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Heinbockel H, Wagner AD, Schwabe L. Post-retrieval stress impairs subsequent memory depending on hippocampal memory trace reinstatement during reactivation. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadm7504. [PMID: 38691596 PMCID: PMC11062581 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adm7504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
Upon retrieval, memories can become susceptible to meaningful events, such as stress. Post-retrieval memory changes may be attributed to an alteration of the original memory trace during reactivation-dependent reconsolidation or, alternatively, to the modification of retrieval-related memory traces that impact future remembering. Hence, how post-retrieval memory changes emerge in the human brain is unknown. In a 3-day functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we show that post-retrieval stress impairs subsequent memory depending on the strength of neural reinstatement of the original memory trace during reactivation, driven by the hippocampus and its cross-talk with neocortical representation areas. Comparison of neural patterns during immediate and final memory testing further revealed that successful retrieval was linked to pattern-dissimilarity in controls, suggesting the use of a different trace, whereas stressed participants relied on the original memory representation. These representation changes were again dependent on neocortical reinstatement during reactivation. Our findings show disruptive stress effects on the consolidation of retrieval-related memory traces that support future remembering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hendrik Heinbockel
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Universität Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Anthony D. Wagner
- Department of Psychology, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Building 420, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Lars Schwabe
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Universität Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
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2
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Voigt L, Hill Y, Frenkel MO. Testing the hormesis hypothesis on motor behavior under stress. APPLIED ERGONOMICS 2024; 115:104161. [PMID: 37935066 DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2023.104161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Revised: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
While much research has focused on the deleterious effects of stress on goal-directed behavior in recent decades, current views increasingly discuss growth under stress, often assuming dose-dependent effects of stress in a curvilinear association. This is based on the concept of hormesis, which postulates a strengthening effect of stress at low-to-moderate doses. Leveraging this approach, hormetic curves indicate under which stress dose an individual is able to maintain or even increase goal-directed behavior. The present study aimed to test the hormetic effect of low-to-moderate stress on tactical movement performance in the context of police operational scenarios in virtual reality. In teams of three to four, 37 riot police officers had to search a building for a potentially aggressive perpetrator in three scenarios with escalating stress potential (i.e., increasing weapon violence and number of civilians). Tactical movement performance as behavioral response was quantified by the sample entropy of each officer's velocity derived from positional data. To account for inter-individuality in response to the scenarios, we assessed self-reported stress, anxiety, mental effort, and vagally mediated heart rate variability. Specifically, we tested the quadratic associations between tactical movement performance and stress parameters, respectively. Random-intercept-random-slope regressions revealed neither significant linear nor quadratic associations between any of the stress parameters and performance. While we did not find evidence for hormesis in the present study, it stimulates theoretical discussions about the definition of "baseline" functioning and how the understanding of hormesis can move from psychological to behavioral adaptations to stressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Voigt
- Institute of Sports and Sports Sciences, Heidelberg University, Germany; Institute of Psychology, German Sport University, Cologne, Germany
| | - Yannick Hill
- Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, the Netherlands; Institute of Brain and Behaviour Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience, Colorado Springs, USA.
| | - Marie Ottilie Frenkel
- Institute of Sports and Sports Sciences, Heidelberg University, Germany; Faculty of Health, Safety, Society, Furtwangen University, Germany
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3
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Grob AM, Ehlers D, Schwabe L. Strong but Fragmented Memory of a Stressful Episode. eNeuro 2023; 10:ENEURO.0178-23.2023. [PMID: 37640540 PMCID: PMC10484358 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0178-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Revised: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
While it is commonly assumed that stressful events are vividly remembered, it remains largely unknown whether all aspects of memory for a stressful episode are enhanced. In this preregistered study, we tested whether stress enhances later remembering of individual elements of a stressful episode at the cost of impaired processing of the association between these elements. Therefore, male and female participants (N = 122) underwent a stressful (or control) episode during which they encoded a series of stimuli. To investigate stress effects on the memory for individual events and the links between these, we used temporal sequence effects in recognition memory tested 24 h after encoding. Specifically, we tested whether stress would affect the memory enhancement for a target item if this is preceded by another item that also preceded the target during encoding (recognition priming). Our results showed that participants recalled single events encoded under stress better than those encoded under nonstressful conditions, but were less able to leverage the temporal sequence of events encoded under stress to cue memory at delayed recall, reflected in reduced memory for items preceded by the item that preceded them also during encoding. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy further revealed that encoding under stress was accompanied by opposite changes in inferotemporal and dorsolateral prefrontal areas. Together, our data suggest that acute stress induces a mode of memory formation that results in strong but less integrated memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna-Maria Grob
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany
| | - Denise Ehlers
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany
| | - Lars Schwabe
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany
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4
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Torrisi SA, Rizzo S, Laudani S, Ieraci A, Drago F, Leggio GM. Acute stress alters recognition memory and AMPA/NMDA receptor subunits in a sex-dependent manner. Neurobiol Stress 2023; 25:100545. [PMID: 37293561 PMCID: PMC10244889 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2023.100545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Several studies have consistently reported a detrimental effect of chronic stress on recognition memory. However, the effects of acute stress on this cognitive ability have been poorly investigated. Moreover, despite well-documented sex differences in recognition memory observed in clinical studies, most of the preclinical studies in this field of research have been carried out by using solely male rodents. Here we tested the hypothesis that acute stress could affect the consolidation of different types of recognition memory in a sex-dependent manner. For this purpose, male and female C57BL6/J mice were exposed to 2-h of restrain stress immediately after the training session of both the novel object recognition (NOR) test and novel object location (NOL) tasks. Acute restraint stress did not affect memory performance of male and female mice, after a 4-h delay between the training session and the test phase of both tasks. By contrast, acute restraint stress altered memory performance in a sex-dependent manner, after a 24-h delay. While stressed mice of both sexes were impaired in the NOL test, only male stressed mice were impaired in the NOR test. Because ionotropic glutamate receptors-mediated neurotransmission is essential for shaping recognition memory, we further tested the hypothesis that post training acute stress could induce sex-dependent transcriptional changes of ionotropic glutamate receptor subunits in the dorsal hippocampus. We uncovered that acute stress induced sex-, time- and type of memory-dependent transcriptional changes of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor subunits. These findings suggest that the effect of acute stress on recognition memory can be strongly biased by multiple factors including sex. These findings also indicate that the same stress-induced memory impairment observed in both sexes can be triggered by different sex-dependent molecular mechanisms. At the therapeutic level, this should not be overlooked in the context of personalized and targeted treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastiano A. Torrisi
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Silvia Rizzo
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Samuele Laudani
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Alessandro Ieraci
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, eCampus University, 22060, Novedrate, CO, Italy
| | - Filippo Drago
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Gian Marco Leggio
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
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5
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Delacoux M, Guenther A. Stressfulness of the design influences consistency of cognitive measures and their correlation with animal personality traits in wild mice (Mus musculus). Anim Cogn 2023; 26:997-1009. [PMID: 36737560 PMCID: PMC10066096 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01748-3] [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: 06/30/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Individual variation in cognition is being increasingly recognized as an important evolutionary force but contradictory results so far hamper a general understanding of consistency and association with other behaviors. Partly, this might be caused by external factors imposed by the design. Stress, for example, is known to influence cognition, with mild stress improving learning abilities, while strong or chronic stress impairs them. Also, there might be intraspecific variation in how stressful a given situation is perceived. We investigated two personality traits (stress coping and voluntary exploration), spatial learning with two mazes, and problem-solving in low- and high-stress tests with a group of 30 female wild mice (Mus musculus domesticus). For each test, perceived stress was assessed by measuring body temperature change with infrared thermography, a new non-invasive method that measures skin temperature as a proxy of changes in the sympathetic system activity. While spatial learning and problem-solving were found to be repeatable traits in mice in earlier studies, none of the learning measures were significantly repeatable between the two stress conditions in our study, indicating that the stress level impacts learning. We found correlations between learning and personality traits; however, they differed between the two stress conditions and between the cognitive tasks, suggesting that different mechanisms underlie these processes. These findings could explain some of the contradictory findings in the literature and argue for very careful design of cognitive test setups to draw evolutionary implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Delacoux
- Department for Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, 24306, Plön, Germany. .,Department for Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78464, Constance, Germany. .,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, 78464, Constance, Germany.
