction of METH-seeking. However, our findings suggest that age-of-onset contributes to excessive METH-taking, while sex confers vulnerability to relapse to METH-seeking.
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19
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Mizera J, Kazek G, Niedzielska-Andres E, Pomierny-Chamiolo L. Maternal high-sugar diet results in NMDA receptors abnormalities and cognitive impairment in rat offspring. FASEB J 2021; 35:e21547. [PMID: 33855764 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202002691r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Revised: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive impairment affects patients suffering from various neuropsychiatric diseases, which are often accompanied by changes in the glutamatergic system. Epidemiological studies indicate that predispositions to the development of neuropsychiatric diseases may be programmed prenatally. Mother's improper diet during pregnancy and lactation may cause fetal abnormalities and, consequently, predispose to diseases in childhood and even adulthood. Considering the prevalence of obesity in developed countries, it seems important to examine the effects of diet on the behavior and physiology of future generations. We hypothesized that exposure to sugar excess in a maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation would affect memory as the NMDA receptor-related processes. Through the manipulation of the sugar amount in the maternal diet in rats, we assessed its effect on offspring's memory. Then, we evaluated if memory alterations were paralleled by molecular changes in NMDA receptors and related modulatory pathways in the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus of adolescent and young adult female and male offspring. Behavioral studies have shown sex-related changes like impaired recognition memory in adolescent males and spatial memory in females. Molecular results confirmed an NMDA receptor hypofunction along with subunit composition abnormalities in the medial prefrontal cortex of adolescent offspring. In young adults, GluN2A-containing receptors were dominant in the medial prefrontal cortex, while in the hippocampus the GluN2B subunit contribution was elevated. In conclusion, we demonstrated that a maternal high-sugar diet can affect the memory processes in the offspring by disrupting the NMDA receptor composition and regulation in the medial prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jozef Mizera
- Department of Toxicology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Kazek
- Department of Pharmacodynamics, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
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20
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Loh MK, Rosenkranz JA. Shifts in Medial Orbitofrontal Cortex Activity from Adolescence to Adulthood. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:528-539. [PMID: 34297804 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 06/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Adolescents are characterized by a propensity for risky and impulsive behaviors, likely due to immature frontostriatal circuits. The medial orbitofrontal cortex (MO) is linked to risk and reward prediction during decision-making. Identifying age-dependent differences in MO activity and its inputs to downstream regions can elucidate the neural substrates that permit the transition from high-risk adolescent behaviors to increased risk assessment in adulthood. Action selection biased by information gathered by the MO is likely carried out by efferents into the nucleus accumbens (NAc), which guides reward-directed behaviors. Despite the large age dependency of risk-based decision-making, there is nothing known about adolescent MO activity. Here, we recorded action potentials of MO neurons from anesthetized adult and adolescent rats in vivo. On average, adolescent MO neurons fire faster and within narrower ranges than adults, and adolescents have more active MO neurons than adults. Using antidromic stimulation of axon terminals to identify MO neurons that project to NAc (MO→NAc), we found that adolescent MO→NAc neurons have a narrower range of firing frequencies than non-NAc-projecting MO neurons and adult MO→NAc neurons. These age-dependent differences in MO and MO→NAc populations may result from the fine-tuning of circuits between adolescence and adulthood that promote specific age-dependent behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxine K Loh
- Department of Foundational Sciences and Humanities, Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA.,Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - J Amiel Rosenkranz
- Department of Foundational Sciences and Humanities, Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA.,Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
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21
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Banks PJ, Bashir ZI. NMDARs in prefrontal cortex - Regulation of synaptic transmission and plasticity. Neuropharmacology 2021; 192:108614. [PMID: 34022178 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108614] [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: 04/06/2021] [Revised: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In this review we consider the various roles played by N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) located on pyramidal neurones in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). We focus on recent data from our lab that has investigated how NMDARs contribute to ongoing synaptic transmission in a frequency dependent manner, the plasticity of NMDARs and how this impacts their contribution to synaptic transmission, and finally consider how NMDARs contribute to plasticity induced by synchronous activation of two separate inputs to mPFC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J Banks
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences Building, University Walk, University of Bristol, Bristol BS81TD, UK
| | - Zafar I Bashir
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences Building, University Walk, University of Bristol, Bristol BS81TD, UK.
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22
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Banks PJ, Warburton EC, Bashir ZI. Plasticity in Prefrontal Cortex Induced by Coordinated Synaptic Transmission Arising from Reuniens/Rhomboid Nuclei and Hippocampus. Cereb Cortex Commun 2021; 2:tgab029. [PMID: 34296174 PMCID: PMC8152950 DOI: 10.1093/texcom/tgab029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 03/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The nucleus reuniens and rhomboid nuclei of the thalamus (ReRh) are reciprocally connected to a range of higher order cortices including hippocampus (HPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The physiological function of ReRh is well predicted by requirement for interactions between mPFC and HPC, including associative recognition memory, spatial navigation, and working memory. Although anatomical and electrophysiological evidence suggests ReRh makes excitatory synapses in mPFC there is little data on the physiological properties of these projections, or whether ReRh and HPC target overlapping cell populations and, if so, how they interact. We demonstrate in ex vivo mPFC slices that ReRh and HPC afferent inputs converge onto more than two-thirds of layer 5 pyramidal neurons, show that ReRh, but not HPC, undergoes marked short-term plasticity during theta frequency transmission, and that HPC, but not ReRh, afferents are subject to neuromodulation by acetylcholine acting via muscarinic receptor M2. Finally, we demonstrate that pairing HPC followed by ReRh (but not pairing ReRh followed by HPC) at theta frequency induces associative, NMDA receptor dependent synaptic plasticity in both inputs to mPFC. These data provide vital physiological phenotypes of the synapses of this circuit and provide a novel mechanism for HPC-ReRh-mPFC encoding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J Banks
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Biomedical Sciences Building, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK
| | - E Clea Warburton
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Biomedical Sciences Building, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK
| | - Zafar I Bashir
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Biomedical Sciences Building, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK
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23
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Bates MLS, Trujillo KA. Use and abuse of dissociative and psychedelic drugs in adolescence. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2021; 203:173129. [PMID: 33515586 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2021.173129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Adolescence is a period of profound developmental changes, which run the gamut from behavioral and neural to physiological and hormonal. It is also a time at which there is an increased propensity to engage in risk-taking and impulsive behaviors like drug use. This review examines the human and preclinical literature on adolescent drug use and its consequences, with a focus on dissociatives (PCP, ketamine, DXM), classic psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin), and MDMA. It is the case for all the substances reviewed here that very little is known about their effects in adolescent populations. An emerging aspect of the literature is that dissociatives and MDMA produce mixed reinforcing and aversive effects and that the balance between reinforcement and aversion may differ between adolescents and adults, with consequences for drug use and addiction. However, many studies have failed to directly compare adults and adolescents, which precludes definitive conclusions about these consequences. Other important areas that are largely unexplored are sex differences during adolescence and the long-term consequences of adolescent use of these substances. We provide suggestions for future work to address the gaps we identified in the literature. Given the widespread use of these drugs among adolescent users, and the potential for therapeutic use, this work will be crucial to understanding abuse potential and consequences of use in this developmental stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- M L Shawn Bates
- Department of Psychology, California State University Chico, 400 W. First St, Chico, CA 95929, USA.
