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Prescott TJ, Montes González FM, Gurney K, Humphries MD, Redgrave P. Simulated Dopamine Modulation of a Neurorobotic Model of the Basal Ganglia. Biomimetics (Basel) 2024; 9:139. [PMID: 38534824 DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics9030139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The vertebrate basal ganglia play an important role in action selection-the resolution of conflicts between alternative motor programs. The effective operation of basal ganglia circuitry is also known to rely on appropriate levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. We investigated reducing or increasing the tonic level of simulated dopamine in a prior model of the basal ganglia integrated into a robot control architecture engaged in a foraging task inspired by animal behaviour. The main findings were that progressive reductions in the levels of simulated dopamine caused slowed behaviour and, at low levels, an inability to initiate movement. These states were partially relieved by increased salience levels (stronger sensory/motivational input). Conversely, increased simulated dopamine caused distortion of the robot's motor acts through partially expressed motor activity relating to losing actions. This could also lead to an increased frequency of behaviour switching. Levels of simulated dopamine that were either significantly lower or higher than baseline could cause a loss of behavioural integration, sometimes leaving the robot in a 'behavioral trap'. That some analogous traits are observed in animals and humans affected by dopamine dysregulation suggests that robotic models could prove useful in understanding the role of dopamine neurotransmission in basal ganglia function and dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tony J Prescott
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | | | - Kevin Gurney
- Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - Mark D Humphries
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Peter Redgrave
- Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
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Szalisznyó K, Silverstein DN. Computational insights on asymmetrical D1 and D2 receptor-mediated chunking: implications for OCD and Schizophrenia. Cogn Neurodyn 2024; 18:217-232. [PMID: 38406202 PMCID: PMC10881457 DOI: 10.1007/s11571-022-09865-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2021] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Repetitive thoughts and motor programs including perseveration are bridge symptoms characteristic of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), schizophrenia and in the co-morbid overlap of these conditions. The above pathologies are sensitive to altered activation and kinetics of dopamine D 1 and D 2 receptors that differently influence sequence learning and recall. Recognizing start and stop elements of motor and cognitive behaviors has crucial importance. During chunking, frequent components of temporal strings are concatenated into single units. We extended a published computational model (Asabuki et al. 2018), where two populations of neurons are connected and simulated in a reservoir computing framework. These neural pools were adopted to represent D1 and D2 striatal neuronal populations. We investigated how specific neural and striatal circuit parameters can influence start/stop signaling and found that asymmetric intra-network connection probabilities, synaptic weights and differential time constants may contribute to signaling of start/stop elements within learned sequences. Asymmetric coupling between the striatal D 1 and D 2 neural populations was also demonstrated to be beneficial. Our modeling results predict that dynamical differences between the two dopaminergic striatal populations and the interaction between them may play complementary roles in chunk boundary signaling. Start and stop dichotomies can arise from the larger circuit dynamics as well, since neural and intra-striatal connections only partially support a clear division of labor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krisztina Szalisznyó
- Department of Medical Sciences, Psychiatry, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala University, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden
- Theoretical Neuroscience and Complex Systems Research Group, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary
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Plato SM. Comparing the pathology of equine stereotypical behaviours to obsessive-compulsive and related disorder in humans: An exploratory Delphi study. