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Han M, Zeng D, Tan W, Chen X, Bai S, Wu Q, Chen Y, Wei Z, Mei Y, Zeng Y. Brain region-specific roles of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in social stress-induced depressive-like behavior. Neural Regen Res 2025; 20:159-173. [PMID: 38767484 PMCID: PMC11246125 DOI: 10.4103/nrr.nrr-d-23-01419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is a key factor in stress adaptation and avoidance of a social stress behavioral response. Recent studies have shown that brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in stressed mice is brain region-specific, particularly involving the corticolimbic system, including the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. Determining how brain-derived neurotrophic factor participates in stress processing in different brain regions will deepen our understanding of social stress psychopathology. In this review, we discuss the expression and regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in stress-sensitive brain regions closely related to the pathophysiology of depression. We focused on associated molecular pathways and neural circuits, with special attention to the brain-derived neurotrophic factor-tropomyosin receptor kinase B signaling pathway and the ventral tegmental area-nucleus accumbens dopamine circuit. We determined that stress-induced alterations in brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels are likely related to the nature, severity, and duration of stress, especially in the above-mentioned brain regions of the corticolimbic system. Therefore, BDNF might be a biological indicator regulating stress-related processes in various brain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man Han
- Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- Geriatric Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Deyang Zeng
- Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- Geriatric Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Wei Tan
- Geriatric Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Xingxing Chen
- Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- Geriatric Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Shuyuan Bai
- Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- Geriatric Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Qiong Wu
- Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- Geriatric Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Yushan Chen
- Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- Geriatric Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Zhen Wei
- Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- Geriatric Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Yufei Mei
- Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- Geriatric Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Yan Zeng
- Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- Geriatric Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
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2
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Ma J, O'Malley JJ, Kreiker M, Leng Y, Khan I, Kindel M, Penzo MA. Convergent direct and indirect cortical streams shape avoidance decisions in mice via the midline thalamus. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6598. [PMID: 39097600 PMCID: PMC11297946 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50941-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2024] [Accepted: 07/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Current concepts of corticothalamic organization in the mammalian brain are mainly based on sensory systems, with less focus on circuits for higher-order cognitive functions. In sensory systems, first-order thalamic relays are driven by subcortical inputs and modulated by cortical feedback, while higher-order relays receive strong excitatory cortical inputs. The applicability of these principles beyond sensory systems is uncertain. We investigated mouse prefronto-thalamic projections to the midline thalamus, revealing distinct top-down control. Unlike sensory systems, this pathway relies on indirect modulation via the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN). Specifically, the prelimbic area, which influences emotional and motivated behaviors, impacts instrumental avoidance responses through direct and indirect projections to the paraventricular thalamus. Both pathways promote defensive states, but the indirect pathway via the TRN is essential for organizing avoidance decisions through disinhibition. Our findings highlight intra-thalamic circuit dynamics that integrate cortical cognitive signals and their role in shaping complex behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Ma
- Section on the Neural Circuits of Emotion and Motivation, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Laboratory of Anesthesia and Analgesia Application Technology, Xuzhou Medical University, 221004, Xuzhou, China
| | - John J O'Malley
- Section on the Neural Circuits of Emotion and Motivation, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Malaz Kreiker
- Section on the Neural Circuits of Emotion and Motivation, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Yan Leng
- Section on the Neural Circuits of Emotion and Motivation, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Isbah Khan
- Section on the Neural Circuits of Emotion and Motivation, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Morgan Kindel
- Section on the Neural Circuits of Emotion and Motivation, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mario A Penzo
- Section on the Neural Circuits of Emotion and Motivation, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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Fu S, Sun H, Wang J, Gao S, Zhu L, Cui K, Liu S, Qi X, Guan R, Fan X, Liu Q, Chen W, Su L, Cui S, Liao F, Liu F, Wong CCL, Yi M, Wan Y. Impaired neuronal macroautophagy in the prelimbic cortex contributes to comorbid anxiety-like behaviors in rats with chronic neuropathic pain. Autophagy 2024; 20:1559-1576. [PMID: 38522078 PMCID: PMC11210912 DOI: 10.1080/15548627.2024.2330038] [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: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024] Open
Abstract
A large proportion of patients with chronic pain experience co-morbid anxiety. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is proposed to underlie this comorbidity, but the molecular and neuronal mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we reported that impaired neuronal macroautophagy in the prelimbic cortical (PrL) subregion of the mPFC paralleled the occurrence of anxiety-like behaviors in rats with chronic spared nerve injury (SNI). Intriguingly, such macroautophagy impairment was mainly observed in a FOS/c-Fos+ neuronal subpopulation in the PrL. Chemogenetic inactivation of this comorbid anxiety-related neuronal ensemble relieved pain-induced anxiety-like behaviors. Rescuing macroautophagy impairment in this neuronal ensemble relieved chronic pain-associated anxiety and mechanical allodynia and restored synaptic homeostasis at the molecular level. By contrast, artificial disruption of macroautophagy induced early-onset co-morbid anxiety in neuropathic rats, but not general anxiety in normal rats. Taken together, our work identifies causal linkage between PrL neuronal macroautophagy dysfunction and comorbid anxiety in neuropathic pain and provides novel insights into the role of PrL by differentiating its contribution in pain-induced comorbid anxiety from its modulation over general anxiety-like behaviors.Abbreviation: AAV: adeno-associated viruses; ACC: anterior cingulate cortex; ATG5: autophagy related 5; ATG7: autophagy related 7; ATG12: autophagy related 12; CAMK2/CaMKII: calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II; CNO: clozapine-N-oxide; CQ: chloroquine; DIA: data independent acquisition; DIO: double floxed inverse orf; DLG4/PSD-95: discs large MAGUK scaffold protein 4; Dox: doxycycline; GABA: γ-aminobutyric acid; GFP: green fluorescent protein; GO: gene ontology; Gi: inhibitory guanine nucleotide-binding proteins; HsCHRM4/M4D: human cholinergic receptor muscarinic 4; HsSYN: human synapsin; KEGG: Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes; LAMP1: lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1; LC3-II: PE conjugated microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain3; MAP1LC3/LC3: microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3; mPFC: medial prefrontal cortex; P2A: 2A self-cleaving peptide; PPI: protein-protein interaction networks; PrL: prelimbic cortex; RBFOX3/NeuN: RNA binding protein, fox-1 homolog (C. elegans) 3; rtTA: reverse tetracycline-transactivator; SDS-PAGE: sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; SHANK3: SH3 and multiple ankyrin repeat domains 3; SLC1A1/EAAC1: solute carrier family 1 (neuronal/epithelial high affinity glutamate transporter, systemXag), member 1; SNAP23: synaptosomal-associated protein 23; SNI:spared nerve injury; SQSTM1/p62: sequestosome 1; SYT3: synaptotagmin 3; TRE: tetracycline-responsive element; TRE3G: third-generation tetracycline-responsive element.