| | - Anja Guenther
- Department for Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, 24306, Plön, Germany
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Moretta T, Buodo G, Santucci VG, Chen S, Potenza MN. Problematic social media use is statistically predicted by using social media for coping motives and by positive reinforcement processes in individuals with high COVID-19-related stress levels. J Psychiatr Res 2023; 158:104-113. [PMID: 36580866 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.12.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
It is important to understand the relationship between stress and problematic use of social media (PUSM). However, no study to our knowledge has yet investigated the longitudinal relationship between perceived stress and PUSM via positive and negative reinforcement processes. The present study investigated relationships between COVID-19-pandemic-related stress and PUSM and possible moderating effects of motives for using social media (positive and/or negative reinforcement) during and following a COVID-19-pandemic-related lockdown. Six-hundred-and-sixty participants initially completed a survey including self-report measures of PUSM, COVID-19-pandemic-related stress, and motives for using social media (i.e., for negative reinforcement involving coping and conformity or positive reinforcements involving enhancement and social motives). During the COVID-19 outbreak recovery period, 117 participants again completed the survey. Bayesian analyses revealed that PUSM was associated with higher COVID-19-pandemic-related stress levels and use of social media for coping, conformity, and enhancement purposes. Longitudinally, PUSM symptom worsening was associated with increased use of social media for coping motives regardless of levels of perceived stress. Use of social media for conformity and enhancement purposes moderated relationships between stress levels during lockdown and PUSM symptoms worsening after lockdown. Our findings corroborate the hypothesis that negative reinforcement processes may be key factors in PUSM symptom worsening regardless of perceived stress. Concurrently, high levels of stress may worsen PUSM through positive reinforcement processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tania Moretta
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
| | - Giulia Buodo
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
| | - Vieri Giuliano Santucci
- Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione (ISTC), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerce (CNR), Rome, Italy.
| | - Shubao Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, and National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
| | - Marc N Potenza
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, Wethersfield, CT, USA; Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, CT, USA; Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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7
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Calis D, Hess M, Marchetta P, Singer W, Modro J, Nelissen E, Prickaerts J, Sandner P, Lukowski R, Ruth P, Knipper M, Rüttiger L. Acute deletion of the central MR/GR steroid receptor correlates with changes in LTP, auditory neural gain, and GC-A cGMP signaling. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 16:1017761. [PMID: 36873102 PMCID: PMC9983609 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1017761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The complex mechanism by which stress can affect sensory processes such as hearing is still poorly understood. In a previous study, the mineralocorticoid (MR) and/or glucocorticoid receptor (GR) were deleted in frontal brain regions but not cochlear regions using a CaMKIIα-based tamoxifen-inducible Cre ERT2/loxP approach. These mice exhibit either a diminished (MRTMXcKO) or disinhibited (GRTMXcKO) auditory nerve activity. In the present study, we observed that mice differentially were (MRTMXcKO) or were not (GRTMXcKO) able to compensate for altered auditory nerve activity in the central auditory pathway. As previous findings demonstrated a link between central auditory compensation and memory-dependent adaptation processes, we analyzed hippocampal paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) and long-term potentiation (LTP). To determine which molecular mechanisms may impact differences in synaptic plasticity, we analyzed Arc/Arg3.1, known to control AMPA receptor trafficking, as well as regulators of tissue perfusion and energy consumption (NO-GC and GC-A). We observed that the changes in PPF of MRTMXcKOs mirrored the changes in their auditory nerve activity, whereas changes in the LTP of MRTMXcKOs and GRTMXcKOs mirrored instead the changes in their central compensation capacity. Enhanced GR expression levels in MRTMXcKOs suggest that MRs typically suppress GR expression. We observed that hippocampal LTP, GC-A mRNA expression levels, and ABR wave IV/I ratio were all enhanced in animals with elevated GR (MRTMXcKOs) but were all lower or not mobilized in animals with impaired GR expression levels (GRTMXcKOs and MRGRTMXcKOs). This suggests that GC-A may link LTP and auditory neural gain through GR-dependent processes. In addition, enhanced NO-GC expression levels in MR, GR, and MRGRTMXcKOs suggest that both receptors suppress NO-GC; on the other hand, elevated Arc/Arg3.1 levels in MRTMXcKOs and MRGRTMXcKOs but not GRTMXcKOs suggest that MR suppresses Arc/Arg3.1 expression levels. Conclusively, MR through GR inhibition may define the threshold for hemodynamic responses for LTP and auditory neural gain associated with GC-A.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dila Calis
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Morgan Hess
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Philine Marchetta
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Wibke Singer
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Julian Modro
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ellis Nelissen
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience (MHeNS), Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Jos Prickaerts
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience (MHeNS), Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Peter Sandner
- Bayer Health Care Pharmaceuticals, Global Drug Discovery Pharma Research Centre Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
| | - Robert Lukowski
- Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Peter Ruth
- Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marlies Knipper
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Lukas Rüttiger
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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8
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Tomar A, McHugh TJ. The impact of stress on the hippocampal spatial code. Trends Neurosci 2021; 45:120-132. [PMID: 34916083 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2021.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Revised: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Hippocampal function is severely compromised by prolonged, uncontrollable stress. However, how stress alters neural representations of our surroundings and events that occur within them remains less clear. We review hippocampal place cell studies that examine how spatial coding is affected by acute and chronic stress, as well as by stress accompanying fear conditioning. Emerging data suggest that chronic stress disrupts the acuity and specificity of CA1 spatial coding, both in familiar and novel contexts, and alters hippocampal oscillations. By contrast, acute stress may have a facilitatory impact on spatial representations. These findings encourage a fresh look at the documented stress-induced changes in hippocampal anatomy and in vitro excitability, and offer a new perspective on the links between stress and memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anupratap Tomar
- Center for Synaptic Plasticity, School of Physiology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK.
| | - Thomas J McHugh
- Laboratory for Circuit and Behavioral Physiology, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan.
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9
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Zangrandi L, Schmuckermair C, Ghareh H, Castaldi F, Heilbronn R, Zernig G, Ferraguti F, Ramos-Prats A. Loss of mGluR5 in D1 Receptor-Expressing Neurons Improves Stress Coping. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22157826. [PMID: 34360592 PMCID: PMC8346057 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22157826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Revised: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The metabotropic glutamate receptor type 5 (mGluR5) has been proposed to play a crucial role in the selection and regulation of cognitive, affective, and emotional behaviors. However, the mechanisms by which these receptors mediate these effects remain largely unexplored. Here, we studied the role of mGluR5 located in D1 receptor-expressing (D1) neurons in the manifestation of different behavioral expressions. Mice with conditional knockout (cKO) of mGluR5 in D1 neurons (mGluR5D1 cKO) and littermate controls displayed similar phenotypical profiles in relation to memory expression, anxiety, and social behaviors. However, mGluR5D1 cKO mice presented different coping mechanisms in response to acute escapable or inescapable stress. mGluR5D1 cKO mice adopted an enhanced active stress coping strategy upon exposure to escapable stress in the two-way active avoidance (TWA) task and a greater passive strategy upon exposure to inescapable stress in the forced swim test (FST). In summary, this work provides evidence for a functional integration of the dopaminergic and glutamatergic system to mediate control over internal states upon stress exposure and directly implicates D1 neurons and mGluR5 as crucial mediators of behavioral stress responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Zangrandi
- Department of Neurology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany; (L.Z.); (R.H.)