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Tonna M, Ottoni R, Pellegrini C, Mora L, Gambolo L, Di Donna A, Parmigiani S, Marchesi C. The motor profile of obsessive-compulsive rituals: psychopathological and evolutionary implications. CNS Spectr 2022; 28:1-9. [PMID: 35184763 DOI: 10.1017/s1092852922000165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studies investigating obsessive-compulsive disorder from an ethological approach have highlighted a specific motor pattern of compulsive rituals with respect to corresponding ordinary behaviors. Particularly, compulsive motor profile is built through the repetition of acts, with prevalence of nonfunctional ones and redirection of attention to its basic structural units. These formal features would characterize ritual behavior throughout evolution, from nonhuman animals to human cultures. However, no study to date has investigated a possible relationship between such motor profile and underlying psychopathology. Therefore, the first objective of the study was to confirm previous findings on a larger sample size of obsessive patients; the second objective was to elucidate whether motor profile might be associated with obsessive-compulsive psychopathology and/or prepsychotic symptoms of schizophrenia. METHODS Twenty-one obsessive-compulsive outpatients provided a videotape of their rituals. An equal number of healthy controls, matched for sex and age, were registered for corresponding ordinary acts. Obsessive patients were administered the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and the Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire. RESULTS The results of the present study confirm that ritual compulsions present a specific motor structure characterized by repetition of both functional and nonfunctional acts and their longer duration. Such a motor pattern is independent from obsessive-compulsive psychopathology, whereas it results specifically associated with prepsychotic symptoms of schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS We argue that this association may reflect the adaptive significance of ritual behavior across evolution, that is, its homeostatic function in conditions of unpredictability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Tonna
- Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Parma, Italy
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Psychiatric Unit, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Rebecca Ottoni
- Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Parma, Italy
| | | | - Lorenzo Mora
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Psychiatric Unit, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Luca Gambolo
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Psychiatric Unit, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Anna Di Donna
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Psychiatric Unit, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Stefano Parmigiani
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Unit of Behavioral Biology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Carlo Marchesi
- Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Parma, Italy
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Psychiatric Unit, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
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Benzina N, N'Diaye K, Pelissolo A, Mallet L, Burguière E. A cross-species assessment of behavioral flexibility in compulsive disorders. Commun Biol 2021; 4:96. [PMID: 33479495 PMCID: PMC7820021 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01611-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Lack of behavioral flexibility has been proposed as one underlying cause of compulsions, defined as repetitive behaviors performed through rigid rituals. However, experimental evidence has proven inconsistent across human and animal models of compulsive-like behavior. In the present study, applying a similarly-designed reversal learning task in two different species, which share a common symptom of compulsivity (human OCD patients and Sapap3 KO mice), we found no consistent link between compulsive behaviors and lack of behavioral flexibility. However, we showed that a distinct subgroup of compulsive individuals of both species exhibit a behavioral flexibility deficit in reversal learning. This deficit was not due to perseverative, rigid behaviors as commonly hypothesized, but rather due to an increase in response lability. These cross-species results highlight the necessity to consider the heterogeneity of cognitive deficits in compulsive disorders and call for reconsidering the role of behavioral flexibility in the aetiology of compulsive behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nabil Benzina
- Institut du Cerveau, ICM, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Université, 47 bd de l'Hôpital, 75013, Paris, France.
| | - Karim N'Diaye
- Institut du Cerveau, ICM, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Université, 47 bd de l'Hôpital, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Antoine Pelissolo
- Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, DMU IMPACT, Département Médical-Universitaire de Psychiatrie et d'Addictologie, Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor-Albert Chenevier, Université Paris-Est Créteil, 40 rue de Mesly, 94000, Créteil, France
- INSERM U955, IMRB, 8 rue du Général Sarrail, 94010, Créteil cedex, France
| | - Luc Mallet
- Institut du Cerveau, ICM, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Université, 47 bd de l'Hôpital, 75013, Paris, France
- Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, DMU IMPACT, Département Médical-Universitaire de Psychiatrie et d'Addictologie, Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor-Albert Chenevier, Université Paris-Est Créteil, 40 rue de Mesly, 94000, Créteil, France
- Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, Global Health Institute, University of Geneva, 9 Chemin des Mines, 1202, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Eric Burguière
- Institut du Cerveau, ICM, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Université, 47 bd de l'Hôpital, 75013, Paris, France.