| | - Keith A Trujillo
- Department of Psychology and Office for Training, Research and Education in the Sciences (OTRES), California State University San Marcos, 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Rd, San Marcos, CA 92096, USA..
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24
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Prefrontal α7nAChR Signaling Differentially Modulates Afferent Drive and Trace Fear Conditioning Behavior in Adolescent and Adult Rats. J Neurosci 2021; 41:1908-1916. [PMID: 33478990 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1941-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2020] [Revised: 11/29/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Increased level of kynurenic acid is thought to contribute to the development of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia through an α7nAChR-mediated mechanism in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, it remains unclear to what extent disruption of PFC α7nAChR signaling impacts afferent transmission and its modulation of behavior. Using male rats, we found that PFC infusion of methyllycaconitine (MLA; α7nAChR antagonist) shifts ventral hippocampal-induced local field potential (LFP) suppression to LFP facilitation, an effect only observed in adults. Hippocampal stimulation can also elicit a GluN2B-mediated LFP potentiation (when PFC GABAAR is blocked) that is insensitive to MLA. Conversely, PFC infusion of MLA diminished the gain of amygdalar transmission, which is already enabled by postnatal day (P)30. Behaviorally, the impact of prefrontal MLA on trace fear-conditioning and extinction was also age related. While freezing behavior during conditioning was reduced by MLA only in adults, it elicited opposite effects in adolescent and adult rats during extinction as revealed by the level of reduced and increased freezing response, respectively. We next asked whether the late-adolescent onset of α7nAChR modulation of hippocampal inputs contributes to the age-dependent effect of MLA during extinction. Data revealed that the increased freezing behavior elicited by MLA in adult rats could be driven by a dysregulation of the GluN2B transmission in the PFC. Collectively, these results indicate that distinct neural circuits are recruited during the extinction of trace fear memory in adolescents and adults, likely because of the late-adolescent maturation of the ventral hippocampal-PFC functional connectivity and its modulation by α7nAChR signaling.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Abnormal elevation of the astrocyte-derived metabolite kynurenic acid in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is thought to impair cognitive functions in schizophrenia through an α7nAChR-mediated mechanism. Here, we found that prefrontal α7nAChR signaling is recruited to control the gain of hippocampal and amygdalar afferent transmission in an input-specific, age-related manner during the adolescent transition to adulthood. Behaviorally, prefrontal α7nAChR modulation of trace fear memory was also age-related, likely because of the late-adolescent maturation of the ventral hippocampal pathway and its recruitment of PFC GABAergic transmission enabled by local α7nAChR signaling. Collectively, these results reveal that distinct α7nAChR-sensitive neural circuits contribute to regulate behavior responses in adolescents and adults, particularly those requiring proper integration of hippocampal and amygdalar inputs by the PFC.
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25
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Drzewiecki CM, Juraska JM. The structural reorganization of the prefrontal cortex during adolescence as a framework for vulnerability to the environment. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2020; 199:173044. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2020.173044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Revised: 09/04/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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26
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Hung CC, Liu YH, Huang CC, Chou CY, Chen CM, Duann JR, Li CSR, Lee TSH, Lin CP. Effects of early ketamine exposure on cerebral gray matter volume and functional connectivity. Sci Rep 2020; 10:15488. [PMID: 32968108 PMCID: PMC7512006 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-72320-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Ketamine has been used for medical purposes, most typically as an anesthetic, and recent studies support its use in the treatment of depression. However, ketamine tends to be abused by adolescents and young adults. In the current study, we examined the effects of early ketamine exposure on brain structure and function. We employed MRI to assess the effects of ketamine abuse on cerebral gray matter volume (GMV) and functional connectivity (FC) in 34 users and 19 non-users, employing covariates. Ketamine users were categorized as adolescent-onset and adult-onset based on when they were first exposed to ketamine. Imaging data were processed by published routines in SPM and AFNI. The results revealed lower GMV in the left precuneus in ketamine users, with a larger decrease in the adolescent-onset group. The results from a seed-based correlation analysis show that both ketamine groups had higher functional connectivity between left precuneus (seed) and right precuneus than the control group. Compared to controls, ketamine users showed decreased GMV in the right insula, left inferior parietal lobule, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex/superior frontal gyrus, and left medial orbitofrontal cortex. These preliminary results characterize the effects of ketamine misuse on brain structure and function and highlight the influence of earlier exposure to ketamine on the development of the brain. The precuneus, a structure of central importance to cerebral functional organization, may be particularly vulnerable to the influences of early ketamine exposure. How these structural and functional brain changes may relate to the cognitive and affective deficits remains to be determined with a large cohort of participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chia-Chun Hung
- Institute of Brain Science, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Bali Psychiatric Center, Ministry of Health and Welfare, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Hsuan Liu
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang Ming University, No.155, Sec.2, Li-nong Street, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chu-Chung Huang
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, Taiwan
| | - Cheng-Ying Chou
- Department of Biomechatronics Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chun-Ming Chen
- Department of Radiology, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Jeng-Ren Duann
- Institute of Education, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.,Institute for Neural Computation, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Chiang-Shan R Li
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.,Departemnt of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Tony Szu-Hsien Lee
- Department of Health Promotion and Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University, 162 Section One, He-Ping East Road, Taipei, Taiwan. .,CTBC Center for Addiction Prevention and Policy Research, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Ching-Po Lin
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang Ming University, No.155, Sec.2, Li-nong Street, Taipei, Taiwan.