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Affiliation(s)
- Su Fu
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Haojie Sun
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
- UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jiaxin Wang
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Shuaixin Gao
- Department of Medical Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Human Nutrition Program, Department of Human Sciences & James Comprehensive Cancer Center, 309 Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Liu Zhu
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
| | - Kun Cui
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Shimeng Liu
- Laboratory of Cardiovascular Bioactive Molecule, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Xuetao Qi
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Rui Guan
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaocen Fan
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Qingying Liu
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Wen Chen
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Li Su
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Shuang Cui
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Feifei Liao
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Fengyu Liu
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Catherine C L Wong
- Department of Medical Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Ming Yi
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - You Wan
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education and National Health Commission, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong 226001, P.R. China
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Barbetti M, Mancabelli L, Vacondio F, Longhi G, Ferlenghi F, Viglioli M, Turroni F, Carnevali L, Mor M, Ventura M, Sgoifo A, Rivara S. Social stress-induced depressive-like symptoms and changes in gut microbial and lipidomic profiles are prevented by pharmacological inhibition of FAAH activity in male rats. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2024; 131:110963. [PMID: 38354897 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2024.110963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
Pharmacological inhibition of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) activity has antidepressant-like effects in preclinical models of stress. In this study, we investigated whether the antidepressant-like effects of FAAH inhibition are associated with corresponding changes in gut microbial and lipidomic profiles, which are emerging as critical components in the pathophysiology of depression. Adult male Wistar rats experienced five weeks of repeated social defeat or control procedure and were treated with the FAAH inhibitor URB694 (0.3 mg/kg/day, i.p.) or vehicle starting from the third week. Repeated social defeat induced the emergence of depressive-like behavioral (sucrose preference reduction and passive coping behaviors in the forced swim test) and neuroendocrine (increased corticosterone levels) changes, which were prevented by URB694 treatment. Repeated social defeat also provoked a significant variation in gut microbiota (changes in the relative abundance of 14 bacterial taxa) and lipidic (e.g., glycerophospholipids) composition. These stress-induced changes were prevented by URB694 treatment. These findings indicate that inhibition of FAAH activity with URB694 blocks the co-occurrence of depressive-like behavioral and neuroendocrine changes and alterations in gut microbial and lipid composition in rats exposed to repeated social defeat. In conclusion, these results suggest that the gut microbiota-lipid crosstalk may represent a novel biological target for FAAH inhibitors to enhance stress resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margherita Barbetti
- Stress Physiology Lab, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Leonardo Mancabelli
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy; Interdepartmental Research Centre "Microbiome Research Hub", University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | | | - Giulia Longhi
- Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | | | | | - Francesca Turroni
- Interdepartmental Research Centre "Microbiome Research Hub", University of Parma, Parma, Italy; Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Luca Carnevali
- Stress Physiology Lab, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy; Interdepartmental Research Centre "Microbiome Research Hub", University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
| | - Marco Mor
- Interdepartmental Research Centre "Microbiome Research Hub", University of Parma, Parma, Italy; Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Marco Ventura
- Interdepartmental Research Centre "Microbiome Research Hub", University of Parma, Parma, Italy; Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Andrea Sgoifo
- Stress Physiology Lab, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy; Interdepartmental Research Centre "Microbiome Research Hub", University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Silvia Rivara
- Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
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5
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Ho YY, Yang Q, Boddu P, Bulkin DA, Warden MR. Infralimbic parvalbumin neural activity facilitates cued threat avoidance. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.08.18.553864. [PMID: 37645876 PMCID: PMC10462114 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.18.553864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
The infralimbic cortex (IL) is essential for flexible behavioral responses to threatening environmental events. Reactive behaviors such as freezing or flight are adaptive in some contexts, but in others a strategic avoidance behavior may be more advantageous. IL has been implicated in avoidance, but the contribution of distinct IL neural subtypes with differing molecular identities and wiring patterns is poorly understood. Here, we study IL parvalbumin (PV) interneurons in mice as they engage in active avoidance behavior, a behavior in which mice must suppress freezing in order to move to safety. We find that activity in inhibitory PV neurons increases during movement to avoid the shock in this behavioral paradigm, and that PV activity during movement emerges after mice have experienced a single shock, prior to learning avoidance. PV neural activity does not change during movement toward cued rewards or during general locomotion in the open field, behavioral paradigms where freezing does not need to be suppressed to enable movement. Optogenetic suppression of PV neurons increases the duration of freezing and delays the onset of avoidance behavior, but does not affect movement toward rewards or general locomotion. These data provide evidence that IL PV neurons support strategic avoidance behavior by suppressing freezing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Yun Ho
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Cornell Neurotech, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Qiuwei Yang
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Priyanka Boddu
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - David A. Bulkin
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Cornell Neurotech, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Melissa R. Warden
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Cornell Neurotech, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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Flynn LT, Bouras NN, Migovich VM, Clarin JD, Gao WJ. The "psychiatric" neuron: the psychic neuron of the cerebral cortex, revisited. Front Hum Neurosci 2024; 18:1356674. [PMID: 38562227 PMCID: PMC10982399 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1356674] [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: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Nearly 25 years ago, Dr. Patricia Goldman-Rakic published her review paper, "The 'Psychic' Neuron of the Cerebral Cortex," outlining the circuit-level dynamics, neurotransmitter systems, and behavioral correlates of pyramidal neurons in the cerebral cortex, particularly as they relate to working memory. In the decades since the release of this paper, the existing literature and our understanding of the pyramidal neuron have increased tremendously, and research is still underway to better characterize the role of the pyramidal neuron in both healthy and psychiatric disease states. In this review, we revisit Dr. Goldman-Rakic's characterization of the pyramidal neuron, focusing on the pyramidal neurons of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and their role in working memory. Specifically, we examine the role of PFC pyramidal neurons in the intersection of working memory and social function and describe how deficits in working memory may actually underlie the pathophysiology of social dysfunction in psychiatric disease states. We briefly describe the cortico-cortical and corticothalamic connections between the PFC and non-PFC brain regions, as well the microcircuit dynamics of the pyramidal neuron and interneurons, and the role of both these macro- and microcircuits in the maintenance of the excitatory/inhibitory balance of the cerebral cortex for working memory function. Finally, we discuss the consequences to working memory when pyramidal neurons and their circuits are dysfunctional, emphasizing the resulting social deficits in psychiatric disease states with known working memory dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- L. Taylor Flynn
- Department of Neurobiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Nadia N. Bouras
- Department of Neurobiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Volodar M. Migovich
- Department of Neurobiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Jacob D. Clarin
- Department of Neurobiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Wen-Jun Gao
- Department of Neurobiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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Choi TY, Jeon H, Jeong S, Kim EJ, Kim J, Jeong YH, Kang B, Choi M, Koo JW. Distinct prefrontal projection activity and transcriptional state conversely orchestrate social competition and hierarchy. Neuron 2024; 112:611-627.e8. [PMID: 38086372 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
Social animals compete for limited resources, resulting in a social hierarchy. Although different neuronal subpopulations in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which has been mechanistically implicated in social dominance behavior, encode distinct social competition behaviors, their identities and associated molecular underpinnings have not yet been identified. In this study, we found that mPFC neurons projecting to the nucleus accumbens (mPFC-NAc) encode social winning behavior, whereas mPFC neurons projecting to the ventral tegmental area (mPFC-VTA) encode social losing behavior. High-throughput single-cell transcriptomic analysis and projection-specific genetic manipulation revealed that the expression level of POU domain, class 3, transcription factor 1 (Pou3f1) in mPFC-VTA neurons controls social hierarchy. Optogenetic activation of mPFC-VTA neurons increases Pou3f1 expression and lowers social rank. Together, these data demonstrate that discrete activity and gene expression in separate mPFC projections oppositely orchestrate social competition and hierarchy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tae-Yong Choi
- Emotion, Cognition and Behavior Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyoungseok Jeon
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea
| | - Sejin Jeong
- Emotion, Cognition and Behavior Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea; Department of Life Sciences, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Republic of Korea
| | - Eum Ji Kim
- Emotion, Cognition and Behavior Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeongseop Kim
- Emotion, Cognition and Behavior Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea; Department of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu 41988, Republic of Korea
| | - Yun Ha Jeong
- Neurodegenerative Disease Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea
| | - Byungsoo Kang
- Sysoft R&D Center, Daegu 41065, Republic of Korea; Neurovascular Unit Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea
| | - Murim Choi
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea.
| | - Ja Wook Koo
- Emotion, Cognition and Behavior Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea; Department of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu 41988, Republic of Korea.