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Tonna M, Ponzi D, Palanza P, Marchesi C, Parmigiani S. Proximate and ultimate causes of ritual behavior. Behav Brain Res 2020; 393:112772. [PMID: 32544508 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Revised: 05/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Ritual behaviour, intended as a specific, repetitive and rigid form of action flow, appears both in social and non-social environmental contexts, representing an ubiquitous phenomenon in animal life including human individuals and cultures. The purpose of this contribution is to investigate an evolutionary continuum in proximate and ultimate causes of ritual behavior. A phylogenetic homology in proximal mechanisms can be found, based on the repetition of genetically programmed and/or epigenetically acquired action patterns of behavior. As far as its adaptive significance, ethological comparative studies show that the tendency to ritualization is driven by the unpredictability of social or ecological environmental stimuli. In this perspective, rituals may have a "homeostatic" function over unpredictable environments, as further highlighted by psychopathological compulsions. In humans, a circular loop may have occurred among ritual practices and symbolic activity to deal with a novel culturally-mediated world. However, we suggest that the compulsion to action patterns repetition, typical of all rituals, has a genetically inborn motor foundation, thus precognitive and pre-symbolic. Rooted in such phylogenetically conserved motor structure (proximate causes), the evolution of cognitive and symbolic capacities have generated the complexity of human rituals, though maintaining the original adaptive function (ultimate causes) to cope with unpredictable environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Tonna
- Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Parma, Italy.
| | - Davide Ponzi
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Neuroscience Unit, University of Parma, Italy
| | - Paola Palanza
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Neuroscience Unit, University of Parma, Italy
| | - Carlo Marchesi
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Neuroscience Unit, University of Parma, Italy
| | - Stefano Parmigiani
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainaibility, Unit of Behavioral Biology, University of Parma, Italy
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Straathof M, Blezer ELA, van Heijningen C, Smeele CE, van der Toorn A, Buitelaar JK, Glennon JC, Otte WM, Dijkhuizen RM. Structural and functional MRI of altered brain development in a novel adolescent rat model of quinpirole-induced compulsive checking behavior. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2020; 33:58-70. [PMID: 32151497 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Revised: 02/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is increasingly considered to be a neurodevelopmental disorder. However, despite insights in neural substrates of OCD in adults, less is known about mechanisms underlying compulsivity during brain development in children and adolescents. Therefore, we developed an adolescent rat model of compulsive checking behavior and investigated developmental changes in structural and functional measures in the frontostriatal circuitry. Five-weeks old Sprague Dawley rats were subcutaneously injected with quinpirole (n = 21) or saline (n = 20) twice a week for five weeks. Each injection was followed by placement in the middle of an open field table, and compulsive behavior was quantified as repeated checking behavior. Anatomical, resting-state functional and diffusion MRI at 4.7T were conducted before the first and after the last quinpirole/saline injection to measure regional volumes, functional connectivity and structural integrity in the brain, respectively. After consecutive quinpirole injections, adolescent rats demonstrated clear checking behavior and repeated travelling between two open-field zones. MRI measurements revealed an increase of regional volumes within the frontostriatal circuits and an increase in fractional anisotropy (FA) in white matter areas during maturation in both experimental groups. Quinpirole-injected rats showed a larger developmental increase in FA values in the internal capsule and forceps minor compared to control rats. Our study points toward a link between development of compulsive behavior and altered white matter maturation in quinpirole-injected adolescent rats, in line with observations in pediatric patients with compulsive phenotypes. This novel animal model provides opportunities to investigate novel treatments and underlying mechanisms for patients with early-onset OCD specifically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milou Straathof
- Biomedical MR Imaging and Spectroscopy Group, Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Erwin L A Blezer
- Biomedical MR Imaging and Spectroscopy Group, Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Caroline van Heijningen
- Biomedical MR Imaging and Spectroscopy Group, Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Christel E Smeele
- Biomedical MR Imaging and Spectroscopy Group, Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Annette van der Toorn
- Biomedical MR Imaging and Spectroscopy Group, Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Jan K Buitelaar
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Jeffrey C Glennon