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27
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Westbrook SR, Dwyer MR, Cortes LR, Gulley JM. Extended access self-administration of methamphetamine is associated with age- and sex-dependent differences in drug taking behavior and recognition memory in rats. Behav Brain Res 2020; 390:112659. [PMID: 32437887 PMCID: PMC7307427 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2020] [Revised: 03/31/2020] [Accepted: 04/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Individuals who begin drug use during early adolescence experience more adverse consequences compared to those initiating later, especially if they are female. The mechanisms for these age and gender differences remain obscure, but studies in rodents suggest that psychostimulants may disrupt the normal ontogeny of dopamine and glutamate systems in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Here, we studied Sprague-Dawley rats of both sexes who began methamphetamine (METH, i.v.) self-administration in adolescence (postnatal [P] day 41) or adulthood (P91). Rats received seven daily 2-h self-administration sessions with METH or saccharin as the reinforcer, followed by 14 daily long access (LgA; 6 h) sessions. After 7 and 14 days of abstinence, novel object (NOR) or object-in-place (OiP) recognition was assessed. PFC and nucleus accumbens were collected 7 days after the final cognitive test and NMDA receptor subunits and dopamine D1 receptor expression was measured. We found that during LgA sessions, adolescent-onset rats escalated METH intake more rapidly than adult-onset rats, with adolescent-onset females earning the most infusions. Adolescent-onset rats with a history of METH self-administration exhibited modest deficits in OiP compared to their adult-onset counterparts, but there was no sex difference and self-administration groups did not differ from naïve control rats. All rats displayed intact novel object recognition memory. We found no group differences in D1 and NMDA receptor expression, suggesting no long-lasting alteration of ontogenetic expression profiles. Our findings suggest that adolescent-onset drug use is more likely to lead to compulsive-like patterns of drug-taking and modest dysfunction in PFC-dependent cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara R Westbrook
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
| | - Megan R Dwyer
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
| | - Laura R Cortes
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
| | - Joshua M Gulley
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.
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28
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Molla HM, Tseng KY. Neural substrates underlying the negative impact of cannabinoid exposure during adolescence. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2020; 195:172965. [PMID: 32526217 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2020.172965] [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: 04/06/2020] [Revised: 05/24/2020] [Accepted: 06/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
As cannabinoid use among the adolescent population becomes widespread with recent legalizations, understanding more about its effects on the developing brain becomes increasingly important. Adolescent cannabinoid use has been shown to elicit both short and long lasting effects on cortical function, in part due to its impact on maturing brain regions including the prefrontal cortex and associated inputs. This paper provides an overview of current state of knowledge on the lasting impact of repeated cannabinoid exposure on behavior and associated neural circuits in adolescents compared to other age groups. Data obtained from human and rodent literature are integrated to discuss potential neural mechanisms underpinning the enduring negative impact of cannabinoid exposure during this sensitive period of brain development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna M Molla
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago - College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Kuei Y Tseng
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago - College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
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29
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MK-801 Exposure during Adolescence Elicits Enduring Disruption of Prefrontal E-I Balance and Its Control of Fear Extinction Behavior. J Neurosci 2020; 40:4881-4887. [PMID: 32430298 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0581-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Revised: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding how disruption of prefrontal cortex (PFC) maturation during adolescence is crucial to reveal which neural processes could contribute to the onset of psychiatric disorders that display frontal cortical deficits. Of particular interest is the gain of GABAergic function in the PFC during adolescence and its susceptibility to the impact of transient blockade of NMDA receptor function. Here we assessed whether exposure to MK-801 during adolescence in male rats triggers a state of excitatory-inhibitory imbalance in the PFC that limits its functional capacity to regulate behavior in adulthood. Recordings from PFC brain slices revealed that MK-801 exposure during adolescence preferentially reduces the presynaptic functionality of GABAergic activity over that of excitatory synapses. As a result, an imbalance of excitatory-inhibitory synaptic activity emerges in the PFC that correlates linearly with the GABAergic deficit. Notably, the data also suggest that the diminished prefrontal GABAergic function could arise from a deficit in the recruitment of fast-spiking interneurons by excitatory inputs during adolescence. At the behavioral level, MK-801 exposure during adolescence did not disrupt the acquisition of trace fear conditioning, but markedly increased the level of freezing response during extinction testing. Infusion of the GABAA receptor-positive allosteric modulator Indiplon into the PFC before extinction testing reduced the level of freezing response in MK-801-treated rats to control levels. Collectively, the results indicate NMDA receptor signaling during adolescence enables the gain of prefrontal GABAergic function, which is required for maintaining proper excitatory-inhibitory balance in the PFC and its control of behavioral responses.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A developmental disruption of prefrontal cortex maturation has been implicated in the pathophysiology of cognitive deficits in psychiatric disorders. Of particular interest is the susceptibility of the local GABAergic circuit to the impact of transient disruption of NMDA receptors. Here we found that NMDA receptor signaling is critical to enable the gain of prefrontal GABAergic transmission during adolescence for maintaining proper levels of excitatory-inhibitory balance in the PFC and its control of behavior.