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8
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Plas SL, Tuna T, Bayer H, Juliano VAL, Sweck SO, Arellano Perez AD, Hassell JE, Maren S. Neural circuits for the adaptive regulation of fear and extinction memory. Front Behav Neurosci 2024; 18:1352797. [PMID: 38370858 PMCID: PMC10869525 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1352797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024] Open
Abstract
The regulation of fear memories is critical for adaptive behaviors and dysregulation of these processes is implicated in trauma- and stress-related disorders. Treatments for these disorders include pharmacological interventions as well as exposure-based therapies, which rely upon extinction learning. Considerable attention has been directed toward elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying fear and extinction learning. In this review, we will discuss historic discoveries and emerging evidence on the neural mechanisms of the adaptive regulation of fear and extinction memories. We will focus on neural circuits regulating the acquisition and extinction of Pavlovian fear conditioning in rodent models, particularly the role of the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in the contextual control of extinguished fear memories. We will also consider new work revealing an important role for the thalamic nucleus reuniens in the modulation of prefrontal-hippocampal interactions in extinction learning and memory. Finally, we will explore the effects of stress on this circuit and the clinical implications of these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha L. Plas
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Tuğçe Tuna
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Hugo Bayer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Vitor A. L. Juliano
- Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Samantha O. Sweck
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Angel D. Arellano Perez
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - James E. Hassell
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
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9
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Pochinok I, Stöber TM, Triesch J, Chini M, Hanganu-Opatz IL. A developmental increase of inhibition promotes the emergence of hippocampal ripples. Nat Commun 2024; 15:738. [PMID: 38272901 PMCID: PMC10810866 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44983-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Sharp wave-ripples (SPW-Rs) are a hippocampal network phenomenon critical for memory consolidation and planning. SPW-Rs have been extensively studied in the adult brain, yet their developmental trajectory is poorly understood. While SPWs have been recorded in rodents shortly after birth, the time point and mechanisms of ripple emergence are still unclear. Here, we combine in vivo electrophysiology with optogenetics and chemogenetics in 4 to 12-day-old mice to address this knowledge gap. We show that ripples are robustly detected and induced by light stimulation of channelrhodopsin-2-transfected CA1 pyramidal neurons only from postnatal day 10 onwards. Leveraging a spiking neural network model, we mechanistically link the maturation of inhibition and ripple emergence. We corroborate these findings by reducing ripple rate upon chemogenetic silencing of CA1 interneurons. Finally, we show that early SPW-Rs elicit a more robust prefrontal cortex response than SPWs lacking ripples. Thus, development of inhibition promotes ripples emergence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irina Pochinok
- Institute of Developmental Neurophysiology, Center for Molecular Neurobiology (ZMNH), Hamburg Center of Neuroscience (HCNS), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Tristan M Stöber
- Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Jochen Triesch
- Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Mattia Chini
- Institute of Developmental Neurophysiology, Center for Molecular Neurobiology (ZMNH), Hamburg Center of Neuroscience (HCNS), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Ileana L Hanganu-Opatz
- Institute of Developmental Neurophysiology, Center for Molecular Neurobiology (ZMNH), Hamburg Center of Neuroscience (HCNS), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251, Hamburg, Germany.
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10
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Piquet R, Faugère A, Parkes SL. A hippocampo-cortical pathway detects changes in the validity of an action as a predictor of reward. Curr Biol 2024; 34:24-35.e4. [PMID: 38101404 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.11.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Much research has been dedicated to understanding the psychological and neural bases of goal-directed action, yet the relationship between context and goal-directed action is not well understood. Here, we used excitotoxic lesions, chemogenetics, and circuit-specific manipulations to demonstrate the role of the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) in contextual learning that supports sensitivity to action-outcome contingencies, a hallmark of goal-directed action. We found that chemogenetic inhibition of the ventral, but not dorsal, hippocampus attenuated sensitivity to instrumental contingency degradation. We then tested the hypothesis that this deficit was due to an inability to discern the relative validity of the action compared with the context as a predictor of reward. Using latent inhibition and Pavlovian context conditioning, we confirm that degradation of action-outcome contingencies relies on intact context-outcome learning and show that this learning is dependent on vHPC. Finally, we show that chemogenetic inhibition of vHPC terminals in the medial prefrontal cortex also impairs both instrumental contingency degradation and context-outcome learning. These results implicate a hippocampo-cortical pathway in adapting to changes in instrumental contingencies and indicate that the psychological basis of this deficit is an inability to learn the predictive value of the context. Our findings contribute to a broader understanding of the neural bases of goal-directed action and its contextual regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Piquet
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, INCIA, UMR 5287, 33000 Bordeaux, France
| | | | - Shauna L Parkes
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, INCIA, UMR 5287, 33000 Bordeaux, France.
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11
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Shehata SA, Kolieb E, Ali DA, Maher SA, Korayem HE, Ibrahim MA, Nafie MS, Ameen SH. Selenium alleviates modafinil-induced neurobehavioral toxicity in rat via PI3K/Akt/mTOR/GSK3B signaling pathway and suppression of oxidative stress and apoptosis: in vivo and in silico study. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2024; 31:458-480. [PMID: 38015391 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-31093-4] [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: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
Nonmedical use of modafinil (MOD) led to increased rates of overdose toxicity, road accidents, addiction, withdrawal, suicide, and mental illnesses. The current study aims to determine the probable MOD brain toxicity and elucidate the possible role of selenium (Se) in ameliorating the neurotoxicity in rat models. Fifty-four male Albino rats were randomly assigned into nine groups. The groups were G1 (control negative), G2 (Se0.1), G3 (Se0.2), G4 (MOD300), G5 (MOD600), G6 (Se0.1 + MOD300), G7 (Se0.2 + MOD300), G8 (Se0.1 + MOD600), and G9 (Se0.2 + MOD600). After finishing the experiment, blood and brain tissue were harvested for biochemical and histological investigation. Neurobehavior parameters were assessed. Tissue neurotransmitter levels and oxidative stress markers were assessed. Gene expression of PI3K/Akt/mTOR-GSK3B, orexin, and orexin receptor2 was measured by qRT-PCR. Histological and immunohistochemistry assessments, as well as molecular docking, were carried out. MOD-induced neurobehavioral toxicity exhibited by behavioral and cognitive function impairments, which are associated with decreased antioxidant activities, increased MDA levels, and decreases in neurotransmitter levels. Brain levels of mRNA expression of PI3K, Akt, and mTOR were decreased, while GS3K, orexin, and orexin receptors were significantly elevated. These disturbances were confirmed by histopathological brain changes with increased silver and Bax immunostaining and decreased crystal violet levels. MOD induced neurotoxic effects in a dose-dependent manner. Compared with the MOD groups, SE coadministration significantly attenuates MOD-induced toxic changes. Docking study shows the protective role of Se as an apoptosis inhibitor and inflammation inhibitor. In conclusion, Se could be used as a biologically effective antioxidant compound to protect from MOD neurobehavioral toxicity in Wistar rats by reversing behavioral alterations, inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaimaa A Shehata
- Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt
| | - Eman Kolieb
- Physiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt
| | - Dina A Ali
- Clinical Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt
- Center of Excellence in Molecular & Cellular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt
| | - Shymaa Ahmed Maher
- Center of Excellence in Molecular & Cellular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt
- Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt
| | - Horeya Erfan Korayem
- Histology and Cell Biology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt
| | - Mahrous A Ibrahim
- Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt.
- Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, College of Medicine, Jouf University, 72341, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Mohamed S Nafie
- Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
- Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt
| | - Shimaa H Ameen
- Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Alsharqia, Egypt
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12
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Yao D, Chen Y, Chen G. The role of pain modulation pathway and related brain regions in pain. Rev Neurosci 2023; 34:899-914. [PMID: 37288945 DOI: 10.1515/revneuro-2023-0037] [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: 03/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Pain is a multifaceted process that encompasses unpleasant sensory and emotional experiences. The essence of the pain process is aversion, or perceived negative emotion. Central sensitization plays a significant role in initiating and perpetuating of chronic pain. Melzack proposed the concept of the "pain matrix", in which brain regions associated with pain form an interconnected network, rather than being controlled by a singular brain region. This review aims to investigate distinct brain regions involved in pain and their interconnections. In addition, it also sheds light on the reciprocal connectivity between the ascending and descending pathways that participate in pain modulation. We review the involvement of various brain areas during pain and focus on understanding the connections among them, which can contribute to a better understanding of pain mechanisms and provide opportunities for further research on therapies for improved pain management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dandan Yao
- Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China
| | - Yeru Chen
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China
| | - Gang Chen
- Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China
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13
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Bearer EL, Medina CS, Uselman TW, Jacobs RE. Harnessing axonal transport to map reward circuitry: Differing brain-wide projections from medial prefrontal cortical domains. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1278831. [PMID: 38099294 PMCID: PMC10720719 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1278831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurons project long axons that contact other distant neurons. Neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex project into the limbic system to regulate responses to reward or threat. Diminished neural activity in prefrontal cortex is associated with loss of executive function leading to drug use, yet the specific circuitry that mediate these effects is unknown. Different regions within the medial prefrontal cortex may project to differing limbic system nuclei. Here, we exploited the cell biology of intracellular membrane trafficking, fast axonal transport, to map projections from two adjacent medial prefrontal cortical regions. We used Mn(II), a calcium analog, to trace medial prefrontal cortical projections in the living animal by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Mn(II), a contrast agent for MRI, enters neurons through voltage-activated calcium channels and relies on kinesin-1 and amyloid-precursor protein to transport out axons to distal destinations. Aqueous MnCl2 together with fluorescent dextran (3--5 nL) was stereotactically injected precisely into two adjacent regions of the medial prefrontal cortex: anterior cingulate area (ACA) or infralimbic/prelimbic (IL/PL) region. Projections were traced, first live by manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) at four time points in 3D, and then after fixation by microscopy. Data-driven unbiased voxel-wise statistical maps of aligned normalized MR images after either ACA or IL/PL injections revealed statistically significant progression of Mn(II) over time into deeper brain regions: dorsal striatum, globus pallidus, amygdala, hypothalamus, substantia nigra, dorsal raphe and locus coeruleus. Quantitative comparisons of these distal accumulations at 24 h revealed dramatic differences between ACA and IL/PL injection groups throughout the limbic system, and most particularly in subdomains of the hypothalamus. ACA projections targeted dorsomedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, posterior part of the periventricular region and mammillary body nuclei as well as periaqueductal gray, while IL/PL projections accumulated in anterior hypothalamic areas and lateral hypothalamic nuclei as well as amygdala. As hypothalamic subsegments relay CNS activity to the body, our results suggest new concepts about mind-body relationships and specific roles of distinct yet adjacent medial prefrontal cortical segments. Our MR imaging strategy, when applied to follow other cell biological processes in the living organism, will undoubtedly lead to an expanded perspective on how minute details of cellular processes influence whole body health and wellbeing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elaine L. Bearer
- Department of Pathology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, United States
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
| | - Christopher S. Medina
- Department of Pathology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Taylor W. Uselman
- Department of Pathology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Russell E. Jacobs
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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14
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Zorns S, Sierzputowski C, Pardillo M, Keenan JP. Oh it's me again: Déjà vu, the brain, and self-awareness. Behav Brain Sci 2023; 46:e383. [PMID: 37961797 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x23000201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Déjà vu and involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs) are differentiated by a number of factors including metacognition. In contrast to IAMs, déjà vu activates regions associated with self-awareness including the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha Zorns
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA www.cognitiveneuroimaginglab.com
| | - Claudia Sierzputowski
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA www.cognitiveneuroimaginglab.com
| | - Matthew Pardillo
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA www.cognitiveneuroimaginglab.com
| | - Julian Paul Keenan
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA www.cognitiveneuroimaginglab.com
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15
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Mousavi SL, Rezayof A, Alijanpour S, Delphi L, Hosseinzadeh Sahafi O. Activation of mediodorsal thalamic dopamine receptors inhibited nicotine-induced anxiety in rats: A possible role of corticolimbic NMDA neurotransmission and BDNF expression. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2023; 232:173650. [PMID: 37778541 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2023.173650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
The present study aimed to evaluate the functional interaction between the dopaminergic and glutamatergic systems of the mediodorsal thalamus (MD), the ventral hippocampus (VH), and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in nicotine-induced anxiogenic-like behaviors. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level changes were measured in the targeted brain areas following the drug treatments. The percentage of time spent in the open arm (% OAT) and open arm entry (% OAE) were calculated in the elevated plus maze (EPM) to measure anxiety-related behaviors in adult male Wistar rats. Systemic administration of nicotine at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg induced an anxiogenic-like response associated with decreased BDNF levels in the hippocampus and the PFC. Intra-MD microinjection of apomorphine (0.1-0.3 μg/rat) induced an anxiogenic-like response, while apomorphine inhibited nicotine-induced anxiogenic-like behaviors associated with increased hippocampal and PFC BDNF expression levels. Interestingly, the blockade of the VH or the PFC NMDA receptors via the microinjection of D-AP5 (0.3-0.5 μg/rat) into the targeted sites reversed the inhibitory effect of apomorphine (0.5 μg/rat, intra-MD) on the nicotine response and led to the decrease of BDNF levels in the hippocampus and the PFC. Also, the microinjection of a higher dose of D-AP5 (0.5 μg/rat, intra-PFC) alone produced an anxiogenic effect. These findings suggest that the functional interaction between the MD dopaminergic D1/D2-like and the VH/PFC glutamatergic NMDA receptors may be partially involved in the anxiogenic-like effects of nicotine, likely via the alteration of BDNF levels in the hippocampus and the PFC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyedeh Leila Mousavi
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran; Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Ameneh Rezayof
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Sakineh Alijanpour
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran; Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Gonbad Kavous University, Gonbad Kavous, Iran
| | - Ladan Delphi
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Oveis Hosseinzadeh Sahafi
- Department of Neurophysiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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16
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Ratigan HC, Krishnan S, Smith S, Sheffield MEJ. A thalamic-hippocampal CA1 signal for contextual fear memory suppression, extinction, and discrimination. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6758. [PMID: 37875465 PMCID: PMC10598272 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42429-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The adaptive regulation of fear memories is a crucial neural function that prevents inappropriate fear expression. Fear memories can be acquired through contextual fear conditioning (CFC) which relies on the hippocampus. The thalamic nucleus reuniens (NR) is necessary to extinguish contextual fear and innervates hippocampal CA1. However, the role of the NR-CA1 pathway in contextual fear is unknown. We developed a head-restrained virtual reality CFC paradigm, and demonstrate that mice can acquire and extinguish context-dependent fear responses. We found that inhibiting the NR-CA1 pathway following CFC lengthens the duration of fearful freezing epochs, increases fear generalization, and delays fear extinction. Using in vivo imaging, we recorded NR-axons innervating CA1 and found that NR-axons become tuned to fearful freezing following CFC. We conclude that the NR-CA1 pathway actively suppresses fear by disrupting contextual fear memory retrieval in CA1 during fearful freezing behavior, a process that also reduces fear generalization and accelerates extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather C Ratigan
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60615, USA
- Doctoral Program in Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60615, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60615, USA
| | - Seetha Krishnan
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60615, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60615, USA
| | - Shai Smith
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60615, USA
- Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60615, USA
| | - Mark E J Sheffield
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60615, USA.
- Doctoral Program in Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60615, USA.
- Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60615, USA.
- Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60615, USA.