- Institute of Pharmacology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; (C.S.); (F.C.); (F.F.)
| | - Claudia Schmuckermair
- Institute of Pharmacology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; (C.S.); (F.C.); (F.F.)
| | - Hussein Ghareh
- Department of Psychiatry 1, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; (H.G.); (G.Z.)
| | - Federico Castaldi
- Institute of Pharmacology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; (C.S.); (F.C.); (F.F.)
| | - Regine Heilbronn
- Department of Neurology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany; (L.Z.); (R.H.)
| | - Gerald Zernig
- Department of Psychiatry 1, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; (H.G.); (G.Z.)
| | - Francesco Ferraguti
- Institute of Pharmacology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; (C.S.); (F.C.); (F.F.)
| | - Arnau Ramos-Prats
- Institute of Pharmacology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; (C.S.); (F.C.); (F.F.)
- Correspondence:
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10
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Tomar A, Polygalov D, McHugh TJ. Differential Impact of Acute and Chronic Stress on CA1 Spatial Coding and Gamma Oscillations. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:710725. [PMID: 34354574 PMCID: PMC8329706 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.710725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic and acute stress differentially affect behavior as well as the structural integrity of the hippocampus, a key brain region involved in cognition and memory. However, it remains unclear if and how the facilitatory effects of acute stress on hippocampal information coding are disrupted as the stress becomes chronic. To examine this, we compared the impact of acute and chronic stress on neural activity in the CA1 subregion of male mice subjected to a chronic immobilization stress (CIS) paradigm. We observed that following first exposure to stress (acute stress), the spatial information encoded in the hippocampus sharpened, and the neurons became increasingly tuned to the underlying theta oscillations in the local field potential (LFP). However, following repeated exposure to the same stress (chronic stress), spatial tuning was poorer and the power of both the slow-gamma (30–50 Hz) and fast-gamma (55–90 Hz) oscillations, which correlate with excitatory inputs into the region, decreased. These results support the idea that acute and chronic stress differentially affect neural computations carried out by hippocampal circuits and suggest that acute stress may improve cognitive processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anupratap Tomar
- Laboratory for Circuit and Behavioral Physiology, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
| | - Denis Polygalov
- Laboratory for Circuit and Behavioral Physiology, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
| | - Thomas J McHugh
- Laboratory for Circuit and Behavioral Physiology, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
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11
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Training level reveals a dynamic dialogue between stress and memory systems in birds. Behav Brain Res 2021; 408:113280. [PMID: 33819534 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Revised: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Chronic stress profoundly affects forms of declarative memory, such as spatial memory, while it may spare non-declarative memory, such as cue-based memory. It is known, however, that the effects of chronic stress on memory systems may vary according to the level of training of an individual was submitted. Here, we investigated, in birds, how chronic stress impact spatial and cue-based memories according to training level. For that, control and chronically stressed Japanese quail were trained in a task that could be solved using spatial and cue-based memory and tested for their memory performance after 5 and 15 training days (initial training and overtraining, respectively) and following an emotional challenge (exposure to an open field). Our results showed that, compared to control quail, chronic stress impacted negatively spatial memory performances in stressed birds after initial training, but these differences were lowered after overtraining. Control birds seemed to shift from spatial to cue-based memory to solve the task across overtraining. However, an emotional challenge before testing reinstated the negative impact of chronic stress on spatial memory performances between the groups, revealing that chronic stress/overtraining did not eliminate the spatial memory and differences caused by stressors can reemerge depending on the individual's immediate psychological state. Contrary to spatial memory, cue-based memory was not affected in chronically stressed birds compared to control birds in any test occasion, confirming its resistance against the negative effects of chronic stress. Altogether these findings reveal a dynamic dialogue between stress, training level, and memory systems in birds.
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12
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Stress reduces both model-based and model-free neural computations during flexible learning. Neuroimage 2021; 229:117747. [PMID: 33454417 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2020] [Revised: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 01/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Stressful events are thought to impair the flexible adaptation to changing environments, yet the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we combined computational modeling and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to elucidate the neurocomputational mechanisms underlying stress-induced deficits in flexible learning. Healthy participants underwent a stress or control manipulation before they completed, in the MRI scanner, a Markov decision task, frequently used to dissociate model-based and model-free contributions to choice, with repeated reversals of reward contingencies. Our results showed that stress attenuated the behavioral sensitivity to reversals in reward contingencies. Computational modeling further indicated that stress specifically affected the use of value computations for subsequent action selection. This reduced application of learned information on subsequent behavior was paralleled by a stress-induced reduction in inferolateral prefrontal cortex activity during model-free computations. For model-based learning, stress decreased specifically posterior, but not anterior, hippocampal activity, pointing to a functional segregation of model-based processing and its modulation by stress along the hippocampal longitudinal axis. Our findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying deficits in flexible learning under stress and indicate that, in highly dynamic environments, stress may hamper both model-based and model-free contributions to adaptive behavior.
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Carvalheiro J, Conceição VA, Mesquita A, Seara-Cardoso A. Acute stress impairs reward learning in men. Brain Cogn 2020; 147:105657. [PMID: 33341656 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Revised: 10/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Acute stress is ubiquitous in everyday life, but the extent to which acute stress affects how people learn from the outcomes of their choices is still poorly understood. Here, we investigate how acute stress impacts reward and punishment learning in men using a reinforcement-learning task. Sixty-two male participants performed the task whilst under stress and control conditions. We observed that acute stress impaired participants' choice performance towards monetary gains, but not losses. To unravel the mechanism(s) underlying such impairment, we fitted a reinforcement-learning model to participants' trial-by-trial choices. Computational modeling indicated that under acute stress participants learned more slowly from positive prediction errors - when the outcomes were better than expected - consistent with stress-induced dopamine disruptions. Such mechanistic understanding of how acute stress impairs reward learning is particularly important given the pervasiveness of stress in our daily life and the impact that stress can have on our wellbeing and mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Carvalheiro
- Escola de Psicologia, CIPsi, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
| | - Vasco A Conceição
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Professor Egas Moniz, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Ana Mesquita
- Escola de Psicologia, CIPsi, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
| | - Ana Seara-Cardoso
- Escola de Psicologia, CIPsi, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