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30
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Ren M, Lotfipour S. Nicotine Gateway Effects on Adolescent Substance Use. West J Emerg Med 2019; 20:696-709. [PMID: 31539325 PMCID: PMC6754186 DOI: 10.5811/westjem.2019.7.41661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2018] [Revised: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Given the rise in teenage use of electronic nicotine delivery systems ("vaping") in congruence with the increasing numbers of drug-related emergencies, it is critical to expand the knowledge of the physical and behavioral risks associated with developmental nicotine exposure. A further understanding of the molecular and neurochemical underpinnings of nicotine's gateway effects allows emergency clinicians to advise patients and families and adjust treatment accordingly, which may minimize the use of tobacco, nicotine, and future substances. Currently, the growing use of tobacco products and electronic cigarettes among teenagers represents a major public health concern. Adolescent exposure to tobacco or nicotine can lead to subsequent abuse of nicotine and other substances, which is known as the gateway hypothesis. Adolescence is a developmentally sensitive time period when risk-taking behaviors, such as sensation seeking and drug experimentation, often begin. These hallmark behaviors of adolescence are largely due to maturational changes in the brain. The developing brain is particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of drugs of abuse, including tobacco and nicotine products, which activate nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Disruption of nAChR development with early nicotine use may influence the function and pharmacology of the receptor subunits and alter the release of reward-related neurotransmitters, including acetylcholine, dopamine, GABA, serotonin, and glutamate. In this review, we emphasize that the effects of nicotine are highly dependent on timing of exposure, with a dynamic interaction of nAChRs with dopaminergic, endocannabinoid, and opioidergic systems to enhance general drug reward and reinforcement. We analyzed available literature regarding adolescent substance use and nicotine's impact on the developing brain and behavior using the electronic databases of PubMed and Google Scholar for articles published in English between January 1968 and November 2018. We present a large collection of clinical and preclinical evidence that adolescent nicotine exposure influences long-term molecular, biochemical, and functional changes in the brain that encourage subsequent drug abuse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Ren
- University of California, Irvine, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Irvine, California
| | - Shahrdad Lotfipour
- University of California, Irvine, Department of Emergency Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Irvine, California
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31
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Zou Y, Zhang H, Chen X, Ji W, Mao L, Lei H. Age-dependent effects of (+)-MK801 treatment on glutamate release and metabolism in the rat medial prefrontal cortex. Neurochem Int 2019; 129:104503. [PMID: 31299416 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuint.2019.104503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2019] [Revised: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
NMDAR antagonist treatments in adolescent/young adult rodents are associated with augmented glutamate (Glu) release and perturbed Glu/glutamine (Gln) metabolism in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) resembling those found in first-episode schizophrenia. Few studies, however, investigated NMDAR antagonist-induced changes in the adult mPFC and whether there is an age-dependence to this end. In this study, the effects of acute/repeated (+)-MK801 treatment on Glu release/metabolism were measured in the mPFC of male adolescent (postnatal day 30) and adult (14 weeks) rats. Acute (+)-MK801 treatment at 0.5 mg/kg body weight induced an approximately 4-fold increase of extracellular Glu concentration in the adolescent rats, and repeated treatment for 6 consecutive days significantly increased the levels of Glu + Gln (Glx) and glial metabolites 7 days after the last dose. Histologically (+)-MK801 treatments induced reactive astrocytosis and elevated oxidative stress in the mPFC of adolescent rats, without causing evident neuronal degeneration in the region. All (+)-MK801-induced changes observed in the mPFC of adolescent rats were not present or evident in the adult rats, suggesting that the treatments might have caused less disinhibition in the adult mPFC than in the adolescent mPFC. In conclusion, the effects of (+)-MK801 treatments on the Glu release/metabolism in the mPFC were found to be age-dependent; and the adult mPFC is likely equipped with more robust neurobiological mechanisms to preserve excitatory-inhibitory balance in response to NMDAR hypofunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yijuan Zou
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, PR China; National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, PR China
| | - Hui Zhang
- National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, PR China
| | - Xi Chen
- National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, PR China
| | - Wenliang Ji
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecule Sciences, Beijing, 100190, PR China
| | - Lanqun Mao
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecule Sciences, Beijing, 100190, PR China
| | - Hao Lei
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, PR China; National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, PR China.
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32
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Derntl B, Hornung J, Sen ZD, Colic L, Li M, Walter M. Interaction of Sex and Age on the Dissociative Effects of Ketamine Action in Young Healthy Participants. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:616. [PMID: 31275104 PMCID: PMC6592148 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2019] [Accepted: 05/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Ketamine is a drug that reduces depressive and elicits schizophrenia-like symptoms in humans. However, it is largely unexplored whether women and men differ with respect to ketamine-action and whether age contributes to drug-effects. In this study we assessed dissociative symptoms via the Clinician Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS) in a total of 69 healthy subjects aged between 18 and 30 years (early adulthood) after ketamine or placebo infusion. Dissociative symptoms were generally increased only in the ketamine group post-infusion. Specifically, within the ketamine group, men reported significantly more depersonalization and amnestic symptoms than women. Furthermore, with rising age only men were less affected overall with respect to dissociative symptoms. This suggests a sex-specific protective effect of higher age which may be due to delayed brain maturation in men compared to women. We conclude that it is crucial to include sex and age in studies of drug effects in general and of ketamine-action in specific to tailor more efficient psychiatric treatments. Clinical Trial Registration: EU Clinical Trials Register (EudraCT), trial number: 2010-023414-31.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,LEAD Research School & Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - J Hornung
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Z D Sen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Clinical Affective Neuroimaging Laboratory, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - L Colic
- Department for Behavioral Neurology, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - M Li
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
| | - M Walter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Clinical Affective Neuroimaging Laboratory, Magdeburg, Germany.,Department for Behavioral Neurology, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
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33
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Kirschmann EK, Pollock MW, Nagarajan V, Torregrossa MM. Development of working memory in the male adolescent rat. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2018; 37:100601. [PMID: 30497917 PMCID: PMC6531360 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2018] [Revised: 11/08/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Working memory develops over the course of adolescence, and neuroimaging studies find development-associated changes in the activity of prefrontal cortical brain regions. Establishment of a rodent model of working memory development would permit more comprehensive studies of the molecular and circuit basis for working memory development in health and disease. Thus, in this study, working memory performance was compared between adolescent and adult male Sprague-Dawley rats using an operant-based, delay-match-to-sample working memory task. Adolescent and adult rats showed similar rates of learning the task and similar performance at a low cognitive load (delays ≤ 6 s). However, when the cognitive load increased, adolescents exhibited impaired working memory performance relative to adults, until postnatal day 50 when performance was not significantly different. Despite evidence that cannabinoids disrupt working memory, we found no effect of acute treatment with the cannabinoid receptor agonist, WIN55212,2, at either age. Moreover, expression of glutamate and GABA receptor subunits was examined in the prelimbic and infralimbic prefrontal cortex across development. NMDA receptor subunit GluN2B expression significantly decreased with age in parallel with improvements in working memory. Thus, we show evidence that rats can be used as a model to study the molecular underpinnings of working memory development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin K Kirschmann
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, United States
| | - Michael W Pollock
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, United States
| | - Vidhya Nagarajan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, United States
| | - Mary M Torregrossa
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, United States; Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, United States.
