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Peng B, Wu XB, Zhang ZJ, Cao DL, Zhao LX, Wu H, Gao YJ. Anterior Cingulate Cortex Contributes to the Hyperlocomotion under Nitrogen Narcosis. Neurosci Bull 2024:10.1007/s12264-024-01278-z. [PMID: 39158823 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-024-01278-z] [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: 02/25/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 08/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Nitrogen narcosis is a neurological syndrome that manifests when humans or animals encounter hyperbaric nitrogen, resulting in a range of motor, emotional, and cognitive abnormalities. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is known for its significant involvement in regulating motivation, cognition, and action. However, its specific contribution to nitrogen narcosis-induced hyperlocomotion and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we report that exposure to hyperbaric nitrogen notably increased the locomotor activity of mice in a pressure-dependent manner. Concurrently, this exposure induced heightened activation among neurons in both the ACC and dorsal medial striatum (DMS). Notably, chemogenetic inhibition of ACC neurons effectively suppressed hyperlocomotion. Conversely, chemogenetic excitation lowered the hyperbaric pressure threshold required to induce hyperlocomotion. Moreover, both chemogenetic inhibition and genetic ablation of activity-dependent neurons within the ACC reduced the hyperlocomotion. Further investigation revealed that ACC neurons project to the DMS, and chemogenetic inhibition of ACC-DMS projections resulted in a reduction in hyperlocomotion. Finally, nitrogen narcosis led to an increase in local field potentials in the theta frequency band and a decrease in the alpha frequency band in both the ACC and DMS. These results collectively suggest that excitatory neurons within the ACC, along with their projections to the DMS, play a pivotal role in regulating the hyperlocomotion induced by exposure to hyperbaric nitrogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bin Peng
- Medical School, Institute of Special Environmental Medicine, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226019, China
| | - Xiao-Bo Wu
- Medical School, Institute of Special Environmental Medicine, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226019, China
| | - Zhi-Jun Zhang
- Medical School, Institute of Special Environmental Medicine, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226019, China
| | - De-Li Cao
- Medical School, Institute of Special Environmental Medicine, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226019, China
| | - Lin-Xia Zhao
- Medical School, Institute of Special Environmental Medicine, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226019, China
| | - Hao Wu
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery, the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226001, China
| | - Yong-Jing Gao
- Medical School, Institute of Special Environmental Medicine, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226019, China.
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2
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Guo R, Gao S, Feng X, Liu H, Ming X, Sun J, Luan X, Liu Z, Liu W, Guo F. The GABAergic pathway from anterior cingulate cortex to lateral hypothalamus area regulates irritable bowel syndrome in mice and its underlying mechanism. J Neurochem 2024. [PMID: 38877776 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.16150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 05/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/16/2024]
Abstract
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which is characterized by chronic abdominal pain, has a high global prevalence. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is a pivotal region involved in pain processing, should be further investigated regarding its role in the regulation of visceral sensitivity and mental disorders. A C57BL/6J mouse model for IBS was established using chronic acute combining stress (CACS). IBS-like symptoms were assessed using behavioral tests, intestinal motility measurements, and abdominal withdrawal reflex scores. Fluoro-Gold retrograde tracing and immunohistochemistry techniques were employed to investigate the projection of ACC gamma-aminobutyric acid-producing (GABAergic) neurons to the lateral hypothalamus area (LHA). Chemogenetic approaches enabled the selective activation or inhibition of the ACC-LHA GABAergic pathway. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blot analyses were conducted to determine the expression of histamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4). Our findings suggest that CACS induced IBS-like symptoms in mice. The GABA type A receptors (GABAAR) within LHA played a regulatory role in modulating IBS-like symptoms. The chemogenetic activation of ACC-LHA GABAergic neurons elicited anxiety-like behaviors, intestinal dysfunction, and visceral hypersensitivity in normal mice; however, these effects were effectively reversed by the administration of the GABAAR antagonist Bicuculline. Conversely, the chemogenetic inhibition of ACC-LHA GABAergic neurons alleviated anxiety-like behaviors, intestinal dysfunction, and visceral hypersensitivity in the mouse model for IBS. These results highlight the crucial involvement of the ACC-LHA GABAergic pathway in modulating anxiety-like behaviors, intestinal motility alterations, and visceral hypersensitivity, suggesting a potential therapeutic strategy for alleviating IBS-like symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruixiao Guo
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Shengli Gao
- Biomedical Center, Qingdao Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Xufei Feng
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Hua Liu
- Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Xing Ming
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Jinqiu Sun
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Xinchi Luan
- Qingdao Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Zhenyu Liu
- Qingdao Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Weiyi Liu
- Qingdao Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Feifei Guo
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
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3
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Clement MK, Pimentel CS, McGaughy JA. Dopaminergic lesions of the anterior cingulate cortex of rats increase vulnerability to salient distractors. Eur J Neurosci 2024; 59:3353-3375. [PMID: 38654478 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 03/16/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been shown to be critical to many aspects of executive function including filtering irrelevant information, updating response contingencies when reinforcement contingencies change and stabilizing task sets. Nonspecific lesions to this region in rats produce a vulnerability to distractors that have gained salience through prior associations with reinforcement. These lesions also exacerbate cognitive fatigue in tests of sustained attention but do not produce global attentional impairments nor do they produce distractibility to novel distractors that do not have a prior association with reinforcement. To determine the neurochemical basis of these cognitive impairments, dopaminergically selective lesions of the ACC were made in both male and female Long-Evans, hooded rats prior to assessment in two attentional tasks. Dopaminergic lesions of the ACC increase the vulnerability of subjects to previously reinforced distractors and impede formation of an attentional set. Lesioned rats were not more susceptible to the effects of novel, irrelevant stimuli in a test of sustained attention as has been previously shown. Additionally, the effects of dopaminergic lesions were found to differ based on sex. Lesioned female, but not male, rats were more vulnerable than sham-lesioned females to the effects of prolonged testing and the removal of reinforcement during a test of sustained attention. Together, these data support the hypothesis that dopamine in the ACC is critical to filtering distractors whose salience has been gained through reinforcement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madison K Clement
- Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States
| | - Cynthia S Pimentel
- Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States
| | - Jill A McGaughy
- Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States
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4
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Howard SL, Beaudin SA, Strupp BJ, Smith DR. Maternal choline supplementation lessens the behavioral dysfunction produced by developmental manganese exposure in a rodent model of ADHD. Neurotoxicol Teratol 2024; 102:107337. [PMID: 38423398 DOI: 10.1016/j.ntt.2024.107337] [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: 10/26/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Studies in children have reported associations between elevated manganese (Mn) exposure and ADHD-related symptoms of inattention, impulsivity/hyperactivity, and psychomotor impairment. Maternal choline supplementation (MCS) during pregnancy/lactation may hold promise as a protective strategy because it has been shown to lessen cognitive dysfunction caused by numerous early insults. Our objectives were to determine whether (1) developmental Mn exposure alters behavioral reactivity/emotion regulation, in addition to impairing learning, attention, impulse control, and sensorimotor function, and (2) MCS protects against these Mn-induced impairments. Pregnant Long-Evans rats were given standard diet, or a diet supplemented with additional choline throughout gestation and lactation (GD 3 - PND 21). Male offspring were exposed orally to 0 or 50 mg Mn/kg/day over PND 1-21. In adulthood, animals were tested in a series of learning, attention, impulse control, and sensorimotor tasks. Mn exposure caused lasting dysfunction in attention, reactivity to errors and reward omission, learning, and sensorimotor function, recapitulating the constellation of symptoms seen in ADHD children. MCS lessened Mn-induced attentional dysfunction and partially normalized reactivity to committing an error or not receiving an expected reward but provided no protection against Mn-induced learning or sensorimotor dysfunction. In the absence of Mn exposure, MCS produces lasting offspring benefits in learning, attention, and reactivity to errors. To conclude, developmental Mn exposure produces a constellation of deficits consistent with ADHD symptomology, and MCS offered some protection against the adverse Mn effects, adding to the evidence that maternal choline supplementation is neuroprotective for offspring and improves offspring cognitive functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanna L Howard
- Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Stephane A Beaudin
- Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Barbara J Strupp
- Division of Nutritional Sciences and Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Donald R Smith
- Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