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Byrne KA, Peters C, Willis HC, Phan D, Cornwall A, Worthy DA. Acute stress enhances tolerance of uncertainty during decision-making. Cognition 2020; 205:104448. [PMID: 32927385 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2019] [Revised: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Acute stress has been shown to influence reward sensitivity, feedback learning, and risk-taking during decision-making, primarily through activation of the hypothalamic pituitary axis (HPA). However, it is unclear how acute stress affects decision-making among choices that vary in their degree of uncertainty. To address this question, we conducted two experiments in which participants repeatedly chose between two options-a high-uncertainty option that offered highly variable rewards but was advantageous in the long-term, and a low-uncertainty option that offered smaller yet more consistent rewards. The Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Task (SECPT) was utilized to induce acute stress. Participants in Experiment 1 (N = 114) were exposed to either the SECPT or a warm-water control condition and then completed the decision-making under uncertainty task. Compared to the control condition, those exposed to the acute stress manipulation chose the high-uncertainty option that provided highly variable but larger rewards over the option that provided stable, smaller rewards. Experiment 2 (N = 95) incorporated a salivary cortisol measure. Results replicated the behavioral findings in Experiment 1 and demonstrated that the acute stress manipulation increased salivary cortisol. This work suggests that moderate acute stress is associated with tolerance of outcome variability in contexts that depend on learning to maximize rewards.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Dana Phan
- Clemson University, United States of America
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15
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Huzard D, Vouros A, Monari S, Astori S, Vasilaki E, Sandi C. Constitutive differences in glucocorticoid responsiveness are related to divergent spatial information processing abilities. Stress 2020; 23:37-49. [PMID: 31187686 DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2019.1625885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The stress response facilitates survival through adaptation and is intimately related to cognitive processes. The Morris water maze task probes spatial learning and memory in rodents and glucocorticoids (i.e. corticosterone (CORT) in rats) have been suggested to elicit a facilitating action on memory formation. Moreover, the early aging period (around 16-18 months of age) is susceptible to stress- and glucocorticoid-mediated acceleration of cognitive decline. In this study, we tested three lines of rats selectively bred according to their individual differences in CORT responsiveness to repeated stress exposure during juvenility. We investigated whether endogenous differences in glucocorticoid responses influenced spatial learning, long-term memory, and reversal learning abilities in a Morris water maze task at early aging. Additionally, we assessed the quality of the different swimming strategies of the rats. Our results indicate that rats with differential CORT responsiveness exhibit similar spatial learning abilities but different long-term memory retention and reversal learning. Specifically, the high CORT responding line had a better long-term spatial memory, while the low CORT responding line was impaired for both long-term retention and reversal learning. Our modeling analysis of performance strategies revealed further important line-related differences. Therefore, our findings support the view that individuals with high CORT responsiveness would form stronger long-term memories to navigate in stressful environments. Conversely, individuals with low CORT responsiveness would be impaired at different phases of spatial learning and memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damien Huzard
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | - Silvia Monari
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Simone Astori
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Eleni Vasilaki
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Carmen Sandi
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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16
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A pilot study of combined endurance and resistance exercise rehabilitation for verbal memory and functional connectivity improvement in epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav 2019; 96:44-56. [PMID: 31078935 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2019.04.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2019] [Revised: 04/12/2019] [Accepted: 04/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Memory impairment is common in persons with epilepsy (PWE), and exercise may be a strategy for its improvement. In this pilot study, we hypothesized that exercise rehabilitation would improve physical fitness and verbal memory and induce changes in brain networks involved in memory processes. We examined the effects of combined endurance and resistance exercise rehabilitation on memory and resting state functional connectivity (rsFC). Participants were randomized to exercise (PWE-E) or control (PWE-noE). The exercise intervention consisted of 18 supervised sessions on nonconsecutive days over 6 weeks. Before and after the intervention period, both groups completed self-report assessments (Short Form-36 (SF-36), Baecke Questionnaire (BQ) of habitual physical activity, and Profile of Mood States (POMS)), cognitive testing (California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II)), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); PWE-E also completed exercise performance tests. After completing the study, PWE-noE were offered cross-over to the exercise arm. There were no differences in baseline demographic, clinical, or assessment variables between 8 PWE-noE and 9 PWE-E. Persons with epilepsy that participated in exercise intervention increased maximum voluntary strength (all strength tests p < 0.05) and exhibited nonsignificant improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness (p = 0.15). Groups did not show significant changes in quality of life (QOL) or habitual physical activity between visits. However, there was an effect of visit on POMS total mood disturbance (TMD) measure showing improvement from baseline to visit 2 (p = 0.023). There were significant group by visit interactions on CVLT-II learning score (p = 0.044) and total recognition discriminability (d') (p = 0.007). Persons with epilepsy that participated in exercise intervention had significant reductions in paracingulate rsFC with the anterior cingulate and increases in rsFC for the cerebellum, thalamus, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and left and right inferior parietal lobule (IPL) (corrected p < 0.05). Change in CVLT-II learning score was associated with rsFC changes for the paracingulate cortex (rS = -0.67; p = 0.0033), left IPL (rS = 0.70; p = 0.0019), and right IPL (rS = 0.71; p = 0.0015) while change in d' was associated with change in cerebellum rsFC to angular/middle occipital gyrus (rS = 0.68; p = 0.0025). Our conclusion is that exercise rehabilitation may facilitate verbal memory improvement and brain network functional connectivity changes in PWE and that improved memory performance is associated with changes in rsFC. A larger randomized controlled trial of exercise rehabilitation for cognitive improvement in PWE is warranted.
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Torres-Berrio A, Nava-Mesa MO. The opioid system in stress-induced memory disorders: From basic mechanisms to clinical implications in post-traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer's disease. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2019; 88:327-338. [PMID: 30118823 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2018.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2018] [Revised: 07/25/2018] [Accepted: 08/13/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive and emotional impairment are a serious consequence of stress exposure and are core features of neurological and psychiatric conditions that involve memory disorders. Indeed, acute and chronic stress are high-risk factors for the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), two devastating brain disorders associated with memory dysfunction. Besides the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, stress response also involves the activation of the opioid system in brain regions associated with stress regulation and memory processing. In this context, it is possible that stress-induced memory disorders may be attributed to alterations in the interaction between the neuroendocrine stress system and the opioid system. In this review, we: (1) describe the effects of acute and chronic stress on memory, and the modulatory role of the opioid system, (2) discuss the contribution of the opioid system to the pathophysiology of PTSD and AD, and (3) present evidence of current and potential therapies that target the opioid receptors to treat PTSD- and AD-associated symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mauricio O Nava-Mesa
- Neuroscience Research Group (NEUROS), School of Medicine, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia.