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Dopamine: Functions, Signaling, and Association with Neurological Diseases. Cell Mol Neurobiol 2018; 39:31-59. [PMID: 30446950 DOI: 10.1007/s10571-018-0632-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 480] [Impact Index Per Article: 80.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2018] [Accepted: 11/02/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The dopaminergic system plays important roles in neuromodulation, such as motor control, motivation, reward, cognitive function, maternal, and reproductive behaviors. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, synthesized in both central nervous system and the periphery, that exerts its actions upon binding to G protein-coupled receptors. Dopamine receptors are widely expressed in the body and function in both the peripheral and the central nervous systems. Dopaminergic signaling pathways are crucial to the maintenance of physiological processes and an unbalanced activity may lead to dysfunctions that are related to neurodegenerative diseases. Unveiling the neurobiology and the molecular mechanisms that underlie these illnesses may contribute to the development of new therapies that could promote a better quality of life for patients worldwide. In this review, we summarize the aspects of dopamine as a catecholaminergic neurotransmitter and discuss dopamine signaling pathways elicited through dopamine receptor activation in normal brain function. Furthermore, we describe the potential involvement of these signaling pathways in evoking the onset and progression of some diseases in the nervous system, such as Parkinson's, Schizophrenia, Huntington's, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, and Addiction. A brief description of new dopaminergic drugs recently approved and under development treatments for these ailments is also provided.
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Larsen B, Luna B. Adolescence as a neurobiological critical period for the development of higher-order cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 94:179-195. [PMID: 30201220 PMCID: PMC6526538 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 330] [Impact Index Per Article: 55.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2018] [Revised: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 09/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The transition from adolescence to adulthood is characterized by improvements in higher-order cognitive abilities and corresponding refinements of the structure and function of the brain regions that support them. Whereas the neurobiological mechanisms that govern early development of sensory systems are well-understood, the mechanisms that drive developmental plasticity of association cortices, such as prefrontal cortex (PFC), during adolescence remain to be explained. In this review, we synthesize neurodevelopmental findings at the cellular, circuit, and systems levels in PFC and evaluate them through the lens of established critical period (CP) mechanisms that guide early sensory development. We find remarkable correspondence between these neurodevelopmental processes and the mechanisms driving CP plasticity, supporting the hypothesis that adolescent development is driven by CP mechanisms that guide the rapid development of neurobiology and cognitive ability during adolescence and their subsequent stability in adulthood. Critically, understanding adolescence as a CP not only provides a mechanism for normative adolescent development, it provides a framework for understanding the role of experience and neurobiology in the emergence of psychopathology that occurs during this developmental period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bart Larsen
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, United States; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, United States.
| | - Beatriz Luna
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, United States
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Kang S, Cox CL, Gulley JM. High frequency stimulation-induced plasticity in the prelimbic cortex of rats emerges during adolescent development and is associated with an increase in dopamine receptor function. Neuropharmacology 2018; 141:158-166. [PMID: 30165079 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.08.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2018] [Revised: 08/13/2018] [Accepted: 08/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies in rats suggest that high frequency stimulation (HFS) in the ventral hippocampus induces long-term depression (LTD) in the deep layer of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), but only after the prefrontal GABA system has sufficiently developed during early-to mid-adolescence. It is not clear whether this LTD is specific to the hippocampus-mPFC circuit or is instead an intrinsitc regulatory mechanism for the developed mPFC neuro-network. The potential mechanisms underlying this HFS-induced LTD are also largely unknown. In the current study, naïve male Sprague Dawley rats were sacrificed during peri-adolescence or young adulthood for in vitro extracellular recording to determine if HFS delivered in the prelimbic cortex (PLC) would induce LTD in an age-dependent manner and if dopamine receptors are involved in the expression of this LTD. We found four trains of stimulation at 50 Hz induced an LTD in the PFC of adult, but not peri-adolescent, rats. This LTD required intact GABAA receptor functioning and could also be blocked by dopamine D1 or D2 receptor antagonists. Bath application of selective D1 or D2 receptor agonists produced a significant facilitation or suppression in the field potential, respectively, and these effects were only observed in the adult PLC. Furthermore, neither D1 nor D2 stimualtion prior to HFS was able to facilitate LTD in the peri-adolescent PLC. Together, these results suggest dopamine receptor functionality in the PLC increases during adolescent development and it plays an important role in this late-maturating form of plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuo Kang
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA
| | - Charles L Cox
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA; Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA.
| | - Joshua M Gulley
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA; Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA.
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Konstantoudaki X, Chalkiadaki K, Vasileiou E, Kalemaki K, Karagogeos D, Sidiropoulou K. Prefrontal cortical-specific differences in behavior and synaptic plasticity between adolescent and adult mice. J Neurophysiol 2018; 119:822-833. [DOI: 10.1152/jn.00189.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Adolescence is a highly vulnerable period for the emergence of major neuropsychological disorders and is characterized by decreased cognitive control and increased risk-taking behavior and novelty-seeking. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in the cognitive control of impulsive and risky behavior. Although the PFC is known to reach maturation later than other cortical areas, little information is available regarding the functional changes from adolescence to adulthood in PFC, particularly compared with other primary cortical areas. This study aims to understand the development of PFC-mediated, compared with non-PFC-mediated, cognitive functions. Toward this aim, we performed cognitive behavioral tasks in adolescent and adult mice and subsequently investigated synaptic plasticity in two different cortical areas. Our results showed that adolescent mice exhibit impaired performance in PFC-dependent cognitive tasks compared with adult mice, whereas their performance in non-PFC-dependent tasks is similar to that of adults. Furthermore, adolescent mice exhibited decreased long-term potentiation (LTP) within upper-layer synapses of the PFC but not the barrel cortex. Blocking GABAA receptor function significantly augments LTP in both the adolescent and adult PFC. No change in intrinsic excitability of PFC pyramidal neurons was observed between adolescent and adult mice. Finally, increased expression of the NR2A subunit of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors is found only in the adult PFC, a change that could underlie the emergence of LTP. In conclusion, our results demonstrate physiological and behavioral changes during adolescence that are specific to the PFC and could underlie the reduced cognitive control in adolescents. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study reports that adolescent mice exhibit impaired performance in cognitive functions dependent on the prefrontal cortex but not in cognitive functions dependent on other cortical regions. The current results propose reduced synaptic plasticity in the upper layers of the prefrontal cortex as a cellular correlate of this weakened cognitive function. This decreased synaptic plasticity is due to reduced N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor expression but not due to dampened intrinsic excitability or enhanced GABAergic signaling during adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Katerina Kalemaki