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Speers LJ, Chin P, Bilkey DK. No evidence that acute clozapine administration alters CA1 phase precession in rats. Brain Res 2023; 1814:148446. [PMID: 37301424 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2023.148446] [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: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Hippocampal phase precession, wherein there is a systematic shift in the phase of neural firing against the underlying theta activity, is proposed to play an important role in the sequencing of information in memory. Previous research shows that the starting phase of precession is more variable in rats following maternal immune activation (MIA), a known risk factor for schizophrenia. Since starting phase variability has the potential to disorganize the construction of sequences of information, we tested whether the atypical antipsychotic clozapine, which ameliorates some cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, alters this aspect of phase precession. Either saline or clozapine (5 mg/kg) was administered to rats and then CA1 place cell activity was recorded from the CA1 region of the hippocampus as the animals ran around a rectangular track for food reward. When compared to saline trials, acute administration of clozapine did not affect any place cell properties, including those related to phase precession, in either control or MIA animals. Clozapine did, however, produce a reduction in locomotion speed, indicating that its presence had some effect on behaviour. These results help to constrain explanations of phase precession mechanisms and their potential role in sequence learning deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Phoebe Chin
- Psychology Dept., Otago Univ., Dunedin, New Zealand
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6
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Abstract
Pain is driven by sensation and emotion, and in turn, it motivates decisions and actions. To fully appreciate the multidimensional nature of pain, we formulate the study of pain within a closed-loop framework of sensory-motor prediction. In this closed-loop cycle, prediction plays an important role, as the interaction between prediction and actual sensory experience shapes pain perception and subsequently, action. In this Perspective, we describe the roles of two prominent computational theories-Bayesian inference and reinforcement learning-in modeling adaptive pain behaviors. We show that prediction serves as a common theme between these two theories, and that each of these theories can explain unique aspects of the pain perception-action cycle. We discuss how these computational theories and models can improve our mechanistic understandings of pain-centered processes such as anticipation, attention, placebo hypoalgesia, and pain chronification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Sage Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
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7
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Chen ZS. Hierarchical predictive coding in distributed pain circuits. Front Neural Circuits 2023; 17:1073537. [PMID: 36937818 PMCID: PMC10020379 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2023.1073537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Predictive coding is a computational theory on describing how the brain perceives and acts, which has been widely adopted in sensory processing and motor control. Nociceptive and pain processing involves a large and distributed network of circuits. However, it is still unknown whether this distributed network is completely decentralized or requires networkwide coordination. Multiple lines of evidence from human and animal studies have suggested that the cingulate cortex and insula cortex (cingulate-insula network) are two major hubs in mediating information from sensory afferents and spinothalamic inputs, whereas subregions of cingulate and insula cortices have distinct projections and functional roles. In this mini-review, we propose an updated hierarchical predictive coding framework for pain perception and discuss its related computational, algorithmic, and implementation issues. We suggest active inference as a generalized predictive coding algorithm, and hierarchically organized traveling waves of independent neural oscillations as a plausible brain mechanism to integrate bottom-up and top-down information across distributed pain circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Sage Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, United States
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, United States
- *Correspondence: Zhe Sage Chen
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8
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Prenatal dexamethasone exposure alters effort decision making and triggers nucleus accumbens and anterior cingulate cortex functional changes in male rats. Transl Psychiatry 2022; 12:338. [PMID: 35986000 PMCID: PMC9391327 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-02043-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 06/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Daily, individuals select actions based on cost-benefit to allocate resources into goal-directed actions. Different brain regions coordinate this complex decision, including the nucleus accumbens (NAc), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and ventral tegmental area (VTA). In utero exposure to synthetic glucocorticoids (iuGC), such as dexamethasone, triggers prominent motivation deficits but the impact of this exposure in the ACC-NAc and/or ACC-VTA circuits is unknown. Here, we show that iuGC exposure causes decreased motivation for natural rewards (food) and impaired effort-based decision-making. Importantly, reduced neuronal activation (number of c-fos+ neurons) was observed in the NAc core and ACC of iuGC rats in comparison to CTR rats after performing the effort-based decision-making task. In addition, iuGC treatment led to increased NAc and ACC basal neuronal activity. Electrophysiological recordings during optogenetic modulation of ACC terminals in the NAc revealed that the ACC-NAc circuit is dysfunctional in iuGC animals. These data suggest that iuGC animals present motivational and effort-based decision-making deficits that can be associated with the observed ACC-NAc dysfunction.