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Willem M Otte
- Biomedical MR Imaging and Spectroscopy Group, Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Department of Pediatric Neurology, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Rick M Dijkhuizen
- Biomedical MR Imaging and Spectroscopy Group, Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Dixit PV, Sahu R, Mishra DK. Marble-burying behavior test as a murine model of compulsive-like behavior. J Pharmacol Toxicol Methods 2020; 102:106676. [PMID: 31954839 DOI: 10.1016/j.vascn.2020.106676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Revised: 01/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Object burying by rodents is a popular screening tool for anxiolytic agents. However, modulation of marble-burying by serotonin reuptake inhibitors prompted its link to obsessive-compulsive disorder/compulsive-like behavior. The Marble-burying behavior test is an acute test; however, some investigators incorporate the sub-acute treatment regimen as an essential component for screening anti-compulsive agents. The test exhibits between-laboratory methodological differences and demonstrates positive treatment responses to an array of pharmacotherapies, creating doubts about its predictive validity and construct validity. Numerous reviews are available on marble-burying behavior test, which incorporates the test as a part of anti-compulsive behavior-like screens, but none has made it a sole subject-matter for discussion. This review attempts to provide a comprehensive account of the marble-burying test as a model of compulsive-like disorders. It envisages the model's scientific origins, the preclinical research done and its correlation with the clinical research outcomes, and a detailed discussion about its validity. In conclusion, there appears a need to address the issue of construct and predictive validity of the model authoritatively; or the paradigm may remain squandered in the field of obsessive-compulsive disorder research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pankaj Vinod Dixit
- Indore Institute of Pharmacy, Rau-Pithampur Road, Opposite Indian Institute of Management, Rau, Indore, 453331, M.P., India.
| | - Rohit Sahu
- Indore Institute of Pharmacy, Rau-Pithampur Road, Opposite Indian Institute of Management, Rau, Indore, 453331, M.P., India
| | - Dinesh Kumar Mishra
- Indore Institute of Pharmacy, Rau-Pithampur Road, Opposite Indian Institute of Management, Rau, Indore, 453331, M.P., India
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Lewis M, Fineberg N, Cañamero L. A Robot Model of OC-Spectrum Disorders: Design Framework, Implementation,
and First Experiments. COMPUTATIONAL PSYCHIATRY 2019. [DOI: 10.1162/cpsy_a_00025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
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Abnormal repetitive behaviors in zebrafish and their relevance to human brain disorders. Behav Brain Res 2019; 367:101-110. [PMID: 30926483 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.03.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Revised: 03/22/2019] [Accepted: 03/25/2019] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Abnormal repetitive behaviors (ARBs) are a prominent symptom of numerous human brain disorders and are commonly seen in rodent models as well. While rodent studies of ARBs continue to dominate the field, mounting evidence suggests that zebrafish (Danio rerio) also display ARB-like phenotypes and may therefore be a novel model organism for ARB research. In addition to clear practical research advantages as a model species, zebrafish share high genetic and physiological homology to humans and rodents, including multiple ARB-related genes and robust behaviors relevant to ARB. Here, we discuss a wide spectrum of stereotypic repetitive behaviors in zebrafish, data on their genetic and pharmacological modulation, and the overall translational relevance of fish ARBs to modeling human brain disorders. Overall, the zebrafish is rapidly emerging as a new promising model to study ARBs and their underlying mechanisms.
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Basolateral amygdala input to the medial prefrontal cortex controls obsessive-compulsive disorder-like checking behavior. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:3799-3804. [PMID: 30808765 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1814292116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects ∼1 to 3% of the world's population. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the excessive checking symptoms in OCD are not fully understood. Using viral neuronal tracing in mice, we found that glutamatergic neurons from the basolateral amygdala (BLAGlu) project onto both medial prefrontal cortex glutamate (mPFCGlu) and GABA (mPFCGABA) neurons that locally innervate mPFCGlu neurons. Next, we developed an OCD checking mouse model with quinpirole-induced repetitive checking behaviors. This model demonstrated decreased glutamatergic mPFC microcircuit activity regulated by enhanced BLAGlu inputs. Optical or chemogenetic manipulations of this maladaptive circuitry restored the behavioral response. These findings were verified in a mouse functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, in which the BLA-mPFC functional connectivity was increased in OCD mice. Together, these findings define a unique BLAGlu→mPFCGABA→Glu circuit that controls the checking symptoms of OCD.
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