- Division of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Domna Karagogeos
- Division of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, Heraklion, Greece
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Preferential Disruption of Prefrontal GABAergic Function by Nanomolar Concentrations of the α7nACh Negative Modulator Kynurenic Acid. J Neurosci 2017; 37:7921-7929. [PMID: 28729445 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0932-17.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2017] [Revised: 06/20/2017] [Accepted: 07/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Increased concentrations of kynurenic acid (KYNA) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are thought to contribute to the development of cognitive deficits observed in schizophrenia. Although this view is consistent with preclinical studies showing a negative impact of prefrontal KYNA elevation on executive function, the mechanism underlying such a disruption remains unclear. Here, we measured changes in local field potential (LFP) responses to ventral hippocampal stimulation in vivo and conducted whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in brain slices to reveal how nanomolar concentrations of KYNA alter synaptic transmission in the PFC of male adult rats. Our data show that prefrontal infusions of KYNA attenuated the inhibitory component of PFC LFP responses, a disruption that resulted from local blockade of α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7nAChR). At the cellular level, we found that the inhibitory action exerted by KYNA in the PFC occurred primarily at local GABAergic synapses through an α7nAChR-dependent presynaptic mechanism. As a result, the excitatory-inhibitory ratio of synaptic transmission becomes imbalanced in a manner that correlates highly with the level of GABAergic suppression by KYNA. Finally, prefrontal infusion of a GABAAR positive allosteric modulator was sufficient to overcome the disrupting effect of KYNA and normalized the pattern of LFP inhibition in the PFC. Thus, the preferential inhibitory effect of KYNA on prefrontal GABAergic transmission could contribute to the onset of cognitive deficits observed in schizophrenia because proper GABAergic control of PFC output is one key mechanism for supporting such cortical functions.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Brain kynurenic acid (KYNA) is an astrocyte-derived metabolite and its abnormal elevation in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is thought to impair cognitive functions in individuals with schizophrenia. However, the mechanism underlying the disrupting effect of KYNA remains unclear. Here we found that KYNA biases the excitatory-inhibitory balance of prefrontal synaptic activity toward a state of disinhibition. Such disruption emerges as a result of a preferential suppression of local GABAergic transmission by KYNA via presynaptic inhibition of α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor signaling. Therefore, the degree of GABAergic dysregulation in the PFC could be a clinically relevant contributing factor for the onset of cognitive deficits resulting from abnormal increases of cortical KYNA.
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Froudist-Walsh S, López-Barroso D, José Torres-Prioris M, Croxson PL, Berthier ML. Plasticity in the Working Memory System: Life Span Changes and Response to Injury. Neuroscientist 2017; 24:261-276. [PMID: 28691573 DOI: 10.1177/1073858417717210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Working memory acts as a key bridge between perception, long-term memory, and action. The brain regions, connections, and neurotransmitters that underlie working memory undergo dramatic plastic changes during the life span, and in response to injury. Early life reliance on deep gray matter structures fades during adolescence as increasing reliance on prefrontal and parietal cortex accompanies the development of executive aspects of working memory. The rise and fall of working memory capacity and executive functions parallels the development and loss of neurotransmitter function in frontal cortical areas. Of the affected neurotransmitters, dopamine and acetylcholine modulate excitatory-inhibitory circuits that underlie working memory, are important for plasticity in the system, and are affected following preterm birth and adult brain injury. Pharmacological interventions to promote recovery of working memory abilities have had limited success, but hold promise if used in combination with behavioral training and brain stimulation. The intense study of working memory in a range of species, ages and following injuries has led to better understanding of the intrinsic plasticity mechanisms in the working memory system. The challenge now is to guide these mechanisms to better improve or restore working memory function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean Froudist-Walsh
- 1 Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Diana López-Barroso
- 2 Cognitive Neurology and Aphasia Unit and Cathedra ARPA of Aphasia, Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Sanitarias (CIMES) and Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Malaga, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.,3 Area of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain
| | - María José Torres-Prioris
- 2 Cognitive Neurology and Aphasia Unit and Cathedra ARPA of Aphasia, Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Sanitarias (CIMES) and Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Malaga, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.,3 Area of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain
| | - Paula L Croxson
- 1 Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.,4 Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Marcelo L Berthier
- 2 Cognitive Neurology and Aphasia Unit and Cathedra ARPA of Aphasia, Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Sanitarias (CIMES) and Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Malaga, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain
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Rocha A, Hart N, Trujillo KA. Differences between adolescents and adults in the acute effects of PCP and ketamine and in sensitization following intermittent administration. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2017; 157:24-34. [PMID: 28442368 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2017.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2017] [Revised: 04/12/2017] [Accepted: 04/14/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Adolescence is a phase of development during which many physiological and behavioral changes occur, including increased novelty seeking and risk taking. In humans, this is reflected in experimentation with drugs. Research demonstrates that drug use that begins during adolescence is more likely to lead to addiction than drug use that begins later in life. Despite this, relatively little is known of the effects of drugs in adolescence, and differences in response between adolescents and adults. PCP and ketamine are popular club drugs, both possessing rewarding properties that could lead to escalating use. Drug sensitization (or reverse tolerance), which refers to an increase in an effect of a drug following repeated use, has been linked with the development of drug cravings that is a hallmark of addiction. The current work investigated the acute response and the development of sensitization to PCP and ketamine in adolescent and adult rats. Periadolescent Sprague-Dawley rats (30days or 38days of age), and young adults (60days of age) received PCP (6mg/kg IP) or ketamine (20mg/kg IP) once every three days, for a total of five drug injections. Adolescents and adults showed a stimulant response to the first injection of either drug, however the response was considerably greater in the youngest adolescents and lowest in the adults. With repeated administration, adults showed a robust escalation in activity that was indicative of the development of sensitization. Adolescents showed a flatter trajectory, with similar high levels of activity following an acute treatment and after five drug treatments. The results demonstrate important distinctions between adolescents and adults in the acute and repeated effects of PCP and ketamine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelica Rocha
- Office for Training Research, and Education in the Sciences, California State University San Marcos, CA 92096, USA
| | - Nigel Hart
- Office for Training Research, and Education in the Sciences, California State University San Marcos, CA 92096, USA
| | - Keith A Trujillo
- Office for Training Research, and Education in the Sciences, California State University San Marcos, CA 92096, USA; Department of Psychology, California State University San Marcos, CA 92096, USA.