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17
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Nardin M, Kaefer K, Stella F, Csicsvari J. Theta oscillations as a substrate for medial prefrontal-hippocampal assembly interactions. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113015. [PMID: 37632747 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The execution of cognitive functions requires coordinated circuit activity across different brain areas that involves the associated firing of neuronal assemblies. Here, we tested the circuit mechanism behind assembly interactions between the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of adult rats by recording neuronal populations during a rule-switching task. We identified functionally coupled CA1-mPFC cells that synchronized their activity beyond that expected from common spatial coding or oscillatory firing. When such cell pairs fired together, the mPFC cell strongly phase locked to CA1 theta oscillations and maintained consistent theta firing phases, independent of the theta timing of their CA1 counterpart. These functionally connected CA1-mPFC cells formed interconnected assemblies. While firing together with their CA1 assembly partners, mPFC cells fired along specific theta sequences. Our results suggest that upregulated theta oscillatory firing of mPFC cells can signal transient interactions with specific CA1 assemblies, thus enabling distributed computations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Nardin
- IST Austria, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria; Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
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18
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Bearer EL, Medina CS, Uselman TW, Jacobs RE. Harnessing axonal transport to map reward circuitry: Differing brain-wide projections from medial forebrain domains. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.10.557059. [PMID: 38328063 PMCID: PMC10849663 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.10.557059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Neurons project long axons that contact other distant neurons. Projections can be mapped by hijacking endogenous membrane trafficking machinery by introducing tracers. To witness functional connections in living animals, we developed a tracer detectible by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Mn(II). Mn(II) relies on kinesin-1 and amyloid-precursor protein to travel out axons. Within 24h, projection fields of cortical neurons can be mapped brain-wide with this technology. MnCl2 was stereotactically injected either into anterior cingulate area (ACA) or into infralimbic/prelimbic (IL/PL) of medial forebrain (n=10-12). Projections were imaged, first by manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) live, and then after fixation by microscopy. MR images were collected at 100μm isotropic resolution (~5 neurons) in 3D at four time points: before and at successive time points after injections. Images were preprocessed by masking non-brain tissue, followed by intensity scaling and spatial alignment. Actual injection locations, measured from post-injection MR images, were found to be 0.06, 0.49 and 0.84mm apart between cohorts, in R-L, A-P, and D-V directions respectively. Mn(II) enhancements arrived in hindbrains by 24h in both cohorts, while co-injected rhodamine dextran was not detectible beyond immediate subcortical projections. Data-driven unbiased voxel-wise statistical maps after ACA injections revealed significant progression of Mn(II) distally into deeper brain regions: globus pallidus, dorsal striatum, amygdala, hypothalamus, substantia nigra, dorsal raphe and locus coeruleus. Accumulation was quantified as a fraction of total volume of each segment containing significantly enhanced voxels (fractional accumulation volumes), and results visualized in column graphs. Unpaired t-tests between groups of brain-wide voxel-wise intensity profiling by either region of interest (ROI) measurements or statistical parametric mapping highlighted distinct differences in distal accumulation between injection sites, with ACA projecting to periaqueductal gray and IL/PL to basolateral amygdala (p<0.001 FDR). Mn(II) distal accumulations differed dramatically between injection groups in subdomains of the hypothalamus, with ACA targeting dorsal medial, periventricular region and mammillary body nuclei, while IL/PL went to anterior hypothalamic areas and lateral hypothalamic nuclei. Given that these hypothalamic subsegments communicate activity in the central nervous system to the body, these observations describing distinct forebrain projection fields will undoubtedly lead to newer insights in mind-body relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- E. L. Bearer
- Department of Pathology, Univ. of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
| | - C. S. Medina
- Department of Pathology, Univ. of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM
| | - T. W. Uselman
- Department of Pathology, Univ. of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM
| | - R. E. Jacobs
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
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19
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Guo D, Chen H, Wang L, Yang J. Effects of prior knowledge on brain activation and functional connectivity during memory retrieval. Sci Rep 2023; 13:13650. [PMID: 37608065 PMCID: PMC10444832 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40966-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) plays an important role in schema-related memory. However, there is an intensive debate to what extent the activation of subregions of the hippocampus is involved in retrieving schema-related memory. In addition, it is unclear how the functional connectivity (FC) between the vmPFC and the hippocampus, as well as the connectivity of the vmPFC with other regions, are modulated by prior knowledge (PK) during memory retrieval over time. To address these issues, participants learned paragraphs that described features of each unfamiliar word from familiar and unfamiliar categories (i.e., high and low PK conditions) 20 min, 1 day, and 1 week before the test. They then performed a recognition task to judge whether the sentences were old in the scanner. The results showed that the activation of the anterior-medial hippocampus (amHPC) cluster was stronger when the old sentences with high (vs. low) PK were correctly retrieved. The activation of the posterior hippocampus (pHPC) cluster, as well as the vmPFC, was stronger when the new sentences with high (vs. low) PK were correctly rejected (i.e., CR trials), whereas the cluster of anterior-lateral hippocampus (alHPC) showed the opposite. The FC of the vmPFC with the amHPC and perirhinal cortex/inferior temporal gyrus was stronger in the high (vs. low) PK condition, whereas the FC of the vmPFC with the alHPC, thalamus and frontal regions showed the opposite for the CR trials. This study highlighted that different brain networks, which were associated with the vmPFC, subregions of the hippocampus and cognitive control regions, were responsible for retrieving the information with high and low PK.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dingrong Guo
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Haoyu Chen
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Lingwei Wang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Jiongjiong Yang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
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20
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Xu L, Liu Y, Long J, He X, Xie F, Yin Q, Chen M, Long D, Chen Y. Loss of spines in the prelimbic cortex is detrimental to working memory in mice with early-life adversity. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:3444-3458. [PMID: 37500828 PMCID: PMC10618093 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-02197-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Adverse experiences in early life can shape neuronal structures and synaptic function in multiple brain regions, leading to deficits of distinct cognitive functions later in life. Focusing on the pyramidal cells of the prelimbic cortex (PrL), a main subregion of the medial prefrontal cortex, the impact of early-life adversity (ELA) was investigated in a well-established animal model generated by changing the rearing environment during postnatal days 2 to 9 (P2-P9), a sensitive developmental period. ELA has enduring detrimental impacts on the dendritic spines of PrL pyramidal cells, which is most apparent in a spatially circumscribed region. Specifically, ELA affects both thin and mushroom-type spines, and ELA-provoked loss of spines is observed on selective dendritic segments of PrL pyramidal cells in layers II-III and V-VI. Reduced postsynaptic puncta represented by postsynaptic density protein-95 (PSD-95), but not synaptophysin-labelled presynaptic puncta, in ELA mice supports the selective loss of spines in the PrL. Correlation analysis indicates that loss of spines and postsynaptic puncta in the PrL contributes to the poor spatial working memory of ELA mice, and thin spines may play a major role in working memory performance. To further understand whether loss of spines affects glutamatergic transmission, AMPA- and NMDA-receptor-mediated synaptic currents (EPSCs) were recorded in a group of Thy1-expressing PrL pyramidal cells. ELA mice exhibited a depressed glutamatergic transmission, which is accompanied with a decreased expression of GluR1 and NR1 subunits in the PrL. Finally, upregulating the activation of Thy1-expressing PrL pyramidal cells via excitatory DREADDs can efficiently improve the working memory performance of ELA mice in a T-maze-based task, indicating the potential of a chemogenetic approach in restoring ELA-provoked memory deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liping Xu
- Key Lab of Neuroscience, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 511436, China
| | - Yue Liu
- Key Lab of Neuroscience, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 511436, China
| | - Jingyi Long
- Department of Human Genetics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525GA, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Xiulan He
- Key Lab of Neuroscience, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 511436, China
| | - Fanbing Xie
- Key Lab of Neuroscience, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 511436, China
| | - Qiao Yin
- Key Lab of Neuroscience, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 511436, China
| | - Michael Chen
- University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Dahong Long
- Key Lab of Neuroscience, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 511436, China.
| | - Yuncai Chen
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
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21
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Roberts BL, Karatsoreos IN. Circadian desynchronization disrupts physiological rhythms of prefrontal cortex pyramidal neurons in mice. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9181. [PMID: 37280307 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35898-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Disruption of circadian rhythms, such as shift work and jet lag, are associated with negative physiological and behavioral outcomes, including changes in affective state, learning and memory, and cognitive function. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is heavily involved in all of these processes. Many PFC-associated behaviors are time-of-day dependent, and disruption of daily rhythms negatively impacts these behavioral outputs. Yet how disruption of daily rhythms impacts the fundamental function of PFC neurons, and the mechanism(s) by which this occurs, remains unknown. Using a mouse model, we demonstrate that the activity and action potential dynamics of prelimbic PFC neurons are regulated by time-of-day in a sex specific manner. Further, we show that postsynaptic K+ channels play a central role in physiological rhythms, suggesting an intrinsic gating mechanism mediating physiological activity. Finally, we demonstrate that environmental circadian desynchronization alters the intrinsic functioning of these neurons independent of time-of-day. These key discoveries demonstrate that daily rhythms contribute to the mechanisms underlying the essential physiology of PFC circuits and provide potential mechanisms by which circadian disruption may impact the fundamental properties of neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon L Roberts
- Neuroscience and Behavior Program, and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Tobin Hall, 135 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA, 01003S, USA
| | - Ilia N Karatsoreos
- Neuroscience and Behavior Program, and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Tobin Hall, 135 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA, 01003S, USA.