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18
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Vouros A, Gehring TV, Szydlowska K, Janusz A, Tu Z, Croucher M, Lukasiuk K, Konopka W, Sandi C, Vasilaki E. A generalised framework for detailed classification of swimming paths inside the Morris Water Maze. Sci Rep 2018; 8:15089. [PMID: 30305680 PMCID: PMC6180070 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-33456-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2018] [Accepted: 09/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The Morris Water Maze is commonly used in behavioural neuroscience for the study of spatial learning with rodents. Over the years, various methods of analysing rodent data collected during this task have been proposed. These methods span from classical performance measurements to more sophisticated categorisation techniques which classify the animal swimming path into behavioural classes known as exploration strategies. Classification techniques provide additional insight into the different types of animal behaviours but still only a limited number of studies utilise them. This is primarily because they depend highly on machine learning knowledge. We have previously demonstrated that the animals implement various strategies and that classifying entire trajectories can lead to the loss of important information. In this work, we have developed a generalised and robust classification methodology to boost classification performance and nullify the need for manual tuning. We have also made available an open-source software based on this methodology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tiago V Gehring
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Kinga Szydlowska
- Laboratory of Epileptogenesis, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Artur Janusz
- Neurobiology Center, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Zehai Tu
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | | | - Katarzyna Lukasiuk
- Laboratory of Epileptogenesis, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Witold Konopka
- Neurobiology Center, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Carmen Sandi
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Brain Mind Institute, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Eleni Vasilaki
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
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19
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de Kloet ER, Meijer OC, de Nicola AF, de Rijk RH, Joëls M. Importance of the brain corticosteroid receptor balance in metaplasticity, cognitive performance and neuro-inflammation. Front Neuroendocrinol 2018; 49:124-145. [PMID: 29428549 DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2018.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 154] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2017] [Revised: 01/25/2018] [Accepted: 02/07/2018] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Bruce McEwen's discovery of receptors for corticosterone in the rat hippocampus introduced higher brain circuits in the neuroendocrinology of stress. Subsequently, these receptors were identified as mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) that are involved in appraisal processes, choice of coping style, encoding and retrieval. The MR-mediated actions on cognition are complemented by slower actions via glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) on contextualization, rationalization and memory storage of the experience. These sequential phases in cognitive performance depend on synaptic metaplasticity that is regulated by coordinate MR- and GR activation. The receptor activation includes recruitment of coregulators and transcription factors as determinants of context-dependent specificity in steroid action; they can be modulated by genetic variation and (early) experience. Interestingly, inflammatory responses to damage seem to be governed by a similarly balanced MR:GR-mediated action as the initiating, terminating and priming mechanisms involved in stress-adaptation. We conclude with five questions challenging the MR:GR balance hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- E R de Kloet
- Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - O C Meijer
- Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - A F de Nicola
- Laboratory of Neuroendocrine Biochemistry, Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - R H de Rijk
- Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands & Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
| | - M Joëls
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands; University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
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20
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van Bochove ME, De Taeye L, Raedt R, Vonck K, Meurs A, Boon P, Dauwe I, Notebaert W, Verguts T. Reduced distractor interference during vagus nerve stimulation. Int J Psychophysiol 2018; 128:93-99. [PMID: 29574234 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2017] [Revised: 03/15/2018] [Accepted: 03/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Suppressing irrelevant information in decision making is an essential everyday skill. We studied whether this ability could be improved in epileptic patients during vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). VNS is known to increase norepinephrine (NE) in the brain. NE is thought to improve several aspects of cognitive control, including the suppression of irrelevant information. Nineteen epileptic VNS patients executed the Eriksen flanker task twice, both during on and off stimulation. Distractor interference was indexed by the congruency effect, a standard empirical marker of cognitive control. We found a reduced congruency effect during stimulation, which indicates an improved ability to suppress distractor interference. This effect was only found in patients that are clinically determined VNS-responders (n = 10). As VNS increases NE in VNS-responders, our finding suggests a beneficial role of NE in cognitive control. At the same time, it suggests that VNS does not only reduce seizure frequency in epileptic patients, but also improves cognitive control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlies E van Bochove
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Leen De Taeye
- Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, Ghent University Hospital, Belgium
| | - Robrecht Raedt
- Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, Ghent University Hospital, Belgium
| | - Kristl Vonck
- Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, Ghent University Hospital, Belgium
| | - Alfred Meurs
- Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, Ghent University Hospital, Belgium
| | - Paul Boon
- Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, Ghent University Hospital, Belgium
| | - Ine Dauwe
- Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, Ghent University Hospital, Belgium
| | - Wim Notebaert
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium
| | - Tom Verguts
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium.
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21
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Lempert KM, McGuire JT, Hazeltine DB, Phelps EA, Kable JW. The effects of acute stress on the calibration of persistence. Neurobiol Stress 2018; 8:1-9. [PMID: 29214188 PMCID: PMC5709305 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2017.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2017] [Revised: 11/16/2017] [Accepted: 11/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
People frequently fail to wait for delayed rewards after choosing them. These preference reversals are sometimes thought to reflect self-control failure. Other times, however, continuing to wait for a delayed reward may be counterproductive (e.g., when reward timing uncertainty is high). Research has demonstrated that people can calibrate how long to wait for rewards in a given environment. Thus, the role of self-control might be to integrate information about the environment to flexibly adapt behavior, not merely to promote waiting. Here we tested effects of acute stress, which has been shown to tax control processes, on persistence, and the calibration of persistence, in young adult human participants. Half the participants (n = 60) performed a task in which persistence was optimal, and the other half (n = 60) performed a task in which it was optimal to quit waiting for reward soon after each trial began. Each participant completed the task either after cold pressor stress or no stress. Stress did not influence persistence or optimal calibration of persistence. Nevertheless, an exploratory analysis revealed an "inverted-U" relationship between cortisol increase and performance in the stress groups, suggesting that choosing the adaptive waiting policy may be facilitated with some stress and impaired with severe stress.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joseph T. McGuire
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Elizabeth A. Phelps
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA
| | - Joseph W. Kable
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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22
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Hesse S, Müller U, Rullmann M, Luthardt J, Bresch A, Becker GA, Zientek F, Patt M, Meyer PM, Blüher M, Strauß M, Fenske W, Hankir M, Ding YS, Hilbert A, Sabri O. The association between in vivo central noradrenaline transporter availability and trait impulsivity. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2017; 267:9-14. [PMID: 28675825 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2017.06.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2017] [Revised: 06/19/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The brain noradrenaline (NA) system, particularly NA transporters (NAT), are thought to play an important role in modulating impulsive behavior. Impaired impulsivity is implicated in a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions; however, an in vivo link between central NAT availability and human impulsivity has not been shown. Using positron emission tomography (PET) and S,S-[11C]O-methylreboxetine (MRB), we tested whether NAT availability is associated with this basic behavioral trait based on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) in twenty healthy individuals (12 females, 33.8±9.3, 21-52 years of age) with a body mass index (BMI) ranging from 21.7kg/m2 to 47.8kg/m2. Applying both voxel-wise and volume-of-interest (VOI) based analyses, we found that distribution volume ratios (DVR) used as PET outcome measures negatively correlated with BIS-11 total scores in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and in the hippocampus as well as in parts of the cerebellar cortex. These associations however did not remain after correction for multiple testing. Thus, although it appears that low NAT availability is associated with greater scores of impaired behavioral control, this needs to be confirmed in a larger series of individuals with highly impulsive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swen Hesse
- Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Liebigstraße 20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 18, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Ulrich Müller
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Michael Rullmann
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 18, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Julia Luthardt
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 18, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Anke Bresch
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 18, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Georg-Alexander Becker
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 18, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Franziska Zientek
- Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Liebigstraße 20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 18, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Marianne Patt
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 18, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Philipp M Meyer
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 18, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Matthias Blüher
- Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Liebigstraße 20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Maria Strauß
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, Semmelweisstraße 10, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Wiebke Fenske
- Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Liebigstraße 20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mohammed Hankir
- Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Liebigstraße 20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Yu-Shin Ding
- Departments of Radiology and Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, 550 1st Avenue, New York 10016, USA
| | - Anja Hilbert
- Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Liebigstraße 20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology and Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, Philipp-Rosenthal-Straße 55, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Osama Sabri
- Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) AdiposityDiseases, Leipzig University Medical Centre, Liebigstraße 20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 18, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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23
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Lloyd EC, Frampton I, Verplanken B, Haase AM. How extreme dieting becomes compulsive: A novel hypothesis for the role of anxiety in the development and maintenance of anorexia nervosa. Med Hypotheses 2017; 108:144-150. [PMID: 29055388 DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2017.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2017] [Revised: 08/22/2017] [Accepted: 09/03/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The US National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (NIMH RDoC) advocates the study of features common to psychiatric conditions. This transdiagnostic approach has recently been adopted into the study of anorexia nervosa (AN), an illness that can be considered compulsive in nature. This has led to the development of an account of AN that identifies key roles for the heightened reinforcement of starvation, leading to its excessive repetition, and goal-directed system dysfunction. Considering models of illness in other compulsive disorders, we extend the existing account to explain the emergence of reinforcement and goal-directed system abnormalities in AN, proposing that anxiety is central to both processes. As such we emphasise the particular importance of the anxiolytic effects of starvation, over other reinforcing outcomes, in encouraging the continuation of starvation within a model that proposes a number of mechanisms by which anxiety operates in the development and maintenance of AN. We suggest the psychopathology of AN mediates the relationship between the anxiolytic effects of starvation and excessive repetition of starvation, and that compulsive starvation has reciprocal effects on its determinants. We thus account for the emergence of symptoms of AN other than compulsive starvation, and for the relationship between different features of the disorder. By extending and adapting an existing explanation of AN, we provide a richer aetiological model that invites new research questions and could inform novel approaches to prevention and treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- E C Lloyd
- School of Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences, University of Bristol, 8 Priory Road, Bristol BS8 1TZ, UK.
| | - I Frampton
- Department of Psychology, Washington Singer Laboratories, University of Exeter, Perry Road, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK.
| | - B Verplanken
- Department of Psychology, 10 West, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
| | - A M Haase
- School of Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences, University of Bristol, 8 Priory Road, Bristol BS8 1TZ, UK.