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9
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McKendrick G, McDevitt DS, Shafeek P, Cottrill A, Graziane NM. Anterior cingulate cortex and its projections to the ventral tegmental area regulate opioid withdrawal, the formation of opioid context associations and context-induced drug seeking. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:972658. [PMID: 35992922 PMCID: PMC9388764 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.972658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Clinical evidence suggests that there are correlations between activity within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) following re-exposure to drug-associated contexts and drug craving. However, there are limited data contributing to our understanding of ACC function at the cellular level during re-exposure to drug-context associations as well as whether the ACC is directly related to context-induced drug seeking. Here, we addressed this issue by employing our novel behavioral procedure capable of measuring the formation of drug-context associations as well as context-induced drug-seeking behavior in male mice (8-12 weeks of age) that orally self-administered oxycodone. We found that mice escalated oxycodone intake during the long-access training sessions and that conditioning with oxycodone was sufficient to evoke conditioned place preference (CPP) and drug-seeking behaviors. Additionally, we found that thick-tufted, but not thin-tufted pyramidal neurons (PyNs) in the ACC as well as ventral tegmental area (VTA)-projecting ACC neurons had increased intrinsic membrane excitability in mice that self-administered oxycodone compared to controls. Moreover, we found that global inhibition of the ACC or inhibition of VTA-projecting ACC neurons was sufficient to significantly reduce oxycodone-induced CPP, drug seeking, and spontaneous opioid withdrawal. These results demonstrate a direct role of ACC activity in mediating context-induced opioid seeking among other behaviors, including withdrawal, that are associated with the DSM-V criteria of opioid use disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greer McKendrick
- Neuroscience Program, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
| | - Dillon S. McDevitt
- Neuroscience Program, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
| | - Peter Shafeek
- Medicine Program, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
| | - Adam Cottrill
- Neuroscience Program, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
| | - Nicholas M. Graziane
- Departments of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and Pharmacology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
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10
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Seamans JK, Floresco SB. Event-based control of autonomic and emotional states by the anterior cingulate cortex. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 133:104503. [PMID: 34922986 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Revised: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Despite being an intensive area of research, the function of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) remains somewhat of a mystery. Human imaging studies implicate the ACC in various cognitive functions, yet surgical ACC lesions used to treat emotional disorders have minimal lasting effects on cognition. An alternative view is that ACC regulates autonomic states, consistent with its interconnectivity with autonomic control regions and that stimulation evokes changes in autonomic/emotional states. At the cellular level, ACC neurons are highly multi-modal and promiscuous, and can represent a staggering array of task events. These neurons nevertheless combine to produce highly event-specific ensemble patterns that likely alter activity in downstream regions controlling emotional and autonomic tone. Since neuromodulators regulate the strength of the ensemble activity patterns, they would regulate the impact these patterns have on downstream targets. Through these mechanisms, the ACC may determine how strongly to react to the very events its ensembles represent. Pathologies arise when specific event-related representations gain excessive control over autonomic/emotional states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy K Seamans
- Depts. of Psychiatry, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6B2T5, Canada.
