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Morgan AA, Alves ND, Stevens GS, Yeasmin TT, Mackay A, Power S, Sargin D, Hanna C, Adib AL, Ziolkowski-Blake A, Lambe EK, Ansorge MS. Medial Prefrontal Cortex Serotonin Input Regulates Cognitive Flexibility in Mice. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.30.534775. [PMID: 37034804 PMCID: PMC10081203 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.30.534775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) regulates cognitive flexibility and emotional behavior. Neurons that release serotonin project to the mPFC, and serotonergic drugs influence emotion and cognition. Yet, the specific roles of endogenous serotonin release in the mPFC on neurophysiology and behavior are unknown. We show that axonal serotonin release in the mPFC directly inhibits the major mPFC output neurons. In serotonergic neurons projecting from the dorsal raphe to the mPFC, we find endogenous activity signatures pre-reward retrieval and at reward retrieval during a cognitive flexibility task. In vivo optogenetic activation of this pathway during pre-reward retrieval selectively improved extradimensional rule shift performance while inhibition impaired it, demonstrating sufficiency and necessity for mPFC serotonin release in cognitive flexibility. Locomotor activity and anxiety-like behavior were not affected by either optogenetic manipulation. Collectively, our data reveal a powerful and specific modulatory role of endogenous serotonin release from dorsal raphe-to-mPFC projecting neurons in cognitive flexibility.
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Scholz V, Hook RW, Kandroodi MR, Algermissen J, Ioannidis K, Christmas D, Valle S, Robbins TW, Grant JE, Chamberlain SR, den Ouden HEM. Cortical dopamine reduces the impact of motivational biases governing automated behaviour. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:1503-1512. [PMID: 35260787 PMCID: PMC9206002 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-022-01291-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Motivations shape our behaviour: the promise of reward invigorates, while in the face of punishment, we hold back. Abnormalities of motivational processing are implicated in clinical disorders characterised by excessive habits and loss of top-down control, notably substance and behavioural addictions. Striatal and frontal dopamine have been hypothesised to play complementary roles in the respective generation and control of these motivational biases. However, while dopaminergic interventions have indeed been found to modulate motivational biases, these previous pharmacological studies used regionally non-selective pharmacological agents. Here, we tested the hypothesis that frontal dopamine controls the balance between Pavlovian, bias-driven automated responding and instrumentally learned action values. Specifically, we examined whether selective enhancement of cortical dopamine either (i) enables adaptive suppression of Pavlovian control when biases are maladaptive; or (ii) non-specifically modulates the degree of bias-driven automated responding. Healthy individuals (n = 35) received the catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor tolcapone in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over design, and completed a motivational Go NoGo task known to elicit motivational biases. In support of hypothesis (ii), tolcapone globally decreased motivational bias. Specifically, tolcapone improved performance on trials where the bias was unhelpful, but impaired performance in bias-congruent conditions. These results indicate a non-selective role for cortical dopamine in the regulation of motivational processes underpinning top-down control over automated behaviour. The findings have direct relevance to understanding neurobiological mechanisms underpinning addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorders, as well as highlighting a potential trans-diagnostic novel mechanism to address such symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Scholz
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. .,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Centre of Mental Health, University of Würzburg, Margarete-Höppel-Platz1, 97080, Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Roxanne W. Hook
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Mojtaba Rostami Kandroodi
- grid.5590.90000000122931605Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands ,grid.46072.370000 0004 0612 7950School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Johannes Algermissen
- grid.5590.90000000122931605Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Konstantinos Ioannidis
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK ,grid.450563.10000 0004 0412 9303Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK ,grid.5012.60000 0001 0481 6099Department of International Health, Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - David Christmas
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK ,grid.450563.10000 0004 0412 9303Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - Stephanie Valle
- grid.170205.10000 0004 1936 7822Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL USA
| | - Trevor W. Robbins
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Jon E. Grant
- grid.170205.10000 0004 1936 7822Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL USA
| | - Samuel R. Chamberlain
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK ,grid.5491.90000 0004 1936 9297Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK
| | - Hanneke E. M. den Ouden
- grid.5590.90000000122931605Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Martens MAG, Dalton N, Scaife J, Harmer CJ, Harrison PJ, Tunbridge EM. Catechol-O-methyltransferase activity does not influence emotional processing in men. J Psychopharmacol 2022; 36:768-775. [PMID: 35443830 PMCID: PMC9150146 DOI: 10.1177/02698811221089032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) regulates cortical dopaminergic transmission and prefrontal-dependent cognitive function. However, its role in other cognitive processes, including emotional processing, is relatively unexplored. We therefore investigated the separate and interactive influences of COMT inhibition and Val158Met (rs4680) genotype on performance on an emotional test battery. METHODS We recruited 74 healthy men homozygous for the functional COMT Val158Met polymorphism. Volunteers were administered either a single 200 mg dose of the brain-penetrant COMT inhibitor tolcapone or placebo in a double-blind, randomised manner. Emotional processing was assessed using the emotional test battery, and mood was rated using visual analogue scales and the Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire across the test day. RESULTS There were no main or interactive effects of Val158Met genotype or tolcapone on any of the emotional processing measures or mood ratings. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that, at least in healthy adult men, COMT has little or no effect on emotional processing or mood. These findings contrast with several neuroimaging studies that suggest that COMT modulates neural activity during emotional processing. Thus, further studies are required to understand how COMT impacts on the relationship between behavioural output and neural activity during emotional processing. Nevertheless, our data suggest that novel COMT inhibitors under development for treating cognitive dysfunction are unlikely to have acute off target effects on emotional behaviours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marieke AG Martens
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK,Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK,Marieke AG Martens, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK.