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22
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Hatter JA, Scott MM. Selective ablation of VIP interneurons in the rodent prefrontal cortex results in increased impulsivity. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0286209. [PMID: 37267385 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/04/2023] Open
Abstract
It has been well-established that novelty-seeking and impulsivity are significant risk factors for the development of psychological disorders, including substance use disorder and behavioral addictions. While dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex is at the crux of these disorders, little is known at the cellular level about how alterations in neuron activity can drive changes in impulsivity and novelty seeking. We harnessed a cre-dependent caspase-3 ablation in both male and female mice to selectively ablate vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-expressing interneurons in the prefrontal cortex to better explore how this microcircuit functions during specific behavioral tasks. Caspase-ablated animals had no changes in anxiety-like behaviors or hedonic food intake but had a specific increase in impulsive responding during longer trials in the three-choice serial reaction time test. Together, these data suggest a circuit-level mechanism in which VIP interneurons function as a gate to selectively respond during periods of high expectation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A Hatter
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Michael M Scott
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
- Department of Toxicology, Charles River Laboratories, Edinburgh, Scotland
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23
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Mathiasen ML, Aggleton JP, Witter MP. Projections of the insular cortex to orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortex: A tracing study in the rat. Front Neuroanat 2023; 17:1131167. [PMID: 37152205 PMCID: PMC10158940 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2023.1131167] [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: 12/24/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The dense fiber pathways that connect the insular cortex with frontal cortices are thought to provide these frontal areas with interoceptive information, crucial for their involvement in executive functions. Using anterograde neuroanatomical tracing, we mapped the detailed organization of the projections from the rat insular cortex to its targets in orbitofrontal (OFC) and medial prefrontal (mPFC) cortex. In OFC, main insular projections distribute to lateral and medial parts, avoiding ventral parts. Whereas projections from the primary gustatory cortex densely innervate dorsolateral OFC, likely corresponding to what in primates is known as the secondary gustatory cortex, these projections avoid mPFC. Instead, mPFC is targeted almost exclusively by projections from agranular fields of the insular cortex. Finally, "parietal" domains of the insular cortex project specifically to the dorsolateral OFC, and strongly innervate ventral portions of mPFC, i.e., the dorsal peduncular cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias L. Mathiasen
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
- Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Egil and Pauline Braathen and Fred Kavli Center for Cortical Microcircuits, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - John P. Aggleton
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - Menno P. Witter
- Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Egil and Pauline Braathen and Fred Kavli Center for Cortical Microcircuits, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
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24
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Sullivan M, Fernandez-Aranda F, Camacho-Barcia L, Harkin A, Macrì S, Mora-Maltas B, Jiménez-Murcia S, O'Leary A, Ottomana AM, Presta M, Slattery D, Scholtz S, Glennon JC. Insulin and Disorders of Behavioural Flexibility. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 150:105169. [PMID: 37059405 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105169] [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: 12/30/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
Behavioural inflexibility is a symptom of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Alzheimer's Disease, encompassing the maintenance of a behaviour even when no longer appropriate. Recent evidence suggests that insulin signalling has roles apart from its regulation of peripheral metabolism and mediates behaviourally-relevant central nervous system (CNS) functions including behavioural flexibility. Indeed, insulin resistance is reported to generate anxious, perseverative phenotypes in animal models, with the Type 2 diabetes medication metformin proving to be beneficial for disorders including Alzheimer's Disease. Structural and functional neuroimaging studies of Type 2 diabetes patients have highlighted aberrant connectivity in regions governing salience detection, attention, inhibition and memory. As currently available therapeutic strategies feature high rates of resistance, there is an urgent need to better understand the complex aetiology of behaviour and develop improved therapeutics. In this review, we explore the circuitry underlying behavioural flexibility, changes in Type 2 diabetes, the role of insulin in CNS outcomes and mechanisms of insulin involvement across disorders of behavioural inflexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mairéad Sullivan
- Conway Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Research, School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Fernando Fernandez-Aranda
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain; Psychoneurobiology of Eating and Addictive Behaviors Group, Neurosciences Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lucía Camacho-Barcia
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain; Psychoneurobiology of Eating and Addictive Behaviors Group, Neurosciences Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Andrew Harkin
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
| | - Simone Macrì
- Centre for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Bernat Mora-Maltas
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain; Psychoneurobiology of Eating and Addictive Behaviors Group, Neurosciences Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Susana Jiménez-Murcia
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain; Psychoneurobiology of Eating and Addictive Behaviors Group, Neurosciences Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Aet O'Leary
- University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Angela Maria Ottomana
- Centre for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; Neuroscience Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Parma, 43100 Parma, Italy
| | - Martina Presta
- Centre for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - Jeffrey C Glennon
- Conway Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Research, School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
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25
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Hernández-González M, Barrera-Cobos FJ, Hernández-Arteaga E, González-Burgos I, Flores-Soto M, Guevara MA, Cortes PM. Sexual Experience Induces A Preponderance of Mushroom Spines in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Nucleus Accumbens of Male Rats. Behav Brain Res 2023; 447:114437. [PMID: 37059188 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
Sexual experience improves copulatory performance in male rats. Copulatory performance has been associated with dendritic spines density in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAcc), structures involved in the processing of sexual stimuli and the manifestation of sexual behavior. Dendritic spines modulate excitatory synaptic contacts, and their morphology is associated with the ability to learn from experience. This study was designed to determine the effect of sexual experience on the density of different types or shapes of dendritic spines in the mPFC and NAcc of male rats. A total of 16 male rats were used, half of them were sexually experienced while the other half were sexually inexperienced. After three sessions of sexual interaction to ejaculation, the sexually-experienced males presented shorter mount, intromission, and ejaculation latencies. Those rats presented a higher total dendritic density in the mPFC, and a higher numerical density of thin, mushroom, stubby, and wide spines. Sexual experience also increased the numerical density of mushroom spines in the NAcc. In both the mPFC and NAcc of the sexually experienced rats, there was a lower proportional density of thin spines and a higher proportional density of mushroom spines. Results show that the improvement in copulatory efficiency resulting from prior sexual experience in male rats is associated with changes in the proportional density of thin and mushroom dendritic spines in the mPFC and NAcc. This could represent the consolidation of afferent synaptic information in these brain regions, derived from the stimulus-sexual reward association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisela Hernández-González
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
| | - Francisco Javier Barrera-Cobos
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
| | | | | | - Mario Flores-Soto
- División de Neurociencias, Centro de Investigación Biomédica de Occidente, IMSS, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
| | - Miguel Angel Guevara
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
| | - Pedro Manuel Cortes
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico; Corresponding author at: Instituto de Neurociencias, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara. Francisco de Quevedo #180, Col. Arcos Vallarta, C.P 44130, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. E-mail:
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26
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McFadyen J, Liu Y, Dolan RJ. Differential replay of reward and punishment paths predicts approach and avoidance. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:627-637. [PMID: 37020116 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01287-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 04/07/2023]
Abstract
Neural replay is implicated in planning, where states relevant to a task goal are rapidly reactivated in sequence. It remains unclear whether, during planning, replay relates to an actual prospective choice. Here, using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we studied replay in human participants while they planned to either approach or avoid an uncertain environment containing paths leading to reward or punishment. We find evidence for forward sequential replay during planning, with rapid state-to-state transitions from 20 to 90 ms. Replay of rewarding paths was boosted, relative to aversive paths, before a decision to avoid and attenuated before a decision to approach. A trial-by-trial bias toward replaying prospective punishing paths predicted irrational decisions to approach riskier environments, an effect more pronounced in participants with higher trait anxiety. The findings indicate a coupling of replay with planned behavior, where replay prioritizes an online representation of a worst-case scenario for approaching or avoiding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica McFadyen
- The UCL Max Planck Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, UK.