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24
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Converging, Synergistic Actions of Multiple Stress Hormones Mediate Enduring Memory Impairments after Acute Simultaneous Stresses. J Neurosci 2017; 36:11295-11307. [PMID: 27807170 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2542-16.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2016] [Accepted: 09/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Stress influences memory, an adaptive process crucial for survival. During stress, hippocampal synapses are bathed in a mixture of stress-released molecules, yet it is unknown whether or how these interact to mediate the effects of stress on memory. Here, we demonstrate novel synergistic actions of corticosterone and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) on synaptic physiology and dendritic spine structure that mediate the profound effects of acute concurrent stresses on memory. Spatial memory in mice was impaired enduringly after acute concurrent stresses resulting from loss of synaptic potentiation associated with disrupted structure of synapse-bearing dendritic spines. Combined application of the stress hormones corticosterone and CRH recapitulated the physiological and structural defects provoked by acute stresses. Mechanistically, corticosterone and CRH, via their cognate receptors, acted synergistically on the spine-actin regulator RhoA, promoting its deactivation and degradation, respectively, and destabilizing spines. Accordingly, blocking the receptors of both hormones, but not each alone, rescued memory. Therefore, the synergistic actions of corticosterone and CRH at hippocampal synapses underlie memory impairments after concurrent and perhaps also single, severe acute stresses, with potential implications to spatial memory dysfunction in, for example, posttraumatic stress disorder. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Stress influences memory, an adaptive process crucial for survival. During stress, adrenal corticosterone and hippocampal corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) permeate memory-forming hippocampal synapses, yet it is unknown whether (and how) these hormones interact to mediate effects of stress. Here, we demonstrate novel synergistic actions of corticosterone and CRH on hippocampal synaptic plasticity and spine structure that mediate the memory-disrupting effects of stress. Combined application of both hormones provoked synaptic function collapse and spine disruption. Mechanistically, corticosterone and CRH synergized at the spine-actin regulator RhoA, promoting its deactivation and degradation, respectively, and destabilizing spines. Notably, blocking both hormones, but not each alone, prevented the enduring memory problems after acute concurrent stresses. Therefore, synergistic actions of corticosterone and CRH underlie enduring memory impairments after concurrent acute stresses, which might be relevant to spatial memory deficits described in posttraumatic stress disorder.
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Packard AEB, Egan AE, Ulrich-Lai YM. HPA Axis Interactions with Behavioral Systems. Compr Physiol 2016; 6:1897-1934. [PMID: 27783863 DOI: 10.1002/cphy.c150042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Perhaps the most salient behaviors that individuals engage in involve the avoidance of aversive experiences and the pursuit of pleasurable experiences. Engagement in these behaviors is regulated to a significant extent by an individual's hormonal milieu. For example, glucocorticoid hormones are produced by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, and influence most aspects of behavior. In turn, many behaviors can influence HPA axis activity. These bidirectional interactions not only coordinate an individual's physiological and behavioral states to each other, but can also tune them to environmental conditions thereby optimizing survival. The present review details the influence of the HPA axis on many types of behavior, including appetitively-motivated behaviors (e.g., food intake and drug use), aversively-motivated behaviors (e.g., anxiety-related and depressive-like) and cognitive behaviors (e.g., learning and memory). Conversely, the manuscript also describes how engaging in various behaviors influences HPA axis activity. Our current understanding of the neuronal and/or hormonal mechanisms that underlie these interactions is also summarized. © 2016 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 6:1897-1934, 2016.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy E B Packard
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Ann E Egan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Yvonne M Ulrich-Lai
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
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26
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Gehring TV, Luksys G, Sandi C, Vasilaki E. Detailed classification of swimming paths in the Morris Water Maze: multiple strategies within one trial. Sci Rep 2015; 5:14562. [PMID: 26423140 PMCID: PMC4589698 DOI: 10.1038/srep14562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2015] [Accepted: 08/26/2015] [Indexed: 10/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The Morris Water Maze is a widely used task in studies of spatial learning with rodents. Classical performance measures of animals in the Morris Water Maze include the escape latency, and the cumulative distance to the platform. Other methods focus on classifying trajectory patterns to stereotypical classes representing different animal strategies. However, these approaches typically consider trajectories as a whole, and as a consequence they assign one full trajectory to one class, whereas animals often switch between these strategies, and their corresponding classes, within a single trial. To this end, we take a different approach: we look for segments of diverse animal behaviour within one trial and employ a semi-automated classification method for identifying the various strategies exhibited by the animals within a trial. Our method allows us to reveal significant and systematic differences in the exploration strategies of two animal groups (stressed, non-stressed), that would be unobserved by earlier methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiago V Gehring
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Gediminas Luksys
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Carmen Sandi
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Brain Mind Institute, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Eleni Vasilaki
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.,Theoretical Neurobiology and Neuroengineering Lab, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.,INSIGNEO Institute for in Silico Medicine, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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27
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Sapolsky RM. Stress and the brain: individual variability and the inverted-U. Nat Neurosci 2015; 18:1344-6. [DOI: 10.1038/nn.4109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 224] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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28
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Computational dissection of human episodic memory reveals mental process-specific genetic profiles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:E4939-48. [PMID: 26261317 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1500860112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Episodic memory performance is the result of distinct mental processes, such as learning, memory maintenance, and emotional modulation of memory strength. Such processes can be effectively dissociated using computational models. Here we performed gene set enrichment analyses of model parameters estimated from the episodic memory performance of 1,765 healthy young adults. We report robust and replicated associations of the amine compound SLC (solute-carrier) transporters gene set with the learning rate, of the collagen formation and transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity gene sets with the modulation of memory strength by negative emotional arousal, and of the L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) interactions gene set with the repetition-based memory improvement. Furthermore, in a large functional MRI sample of 795 subjects we found that the association between L1CAM interactions and memory maintenance revealed large clusters of differences in brain activity in frontal cortical areas. Our findings provide converging evidence that distinct genetic profiles underlie specific mental processes of human episodic memory. They also provide empirical support to previous theoretical and neurobiological studies linking specific neuromodulators to the learning rate and linking neural cell adhesion molecules to memory maintenance. Furthermore, our study suggests additional memory-related genetic pathways, which may contribute to a better understanding of the neurobiology of human memory.