| | - Nina Dalton
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jessica Scaife
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK,Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK
| | - Catherine J Harmer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK,Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK
| | - Paul J Harrison
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK,Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK
| | - Elizabeth M Tunbridge
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK,Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK
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Sun MK. Executive functioning: perspectives on neurotrophic activity and pharmacology. Behav Pharmacol 2018; 29:592-604. [PMID: 30179884 DOI: 10.1097/fbp.0000000000000427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Executive functioning is a high-level cognitive ability, regulating other abilities and behaviors to achieve desired goals. A typical executive task can be defined as the capacity to maintain one's attention on the current task, that is, responding only to the correct but not to distractive stimuli. Impairments of executive functions, or executive dysfunctions, have a growing impact on everyday life and academic achievement and are usually an early feature, and one of the core features, in brain injury and memory and behavioral disorders. Furthermore, emerging evidence indicates that memory therapeutics cannot achieve their clinical benefits in cognition if executive dysfunction is not effectively and simultaneously treated. Improvement of executive functions might be achieved through targeting some signaling pathways in the brain, including the brain-derived neurotrophic factor signaling pathways. These agents may be useful either as stand-alone interventions for patients with executive dysfunction and/or psychiatric and memory disorders or as essential adjuncts to drugs that target the underlying pathology in various brain injury and memory and behavioral disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miao-Kun Sun
- Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
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Brain catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibition by tolcapone counteracts recognition memory deficits in normal and chronic phencyclidine-treated rats and in COMT-Val transgenic mice. Behav Pharmacol 2017; 27:415-21. [PMID: 26919286 DOI: 10.1097/fbp.0000000000000208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
The critical involvement of dopamine in cognitive processes has been well established, suggesting that therapies targeting dopamine metabolism may alleviate cognitive dysfunction. Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) is a catecholamine-degrading enzyme, the substrates of which include dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. The present work illustrates the potential therapeutic efficacy of COMT inhibition in alleviating cognitive impairment. A brain-penetrant COMT inhibitor, tolcapone, was tested in normal and phencyclidine-treated rats and COMT-Val transgenic mice. In a novel object recognition procedure, tolcapone counteracted a 24-h-dependent forgetting of a familiar object as well as phencyclidine-induced recognition deficits in the rats at doses ranging from 7.5 to 30 mg/kg. In contrast, entacapone, a COMT inhibitor that does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier, failed to show efficacy at doses up to 30 mg/kg. Tolcapone at a dose of 30 mg/kg also improved novel object recognition performance in transgenic mice, which showed clear recognition deficits. Complementing earlier studies, our results indicate that central inhibition of COMT positively impacts recognition memory processes and might constitute an appealing treatment for cognitive dysfunction related to neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Neurophysiology of rule switching in the corticostriatal circuit. Neuroscience 2016; 345:64-76. [PMID: 26851774 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.01.062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2015] [Revised: 01/12/2016] [Accepted: 01/28/2016] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The ability to adjust behavioral responses to cues in a changing environment is crucial for survival. Activity in the medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) is thought to both represent rules to guide behavior as well as detect and resolve conflicts between rules in changing contingencies. While lesion and pharmacological studies have supported a crucial role for mPFC in this type of set-shifting, an understanding of how mPFC represents current rules or detects and resolves conflict between different rules is still unclear. Meanwhile, medial dorsal striatum (mDS) receives major projections from mPFC and neural activity of mDS is closely linked to action selection, making the mDS a potential major player for enacting rule-guided action policies. However, exactly what is signaled by mPFC and how this impacts neural signals in mDS is not well known. In this review, we will summarize what is known about neural signals of rules and set shifting in both prefrontal cortex and dorsal striatum, as well as provide questions and directions for future experiments.
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