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Yunzhe Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
| | - Raymond J Dolan
- The UCL Max Planck Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, UK
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
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27
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Zhang Q, Hu S, Talay R, Xiao Z, Rosenberg D, Liu Y, Sun G, Li A, Caravan B, Singh A, Gould JD, Chen ZS, Wang J. A prototype closed-loop brain-machine interface for the study and treatment of pain. Nat Biomed Eng 2023; 7:533-545. [PMID: 34155354 PMCID: PMC9516430 DOI: 10.1038/s41551-021-00736-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Chronic pain is characterized by discrete pain episodes of unpredictable frequency and duration. This hinders the study of pain mechanisms and contributes to the use of pharmacological treatments associated with side effects, addiction and drug tolerance. Here, we show that a closed-loop brain-machine interface (BMI) can modulate sensory-affective experiences in real time in freely behaving rats by coupling neural codes for nociception directly with therapeutic cortical stimulation. The BMI decodes the onset of nociception via a state-space model on the basis of the analysis of online-sorted spikes recorded from the anterior cingulate cortex (which is critical for pain processing) and couples real-time pain detection with optogenetic activation of the prelimbic prefrontal cortex (which exerts top-down nociceptive regulation). In rats, the BMI effectively inhibited sensory and affective behaviours caused by acute mechanical or thermal pain, and by chronic inflammatory or neuropathic pain. The approach provides a blueprint for demand-based neuromodulation to treat sensory-affective disorders, and could be further leveraged for nociceptive control and to study pain mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiaosheng Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sile Hu
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Robert Talay
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Zhengdong Xiao
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - David Rosenberg
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yaling Liu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Guanghao Sun
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anna Li
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Bassir Caravan
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Amrita Singh
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jonathan D Gould
- College of Arts and Sciences, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Zhe S Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience & Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience & Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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28
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Ratigan HC, Krishnan S, Smith S, Sheffield MEJ. Direct Thalamic Inputs to Hippocampal CA1 Transmit a Signal That Suppresses Ongoing Contextual Fear Memory Retrieval. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.27.534420. [PMID: 37034812 PMCID: PMC10081195 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.27.534420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Memory retrieval of fearful experiences is essential for survival but can be maladaptive if not appropriately suppressed. Fear memories can be acquired through contextual fear conditioning (CFC) which relies on the hippocampus. The thalamic subregion Nucleus Reuniens (NR) is necessary for contextual fear extinction and strongly projects to hippocampal subregion CA1. However, the NR-CA1 pathway has not been investigated during behavior, leaving unknown its role in contextual fear memory retrieval. We implement a novel head-restrained virtual reality CFC paradigm and show that inactivation of the NR-CA1 pathway prolongs fearful freezing epochs, induces fear generalization, and delays extinction. We use in vivo sub-cellular imaging to specifically record NR-axons innervating CA1 before and after CFC. We find NR-axons become selectively tuned to freezing only after CFC, and this activity is well-predicted by an encoding model. We conclude that the NR-CA1 pathway actively suppresses fear responses by disrupting ongoing hippocampal-dependent contextual fear memory retrieval.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather C. Ratigan
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
- Doctoral Program in Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
| | - Seetha Krishnan
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
| | - Shai Smith
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
- Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
| | - Mark E. J. Sheffield
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
- Doctoral Program in Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
- Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
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29
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Alemi M, Pereira AR, Cerqueira-Nunes M, Monteiro C, Galhardo V, Cardoso-Cruz H. Role of Glutamatergic Projections from Lateral Habenula to Ventral Tegmental Area in Inflammatory Pain-Related Spatial Working Memory Deficits. Biomedicines 2023; 11:biomedicines11030820. [PMID: 36979799 PMCID: PMC10045719 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11030820] [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: 02/08/2023] [Revised: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The lateral habenula (LHb) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA), which form interconnected circuits, have important roles in the crucial control of sensory and cognitive motifs. Signaling in the LHb-VTA pathway can be exacerbated during pain conditions by a hyperactivity of LHb glutamatergic neurons to inhibit local VTA DAergic cells. However, it is still unclear whether and how this circuit is endogenously engaged in pain-related cognitive dysfunctions. To answer this question, we modulated this pathway by expressing halorhodopsin in LHb neurons of adult male rats, and then selectively inhibited the axonal projections from these neurons to the VTA during a working memory (WM) task. Behavioral performance was assessed after the onset of an inflammatory pain model. We evaluated the impact of the inflammatory pain in the VTA synapses by performing immunohistochemical characterization of specific markers for GABAergic (GAD65/67) and dopaminergic neurons (dopamine transporter (DAT), dopamine D2 receptor (D2r) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)). Our results revealed that inhibition of LHb terminals in the VTA during the WM delay-period elicits a partial recovery of the performance of pain animals (in higher complexity challenges); this performance was not accompanied by a reduction of nociceptive responses. Finally, we found evidence that the pain-affected animals exhibit VTA structural changes, namely with an upregulation of GAD65/67, and a downregulation of DAT and D2r. These results demonstrate a role of LHb neurons and highlight their responsibility in the stability of the local VTA network, which regulates signaling in frontal areas necessary to support WM processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mobina Alemi
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde-Pain Neurobiology Group, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Biomedicina-Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Universidade do Porto, Rua Doutor Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
| | - Ana Raquel Pereira
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde-Pain Neurobiology Group, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Biomedicina-Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Universidade do Porto, Rua Doutor Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
| | - Mariana Cerqueira-Nunes
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde-Pain Neurobiology Group, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Biomedicina-Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Universidade do Porto, Rua Doutor Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
- Programa Doutoral em Neurociências, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Rua Doutor Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
| | - Clara Monteiro
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde-Pain Neurobiology Group, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Biomedicina-Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Universidade do Porto, Rua Doutor Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
| | - Vasco Galhardo
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde-Pain Neurobiology Group, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Biomedicina-Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Universidade do Porto, Rua Doutor Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
| | - Helder Cardoso-Cruz
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde-Pain Neurobiology Group, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Biomedicina-Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Universidade do Porto, Rua Doutor Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
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Wang Z, Lou S, Ma X, Guo H, Liu Y, Chen W, Lin D, Yang Y. Neural ensembles in the murine medial prefrontal cortex process distinct information during visual perceptual learning. BMC Biol 2023; 21:44. [PMID: 36829186 PMCID: PMC9960446 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01529-x] [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: 08/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Perceptual learning refers to an augmentation of an organism's ability to respond to external stimuli, which has been described in most sensory modalities. Visual perceptual learning (VPL) is a manifestation of plasticity in visual information processing that occurs in the adult brain, and can be used to ameliorate the ability of patients with visual defects mainly based on an improvement of detection or discrimination of features in visual tasks. While some brain regions such as the primary visual cortex have been described to participate in VPL, the way more general high-level cognitive brain areas are involved in this process remains unclear. Here, we showed that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was essential for both the training and maintenance processes of VPL in mouse models. RESULTS We built a new VPL model in a custom-designed training chamber to enable the utilization of miniScopes when mice freely executed the VPL task. We found that pyramidal neurons in the mPFC participate in both the training process and maintenance of VPL. By recording the calcium activity of mPFC pyramidal neurons while mice freely executed the task, distinct ON and OFF neural ensembles tuned to different behaviors were identified, which might encode different cognitive information. Decoding analysis showed that mouse behaviors could be well predicted using the activity of each ON ensemble. Furthermore, VPL recruited more reward-related components in the mPFC. CONCLUSION We revealed the neural mechanism underlying vision improvement following VPL and identify distinct ON and OFF neural ensembles in the mPFC that tuned to different information during visual perceptual training. These results uncover an important role of the mPFC in VPL, with more reward-related components being also involved, and pave the way for future clarification of the reward signal coding rules in VPL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenni Wang