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Binge-Like Alcohol Exposure During Adolescence Disrupts Dopaminergic Neurotransmission in the Adult Prelimbic Cortex. Neuropsychopharmacology 2017; 42:1024-1036. [PMID: 27620551 PMCID: PMC5506791 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2016.190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2016] [Revised: 08/05/2016] [Accepted: 09/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Repeated binge-like exposure to alcohol during adolescence has been reported to perturb prefrontal cortical development, yet the mechanisms underlying these effects are unknown. Here we report that adolescent intermittent ethanol exposure induces cellular and dopaminergic abnormalities in the adult prelimbic cortex (PrL-C). Exposing rats to alcohol during early-mid adolescence (PD28-42) increased the density of long/thin dendritic spines of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in the adult PrL-C. Interestingly, although AIE exposure did not alter the expression of glutamatergic proteins in the adult PrL-C, there was a pronounced reduction in dopamine (DA) D1 receptor modulation of both intrinsic firing and evoked NMDA currents in pyramidal cells, whereas D2 receptor function was unaltered. Recordings from fast-spiking interneurons also revealed that AIE reduced intrinsic excitability, glutamatergic signaling, and D1 receptor modulation of these cells. Analysis of PrL-C tissue of AIE-exposed rats further revealed persistent changes in the expression of DA-related proteins, including reductions in the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). AIE exposure was associated with hypermethylation of the COMT promoter at a conserved CpG site in exon II. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that AIE exposure disrupts DA and GABAergic transmission in the adult medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). As DA and GABA work in concert to shape and synchronize neuronal ensembles in the PFC, these alterations could contribute to deficits in behavioral control and decision-making in adults who abused alcohol during adolescence.
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42
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Postnatal development of neurotransmitter systems and their relevance to extinction of conditioned fear. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2017; 138:252-270. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.10.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2016] [Revised: 10/22/2016] [Accepted: 10/31/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Pershing ML, Phenis D, Valentini V, Pocivavsek A, Lindquist DH, Schwarcz R, Bruno JP. Prenatal kynurenine exposure in rats: age-dependent changes in NMDA receptor expression and conditioned fear responding. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2016; 233:3725-3735. [PMID: 27527585 PMCID: PMC5808405 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-016-4404-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2016] [Accepted: 08/02/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Levels of kynurenic acid (KYNA), an endogenous negative modulator of alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7nAChRs) and antagonist at glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), are elevated in the brain of patients with schizophrenia (SZ). In rats, dietary exposure to KYNA's immediate precursor kynurenine during the last week of gestation produces neurochemical and cognitive deficits in adulthood that resemble those seen in patients with SZ. OBJECTIVES The present experiments examined whether prenatal kynurenine exposure results in age-dependent changes in the kynurenine pathway (KP), expression of selected receptors, and cognitive function. METHODS Pregnant dams were fed unadulterated mash (progeny = ECON) or mash containing kynurenine (100 mg/day; progeny = EKYN) from embryonic day (ED) 15 to 22. Male offspring were assessed as juveniles, i.e., prior to puberty (postnatal day [PD] 32), or as adults (PD70) for brain KYNA levels, α7nAChR and NMDAR gene expression, and performance on a trace fear conditioning (TFC) task. RESULTS KYNA levels were comparable between juvenile ECON and EKYN rats, whereas EKYN adults exhibited a ~3-fold increase in brain KYNA relative to ECONs. NR2A expression was persistently reduced (30-40 %) in EKYN rats at both ages. Compared to ECON adults, there was a 50 % reduction in NR1, and a trend toward decreased α7nAChR expression, in adult EKYN rats. Surprisingly, juvenile EKYN rats performed significantly better in the TFC paradigm than controls, whereas adult EKYN animals showed the predicted deficits. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, our results provide evidence that KP changes in the fetal brain alter neuronal development and cause age-dependent effects on neurochemistry and cognitive performance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David Phenis
- Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | | | - Ana Pocivavsek
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Derick H. Lindquist
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA,Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Robert Schwarcz
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - John P. Bruno
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA,Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
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Caballero A, Granberg R, Tseng KY. Mechanisms contributing to prefrontal cortex maturation during adolescence. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2016; 70:4-12. [PMID: 27235076 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 199] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2016] [Revised: 05/17/2016] [Accepted: 05/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Adolescence is defined as a transitional period between childhood and adulthood characterized by changes in social interaction and acquisition of mature cognitive abilities. These changes have been associated with the maturation of brain regions involved in the control of motivation, emotion, and cognition. Among these regions, the protracted development of the human prefrontal cortex during adolescence has been proposed to underlie the maturation of cognitive functions and the regulation of affective responses. Studies in animal models allow us to test the causal contribution of specific neural processes in the development of the prefrontal cortex and the acquisition of adult behavior. This review summarizes the cellular and synaptic mechanisms occurring in the rodent prefrontal cortex during adolescence as a model for understanding the changes underlying human prefrontal development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adriana Caballero
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - Rachel Granberg
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - Kuei Y Tseng
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA.