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Haleem DJ, Inam QUA, Haider S, Perveen T, Haleem MA. Serum Leptin and Cortisol, Related to Acutely Perceived Academic Examination Stress and Performance in Female University Students. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 2015; 40:305-12. [DOI: 10.1007/s10484-015-9301-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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30
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Martínez-Membrives E, López-Aumatell R, Blázquez G, Cañete T, Tobeña A, Fernández-Teruel A. Spatial learning in the genetically heterogeneous NIH-HS rat stock and RLA-I/RHA-I rats: revisiting the relationship with unconditioned and conditioned anxiety. Physiol Behav 2015; 144:15-25. [PMID: 25747770 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2014] [Revised: 02/27/2015] [Accepted: 03/02/2015] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
To characterize learning/memory profiles for the first time in the genetically heterogeneous NIH-HS rat stock, and to examine whether these are associated with anxiety, we evaluated NIH-HS rats for spatial learning/memory in the Morris water maze (MWM) and in the following anxiety/fear tests: the elevated zero-maze (ZM; unconditioned anxiety), a context-conditioned fear test and the acquisition of two-way active avoidance (conditioned anxiety). NIH-HS rats were compared with the Roman High- (RHA-I) and Low-Avoidance (RLA-I) rat strains, given the well-known differences between the Roman strains/lines in anxiety-related behavior and in spatial learning/memory. The results show that: (i) As expected, RLA-I rats were more anxious in the ZM test, displayed more frequent context-conditioned freezing episodes and fewer avoidances than RHA-I rats. (ii) Scores of NIH-HS rats in these tests/tasks mostly fell in between those of the Roman rat strains, and were usually closer to the values of the RLA-I strain. (iii) Pigmented NIH-HS (only a small part of NIH-HS rats were albino) rats were the best spatial learners and displayed better spatial memory than the other three (RHA-I, RLA-I and NIH-HS albino) groups. (iv) Albino NIH-HS and RLA-I rats also showed better learning/memory than the RHA-I strain. (v) Within the NIH-HS stock, the most anxious rats in the ZM test presented the best learning and/or memory efficiency (regardless of pigmentation). In summary, NIH-HS rats display a high performance in spatial learning/memory tasks and a passive coping strategy when facing conditioned conflict situations. In addition, unconditioned anxiety in NIH-HS rats predicts better spatial learning/memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther Martínez-Membrives
- Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Regina López-Aumatell
- Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gloria Blázquez
- Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Toni Cañete
- Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Adolf Tobeña
- Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alberto Fernández-Teruel
- Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
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31
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Navarro-Francés CI, Arenas MC. Influence of trait anxiety on the effects of acute stress on learning and retention of the passive avoidance task in male and female mice. Behav Processes 2014; 105:6-14. [PMID: 24565981 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2013] [Revised: 01/25/2014] [Accepted: 02/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The influence of anxiety on the effects of acute stress for the acquisition and retention of passive avoidance conditioned task was evaluated in male and female mice. Animals were categorized as high-, medium-, and low-anxiety according to their performance in the elevated plus-maze test. Subsequently, half of the mice in each group were exposed to an acute stressor and assayed in an aversive conditioning test two days later. Exposure to restraint stress before inhibitory avoidance conditioning had a differential impact on the conditioned response of males and females according to their trait anxiety. The acute stressor significantly altered the conditioned response of mice with a high-anxiety level. The long-term effect of the stressor varied for each sex; high-anxiety stressed males showed an enhanced conditioned response with respect to their controls, whereas high-anxiety stressed females presented an impaired performance. These results lead us to believe that the characterization of individuality is an important factor in understanding the interaction between stress and memory for each sex; the trait anxiety of our animals modulated the effects of stress on the conditioned response so that males and females performed in contrasting manners to the same environmental stimuli and experimental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Concepción I Navarro-Francés
- Facultad de Psicología, Departamento de Psicobiología, Universitat de València, Avda. Blasco Ibañez, 21, Valencia, 46010, Spain
| | - M Carmen Arenas
- Facultad de Psicología, Departamento de Psicobiología, Universitat de València, Avda. Blasco Ibañez, 21, Valencia, 46010, Spain.
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32
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Luksys G, Ackermann S, Coynel D, Fastenrath M, Gschwind L, Heck A, Rasch B, Spalek K, Vogler C, Papassotiropoulos A, de Quervain D. BAIAP2 is related to emotional modulation of human memory strength. PLoS One 2014; 9:e83707. [PMID: 24392092 PMCID: PMC3879265 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0083707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2013] [Accepted: 11/14/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Memory performance is the result of many distinct mental processes, such as memory encoding, forgetting, and modulation of memory strength by emotional arousal. These processes, which are subserved by partly distinct molecular profiles, are not always amenable to direct observation. Therefore, computational models can be used to make inferences about specific mental processes and to study their genetic underpinnings. Here we combined a computational model-based analysis of memory-related processes with high density genetic information derived from a genome-wide study in healthy young adults. After identifying the best-fitting model for a verbal memory task and estimating the best-fitting individual cognitive parameters, we found a common variant in the gene encoding the brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor 1-associated protein 2 (BAIAP2) that was related to the model parameter reflecting modulation of verbal memory strength by negative valence. We also observed an association between the same genetic variant and a similar emotional modulation phenotype in a different population performing a picture memory task. Furthermore, using functional neuroimaging we found robust genotype-dependent differences in activity of the parahippocampal cortex that were specifically related to successful memory encoding of negative versus neutral information. Finally, we analyzed cortical gene expression data of 193 deceased subjects and detected significant BAIAP2 genotype-dependent differences in BAIAP2 mRNA levels. Our findings suggest that model-based dissociation of specific cognitive parameters can improve the understanding of genetic underpinnings of human learning and memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gediminas Luksys
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland ; University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Sandra Ackermann
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland ; University of Zurich, Department of Psychology, Division of Biopsychology, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - David Coynel
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland ; University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Fastenrath
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Leo Gschwind
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Angela Heck
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Bjoern Rasch
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland ; University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland ; University of Zurich, Department of Psychology, Division of Biopsychology, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Klara Spalek
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christian Vogler
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Papassotiropoulos
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland ; University of Basel, Psychiatric University Clinics, Basel, Switzerland ; University of Basel, Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dominique de Quervain
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland ; University of Basel, Psychiatric University Clinics, Basel, Switzerland
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33
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Hostinar CE, Sullivan RM, Gunnar MR. Psychobiological mechanisms underlying the social buffering of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis: a review of animal models and human studies across development. Psychol Bull 2014; 140:256-282. [PMID: 23607429 PMCID: PMC3844011 DOI: 10.1037/a0032671 10.1037/a0032671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
Discovering the stress-buffering effects of social relationships has been one of the major findings in psychobiology in the last century. However, an understanding of the underlying neurobiological and psychological mechanisms of this buffering is only beginning to emerge. An important avenue of this research concerns the neurocircuitry that can regulate the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. The present review is a translational effort aimed at integrating animal models and human studies of the social regulation of the HPA axis from infancy to adulthood, specifically focusing on the process that has been named social buffering. This process has been noted across species and consists of a dampened HPA axis stress response to threat or challenge that occurs with the presence or assistance of a conspecific. We describe aspects of the relevant underlying neurobiology when enough information exists and expose major gaps in our understanding across all domains of the literatures we aimed to integrate. We provide a working conceptual model focused on the role of oxytocinergic systems and prefrontal neural networks as 2 of the putative biological mediators of this process, and propose that the role of early experiences is critical in shaping later social buffering effects. This synthesis points to both general future directions and specific experiments that need to be conducted to build a more comprehensive model of the HPA social buffering effect across the life span that incorporates multiple levels of analysis: neuroendocrine, behavioral, and social.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan S. Kline Institute, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center
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34