| | - Stan B Floresco
- Depts. of Psychology, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6B2T5, Canada
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11
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Chen Y. Neural Representation of Costs and Rewards in Decision Making. Brain Sci 2021; 11:1096. [PMID: 34439715 PMCID: PMC8391424 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11081096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Revised: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Decision making is crucial for animal survival because the choices they make based on their current situation could influence their future rewards and could have potential costs. This review summarises recent developments in decision making, discusses how rewards and costs could be encoded in the brain, and how different options are compared such that the most optimal one is chosen. The reward and cost are mainly encoded by the forebrain structures (e.g., anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex), and their value is updated through learning. The recent development on dopamine and the lateral habenula's role in reporting prediction errors and instructing learning will be emphasised. The importance of dopamine in powering the choice and accounting for the internal state will also be discussed. While the orbitofrontal cortex is the place where the state values are stored, the anterior cingulate cortex is more important when the environment is volatile. All of these structures compare different attributes of the task simultaneously, and the local competition of different neuronal networks allows for the selection of the most appropriate one. Therefore, the total value of the task is not encoded as a scalar quantity in the brain but, instead, as an emergent phenomenon, arising from the computation at different brain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yixuan Chen
- Queens' College, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB3 9ET, UK
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12
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Seamans JK. The anterior cingulate cortex and event-based modulation of autonomic states. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY 2021; 158:135-169. [PMID: 33785144 DOI: 10.1016/bs.irn.2020.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
In spite of being an intensive area of research focus, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) remains somewhat of an enigma. Many theories have focused on its role in various aspects of cognition yet surgically precise lesions of the ACC, used to treat severe emotional disorders in human patients, typically have no lasting effects on cognition. An alternative view is that the ACC has a prominent role in regulating autonomic states. This view is consistent with anatomical data showing that a main target of the ACC are regions involved in autonomic control and with the observation that stimulation of the ACC evokes changes in autonomic states in both animals and humans. From an electrophysiological perspective, ACC neurons appear able to represent virtually any event or internal state, even though there is not always a strong link between these representations and behavior. Ensembles of neurons form robust contextual representations that strongly influence how specific events are encoded. The activity patterns associated with these contextually-based event representations presumably impact activity in downstream regions that control autonomic state. As a result, the ACC may regulate the autonomic and perhaps emotional reactions to events it is representing. This event-based control of autonomic tone by the ACC would likely arise during all types of cognitive and affective processes, without necessarily being critical for any of them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy K Seamans
- Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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13
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Choi DI, Kim M, Kim S, Yu NK, Kwak C, Seo H, Lee K, Kaang BK. Conditional knock out of transcription factor CTCF in excitatory neurons induces cognitive deficiency. Mol Brain 2021; 14:1. [PMID: 33402211 PMCID: PMC7784033 DOI: 10.1186/s13041-020-00716-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is a transcription factor that is involved in organizing chromatin structure. A reduction of CTCF expression is known to develop distinct clinical features. Furthermore, conditional knock out (cKO) study revealed reactive gliosis of astrocytes and microglia followed by age-dependent cell death in the excitatory neurons of CTCF cKO mice. To assess the cognitive ability in CTCF cKO mice of over 20 weeks of age, we examined pairwise discrimination (PD), PD reversal learning (PDr), and different paired-associate learning (dPAL) tasks using a touch screen apparatus. We found cognitive impairment in dPAL touch screen tests, suggesting that prolonged Ctcf gene deficiency results in cognitive deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Il Choi
- School of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanangno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea
| | - Myeongwon Kim
- School of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanangno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea
| | - Somi Kim
- School of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanangno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea
| | - Nam-Kyung Yu
- School of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanangno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea
| | - Chuljung Kwak
- School of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanangno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea
| | - Hyunhyo Seo
- Laboratory for Behavioral Neural Circuitry and Physiology, Department of Anatomy, Brain Science and Engineering Institute, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, 680 Gukchaebosang-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu, 41944, South Korea
| | - Kyungmin Lee
- Laboratory for Behavioral Neural Circuitry and Physiology, Department of Anatomy, Brain Science and Engineering Institute, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, 680 Gukchaebosang-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu, 41944, South Korea.
| | - Bong-Kiun Kaang
- School of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanangno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea.
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14
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Wirt RA, Hyman JM. ACC Theta Improves Hippocampal Contextual Processing during Remote Recall. Cell Rep 2019; 27:2313-2327.e4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.04.080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2019] [Revised: 03/18/2019] [Accepted: 04/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
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