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Baker KD, Bisby MA, Richardson R. Impaired fear extinction in adolescent rodents: Behavioural and neural analyses. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2016; 70:59-73. [PMID: 27235077 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.05.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2016] [Revised: 05/06/2016] [Accepted: 05/21/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Despite adolescence being a developmental window of vulnerability, up until very recently there were surprisingly few studies on fear extinction during this period. Here we summarise the recent work in this area, focusing on the unique behavioural and neural characteristics of fear extinction in adolescent rodents, and humans where relevant. A prominent hypothesis posits that anxiety disorders peak during late childhood/adolescence due to the non-linear maturation of the fear inhibition neural circuitry. We discuss evidence that impaired extinction retention in adolescence is due to subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala mediating fear inhibition being underactive while other subregions that mediate fear expression are overactive. We also review work on various interventions and surprising circumstances which enhance fear extinction in adolescence. This latter work revealed that the neural correlates of extinction in adolescence are different to that in younger and older animals even when extinction retention is not impaired. This growing body of work highlights that adolescence is a unique period of development for fear inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn D Baker
- School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Madelyne A Bisby
- School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Rick Richardson
- School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
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Sinclair D, Cesare J, McMullen M, Carlson GC, Hahn CG, Borgmann-Winter KE. Effects of sex and DTNBP1 (dysbindin) null gene mutation on the developmental GluN2B-GluN2A switch in the mouse cortex and hippocampus. J Neurodev Disord 2016; 8:14. [PMID: 27134685 PMCID: PMC4852102 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-016-9148-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2015] [Accepted: 04/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia differentially impact males and females and are highly heritable. The ways in which sex and genetic vulnerability influence the pathogenesis of these disorders are not clearly understood. The n-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor pathway has been implicated in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders and changes dramatically across postnatal development at the level of the GluN2B-GluN2A subunit "switch" (a shift from reliance on GluN2B-containing receptors to reliance on GluN2A-containing receptors). We investigated whether sex and genetic vulnerability (specifically, null mutation of DTNBP1 [dysbindin; a possible susceptibility gene for schizophrenia]) influence the developmental GluN2B-GluN2A switch. METHODS Subcellular fractionation to enrich for postsynaptic density (PSD), together with Western blotting and kinase assay, were used to investigate the GluN2B-GluN2A switch in the cortex and hippocampus of male and female DTNBP1 null mutant mice and their wild-type littermates. Main effects of sex and DTNBP1 genotype, and interactions with age, were assessed using factorial ANOVA. RESULTS Sex differences in the GluN2B-GluN2A switch emerged across development at the frontal cortical synapse, in parameters related to GluN2B. Males across genotypes displayed higher GluN2B:GluN2A and GluN2B:GluN1 ratios (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively), higher GluN2B phosphorylation at Y1472 (p < 0.01), and greater abundance of PLCγ (p < 0.01) and Fyn (p = 0.055) relative to females. In contrast, effects of DTNBP1 were evident exclusively in the hippocampus. The developmental trajectory of GluN2B was disrupted in DTNBP1 null mice (genotype × age interaction p < 0.05), which also displayed an increased synaptic GluN2A:GluN1 ratio (p < 0.05) and decreased PLCγ (p < 0.05) and Fyn (only in females; p < 0.0005) compared to wild-types. CONCLUSIONS Sex and DTNBP1 mutation influence the GluN2B-GluN2A switch at the synapse in a brain-region-specific fashion involving pY1472-GluN2B, Fyn, and PLCγ. This highlights the possible mechanisms through which risk factors may mediate their effects on vulnerability to disorders of NMDA receptor dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duncan Sinclair
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatric Signaling Program, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA ; Present address: Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales Australia
| | - Joseph Cesare
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatric Signaling Program, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA
| | | | | | - Chang-Gyu Hahn
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatric Signaling Program, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA
| | - Karin E Borgmann-Winter
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatric Signaling Program, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA ; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA USA
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Pergola G, Di Carlo P, Andriola I, Gelao B, Torretta S, Attrotto MT, Fazio L, Raio A, Albergo D, Masellis R, Rampino A, Blasi G, Bertolino A. Combined effect of genetic variants in the GluN2B coding gene (GRIN2B) on prefrontal function during working memory performance. Psychol Med 2016; 46:1135-1150. [PMID: 26690829 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291715002639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The GluN2B subunit of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors is crucially involved in the physiology of the prefrontal cortex during working memory (WM). Consistently, genetic variants in the GluN2B coding gene (GRIN2B) have been associated with cognitive phenotypes. However, it is unclear how GRIN2B genetic variation affects gene expression and prefrontal cognitive processing. Using a composite score, we tested the combined effect of GRIN2B variants on prefrontal activity during WM performance in healthy subjects. METHOD We computed a composite score to combine the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms on post-mortem prefrontal GRIN2B mRNA expression. We then computed the composite score in independent samples of healthy participants in a peripheral blood expression study (n = 46), in a WM behavioural study (n = 116) and in a WM functional magnetic resonance imaging study (n = 122). RESULTS Five polymorphisms were associated with GRIN2B expression: rs2160517, rs219931, rs11055792, rs17833967 and rs12814951 (all corrected p < 0.05). The score computed to account for their combined effect reliably indexed gene expression. GRIN2B composite score correlated negatively with intelligence quotient, WM behavioural efficiency and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity. Moreover, there was a non-linear association between GRIN2B genetic score and prefrontal activity, i.e. both high and low putative genetic score levels were associated with high blood oxygen level-dependent signals in the prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS Multiple genetic variants in GRIN2B are jointly associated with gene expression, prefrontal function and behaviour during WM. These results support the role of GRIN2B genetic variants in WM prefrontal activity in human adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Pergola
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - P Di Carlo
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - I Andriola
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - B Gelao
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - S Torretta
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - M T Attrotto
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - L Fazio
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - A Raio
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - D Albergo
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - R Masellis
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - A Rampino
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - G Blasi
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
| | - A Bertolino
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences,Neuroscience and Sensory Organs,University of Bari 'Aldo Moro',Piazza Giulio Cesare 11,70124 Bari,Italy
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Flores G, Morales-Medina JC, Diaz A. Neuronal and brain morphological changes in animal models of schizophrenia. Behav Brain Res 2016; 301:190-203. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2015.12.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2015] [Revised: 12/15/2015] [Accepted: 12/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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49
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Chronic cannabinoid exposure during adolescence leads to long-term structural and functional changes in the prefrontal cortex. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2016; 26:55-64. [PMID: 26689328 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2015.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2015] [Revised: 10/16/2015] [Accepted: 11/08/2015] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
In many species, adolescence is a critical phase in which the endocannabinoid system can regulate the maturation of important neuronal networks that underlie cognitive function. Therefore, adolescents may be more susceptible to the neural consequences of chronic cannabis abuse. We reported previously that chronically exposing adolescent rats to the synthetic cannabinoid agonist CP55,940 leads to impaired performances in adulthood i.e. long-lasting deficits in both visual and spatial short-term working memories. Here, we examined the synaptic structure and function in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of adult rats that were chronically treated with CP55,940 during adolescence. We found that chronic cannabinoid exposure during adolescence induces long-lasting changes, including (1) significantly altered dendritic arborization of pyramidal neurons in layer II/III in the medial PFC (2) impaired hippocampal input-induced synaptic plasticity in the PFC and (3) significant changes in the expression of PSD95 (but not synaptophysin or VGLUT3) in the medial PFC. These changes in synaptic structure and function in the PFC provide key insight into the structural, functional and molecular underpinnings of long-term cognitive deficits induced by adolescent cannabinoid exposure. They suggest that cannabinoids may impede the structural maturation of neuronal circuits in the PFC, thus leading to impaired cognitive function in adulthood.
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50
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Dick ALW, Pooters T, Gibbs S, Giles E, Qama A, Lawrence AJ, Duncan JR. NMDA receptor binding is reduced within mesocorticolimbic regions following chronic inhalation of toluene in adolescent rats. Brain Res 2015; 1624:239-252. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2015.07.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2015] [Revised: 07/21/2015] [Accepted: 07/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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