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Timmers C, Maeghs A, Vestjens M, Bonnemayer C, Hamers H, Blokland A. Ambulant cognitive assessment using a smartphone. APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY-ADULT 2013; 21:136-42. [PMID: 24826507 DOI: 10.1080/09084282.2013.778261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The focus of neuropsychology is to understand the relationship between assessment results and everyday cognitive abilities and disabilities. However, the generalizability of traditional neuropsychological tests to real-life behaviors, the ecological validity, is compromised by the test environment, among other things. Neuropsychological tests are often completed in a laboratory setting that is typically quiet with few distractions. This is very unlike most everyday environments. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possibility of using a smartphone in standardized cognitive assessment. A short-term memory task was obtained from young adults in either an everyday-life environment or a controlled test setting at four time points during a day. Results show no significant differences between the task performances in both conditions. There was no indication that fatigue, tension, or environmental noise had an effect on task performance. High correlations between subsequent time points were found in the everyday-life environment, suggesting a high test-retest reliability and commitment of the participants. The present study demonstrates that smartphones can be used to assess cognitive functions outside a laboratory setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corrie Timmers
- a Neuropsychology & Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands
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35
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Individual differences in the effects of chronic stress on memory: behavioral and neurochemical correlates of resiliency. Neuroscience 2013; 246:142-59. [PMID: 23644054 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.04.052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2012] [Revised: 04/24/2013] [Accepted: 04/25/2013] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Chronic stress has been shown to impair memory, however, the extent to which memory can be impaired is often variable across individuals. Predisposed differences in particular traits, such as anxiety, may reveal underlying neurobiological mechanisms that could be driving individual differences in sensitivity to stress and, thus, stress resiliency. Such pre-morbid characteristics may serve as early indicators of susceptibility to stress. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and enkephalin (ENK) are neurochemical messengers of interest implicated in modulating anxiety and motivation circuitry; however, little is known about how these neuropeptides interact with stress resiliency and memory. In this experiment, adult male rats were appetitively trained to locate sugar rewards in a motivation-based spatial memory task before undergoing repeated immobilization stress and then being tested for memory retention. Anxiety-related behaviors, among other characteristics, were monitored longitudinally. Results indicated that stressed animals which showed little to no impairments in memory post-stress (i.e., the more stress-resilient individuals) exhibited lower anxiety levels prior to stress when compared to stressed animals that showed large deficits in memory (i.e., the more stress-susceptible individuals). Interestingly, all stressed animals, regardless of memory change, showed reduced body weight gain as well as thymic involution, suggesting that the effects of stress on metabolism and the immune system were dissociated from the effects of stress on higher cognition, and that stress resiliency seems to be domain-specific rather than a global characteristic within an individual. Neurochemical analyses revealed that NPY in the hypothalamus and amygdala and ENK in the nucleus accumbens were modulated differentially between stress-resilient and stress-susceptible individuals, with elevated expression of these neuropeptides fostering anxiolytic and pro-motivation function, thus driving cognitive resiliency in a domain-specific manner. Findings suggest that such neurochemical markers may be novel targets for pharmacological interventions that can serve to prevent or ameliorate the negative effects of stress on memory.
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36
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Hostinar CE, Sullivan RM, Gunnar MR. Psychobiological mechanisms underlying the social buffering of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis: a review of animal models and human studies across development. Psychol Bull 2013; 140:256-82. [PMID: 23607429 DOI: 10.1037/a0032671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 452] [Impact Index Per Article: 41.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Discovering the stress-buffering effects of social relationships has been one of the major findings in psychobiology in the last century. However, an understanding of the underlying neurobiological and psychological mechanisms of this buffering is only beginning to emerge. An important avenue of this research concerns the neurocircuitry that can regulate the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. The present review is a translational effort aimed at integrating animal models and human studies of the social regulation of the HPA axis from infancy to adulthood, specifically focusing on the process that has been named social buffering. This process has been noted across species and consists of a dampened HPA axis stress response to threat or challenge that occurs with the presence or assistance of a conspecific. We describe aspects of the relevant underlying neurobiology when enough information exists and expose major gaps in our understanding across all domains of the literatures we aimed to integrate. We provide a working conceptual model focused on the role of oxytocinergic systems and prefrontal neural networks as 2 of the putative biological mediators of this process, and propose that the role of early experiences is critical in shaping later social buffering effects. This synthesis points to both general future directions and specific experiments that need to be conducted to build a more comprehensive model of the HPA social buffering effect across the life span that incorporates multiple levels of analysis: neuroendocrine, behavioral, and social.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan S. Kline Institute, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center
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37
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Kirby ED, Muroy SE, Sun WG, Covarrubias D, Leong MJ, Barchas LA, Kaufer D. Acute stress enhances adult rat hippocampal neurogenesis and activation of newborn neurons via secreted astrocytic FGF2. eLife 2013; 2:e00362. [PMID: 23599891 PMCID: PMC3628086 DOI: 10.7554/elife.00362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 127] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2012] [Accepted: 02/27/2013] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Stress is a potent modulator of the mammalian brain. The highly conserved stress hormone response influences many brain regions, particularly the hippocampus, a region important for memory function. The effect of acute stress on the unique population of adult neural stem/progenitor cells (NPCs) that resides in the adult hippocampus is unclear. We found that acute stress increased hippocampal cell proliferation and astrocytic fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) expression. The effect of acute stress occurred independent of basolateral amygdala neural input and was mimicked by treating isolated NPCs with conditioned media from corticosterone-treated primary astrocytes. Neutralization of FGF2 revealed that astrocyte-secreted FGF2 mediated stress-hormone-induced NPC proliferation. 2 weeks, but not 2 days, after acute stress, rats also showed enhanced fear extinction memory coincident with enhanced activation of newborn neurons. Our findings suggest a beneficial role for brief stress on the hippocampus and improve understanding of the adaptive capacity of the brain. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00362.001.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth D Kirby
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute , University of California, Berkeley , Berkeley , United States
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38
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Schwabe L, Wolf OT. Stress and multiple memory systems: from ‘thinking’ to ‘doing’. Trends Cogn Sci 2013; 17:60-8. [PMID: 23290054 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2012.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 227] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2012] [Revised: 12/10/2012] [Accepted: 12/11/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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39
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Sandi C. Stress and cognition. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2013; 4:245-261. [DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 179] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carmen Sandi
- Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
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40
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Inostroza M, Binder S, Born J. Sleep-dependency of episodic-like memory consolidation in rats. Behav Brain Res 2013; 237:15-22. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2012] [Revised: 09/07/2012] [Accepted: 09/11/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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41
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Lucke J, Partridge B. Towards a Smart Population: A Public Health Framework for Cognitive Enhancement. NEUROETHICS-NETH 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s12152-012-9167-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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42
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van der Kooij MA, Sandi C. Social memories in rodents: Methods, mechanisms and modulation by stress. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2012; 36:1763-72. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2011] [Revised: 10/20/2011] [Accepted: 10/27/2011] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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43
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Variant brain-derived neurotrophic factor Val66Met polymorphism alters vulnerability to stress and response to antidepressants. J Neurosci 2012; 32:4092-101. [PMID: 22442074 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.5048-11.2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 206] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays important roles in cell survival, neural plasticity, learning, and stress regulation. However, whether the recently found human BDNF Val66Met (BDNF(Met)) polymorphism could alter stress vulnerability remains controversial. More importantly, the molecular and structural mechanisms underlying the interaction between the BDNF(Met) polymorphism and stress are unclear. We found that heterozygous BDNF(+/Met) mice displayed hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hyperreactivity, increased depressive-like and anxiety-like behaviors, and impaired working memory compared with WT mice after 7 d restraint stress. Moreover, BDNF(+/Met) mice exhibited more prominent changes in BDNF levels and apical dendritic spine density in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala after stress, which correlated with the impaired working memory and elevated anxiety-like behaviors. Finally, the depressive-like behaviors in BDNF(+/Met) mice could be selectively rescued by acute administration of desipramine but not fluoxetine. These data indicate selective behavioral, molecular, and structural deficits resulting from the interaction between stress and the human genetic BDNF(Met) polymorphism. Importantly, desipramine but not fluoxetine has antidepressant effects on BDNF(+/Met) mice, suggesting that specific classes of antidepressant may be a more effective treatment option for depressive symptoms in humans with this genetic variant BDNF.
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