- grid.59053.3a0000000121679639Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China
| | - Shihao Lou
- grid.59053.3a0000000121679639Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China
| | - Xiao Ma
- grid.59053.3a0000000121679639Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China
| | - Hui Guo
- grid.59053.3a0000000121679639Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China
| | - Yan Liu
- grid.59053.3a0000000121679639Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China
| | - Wenjing Chen
- grid.59053.3a0000000121679639Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China
| | - Dating Lin
- grid.420090.f0000 0004 0533 7147Intramural Research Program, National Institute On Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Yupeng Yang
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
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Castany S, Bagó-Mas A, Vela JM, Verdú E, Bretová K, Svobodová V, Dubový P, Boadas-Vaello P. Transient Reflexive Pain Responses and Chronic Affective Nonreflexive Pain Responses Associated with Neuroinflammation Processes in Both Spinal and Supraspinal Structures in Spinal Cord-Injured Female Mice. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24021761. [PMID: 36675275 PMCID: PMC9863935 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24021761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Revised: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Central neuropathic pain is not only characterized by reflexive pain responses, but also emotional or affective nonreflexive pain responses, especially in women. Some pieces of evidence suggest that the activation of the neuroimmune system may be contributing to the manifestation of mood disorders in patients with chronic pain conditions, but the mechanisms that contribute to the development and chronicity of CNP and its associated disorders remain poorly understood. This study aimed to determine whether neuroinflammatory factor over-expression in the spinal cord and supraspinal structures may be associated with reflexive and nonreflexive pain response development from acute SCI phase to 12 weeks post-injury in female mice. The results show that transient reflexive responses were observed during the SCI acute phase associated with transient cytokine overexpression in the spinal cord. In contrast, increased nonreflexive pain responses were observed in the chronic phase associated with cytokine overexpression in supraspinal structures, especially in mPFC. In addition, results revealed that besides cytokines, the mPFC showed an increased glial activation as well as CX3CL1/CX3CR1 upregulation in the neurons, suggesting the contribution of neuron-glia crosstalk in the development of nonreflexive pain responses in the chronic spinal cord injury phase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sílvia Castany
- Research Group of Clinical Anatomy, Embryology and Neuroscience (NEOMA), Department of Medical Sciences, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Anna Bagó-Mas
- Research Group of Clinical Anatomy, Embryology and Neuroscience (NEOMA), Department of Medical Sciences, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
- Department of Anatomy, Division of Neuroanatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - José Miguel Vela
- WeLab Barcelona, Parc Científic de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Enrique Verdú
- Research Group of Clinical Anatomy, Embryology and Neuroscience (NEOMA), Department of Medical Sciences, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Karolina Bretová
- Department of Anatomy, Division of Neuroanatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Viktorie Svobodová
- Department of Anatomy, Division of Neuroanatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Dubový
- Department of Anatomy, Division of Neuroanatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Pere Boadas-Vaello
- Research Group of Clinical Anatomy, Embryology and Neuroscience (NEOMA), Department of Medical Sciences, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
- Correspondence:
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Cao A, Hong D, Che C, Yu X, Cai Z, Yang X, Zhang D, Yu P. The distinct role of orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortex in encoding impulsive choices in an animal model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 16:1039288. [PMID: 36688128 PMCID: PMC9859629 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1039288] [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: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder affecting up to 5% of children worldwide. The lack of understanding of ADHD etiology prevented the development of effective treatment for the disease. Here, using in vivo electrophysiology recordings, we have recorded and analyzed the neuronal encoding of delay discounting behavior in prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex of spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). We found that in the presence of rewards, neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) were activated regardless to the value of the rewards and OFC neurons in SHR exhibited significantly higher rates of neuronal discharging towards the presence of rewards. While in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), neurons of SHR responded similarly in the presence of large rewards compared with control rats whereas they displayed higher firing rates towards smaller rewards. In addition, the reward-predicting neurons in the OFC encodes for value of rewards in control animals and they were strongly activated upon receiving a small immediate reinforcer in the SHR whereas the reward-predicting neurons in the mPFC neurons generally did not respond to the value of the rewards. Our study characterized the neuronal discharging patterns of OFC and mPFC neurons in the SHR and the control animals and provided novel insights for further understanding the neuronal basis of ADHD pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aihua Cao
- Department of Pediatrics, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Dandan Hong
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Chao Che
- Department of Pediatrics, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Yu
- Department of Pediatrics, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Zhifeng Cai
- Department of Pediatrics, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Xiaofan Yang
- Department of Pediatrics, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Di Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China,*Correspondence: Di Zhang Ping Yu
| | - Ping Yu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China,*Correspondence: Di Zhang Ping Yu
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Mesa JR, Wesson DW, Schwendt M, Knackstedt LA. The roles of rat medial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices in relapse to cocaine-seeking: A comparison across methods for identifying neurocircuits. ADDICTION NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 4:100031. [PMID: 36277334 PMCID: PMC9583858 DOI: 10.1016/j.addicn.2022.100031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
A large body of research supports the notion that regions of the rodent frontal cortex regulate reinstatement of cocaine seeking after cessation of intravenous cocaine self-administration. However, earlier studies identifying the roles of medial (mPFC) and orbital prefrontal cortices (OFC) in reinstatement relied on pharmacological inactivation methods, which indiscriminately inhibited cells within a target region. Here, we first review the anatomical borders and pathways of the rat mPFC and OFC. Next, we compare and contrast findings from more recent cocaine seeking and reinstatement studies that used chemogenetics, optogenetics, or advanced tracing to manipulate specific local cell types or input/output projections of the mPFC and OFC subregions. We found that these studies largely corroborated the roles for mPFC subregions as ascribed by pharmacological inactivation studies. Namely, the prelimbic cortex generally drives cocaine seeking behaviors while the infralimbic cortex is recruited to inhibit cocaine seeking by extinction training but may contribute to seeking after prolonged abstinence. While the OFC remains understudied, we suggest it should not be overlooked, and, as with prelimbic and infralimbic cortices, we identify specific pathways of interest for future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier R. Mesa
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, 114 Psychology, 945 Center Dr., Gainesville, FL 32611, USA,Center for Addiction Research and Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA,Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, University of Florida, 114 Psychology, 945 Center Dr., Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. (J.R. Mesa)
| | - Daniel W. Wesson
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA,Center for Addiction Research and Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Marek Schwendt
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, 114 Psychology, 945 Center Dr., Gainesville, FL 32611, USA,Center for Addiction Research and Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Lori A. Knackstedt
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, 114 Psychology, 945 Center Dr., Gainesville, FL 32611, USA,Center for Addiction Research and Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
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Wang J, Zhang S, Liu T, Zheng X, Tian X, Bai W. Directional prefrontal-thalamic information flow is selectively required during spatial working memory retrieval. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:1055986. [PMID: 36507330 PMCID: PMC9726760 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1055986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Spatial working memory is a kind of short-term memory that allows temporarily storing and manipulating spatial information. Evidence suggests that spatial working memory is processed through three distinctive phases: Encoding, maintenance, and retrieval. Though the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and mediodorsal thalamus (MD) are involved in memory retrieval, how the functional interactions and information transfer between mPFC and MD remains largely unclear. Methods We recorded local field potentials (LFPs) from mPFC and MD while mice performed a spatial working memory task in T-maze. The temporal dynamics of functional interactions and bidirectional information flow between mPFC and MD was quantitatively assessed by using directed transfer function. Results Our results showed a significantly elevated information flow from mPFC to MD, varied in time and frequency (theta in particular), accompanying successful memory retrieval. Discussion Elevated theta information flow, a feature that was absent on error trials, indicates an important role of the directional information transfer from mPFC to MD for memory retrieval.
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Johne M, Helgers SOA, Alam M, Jelinek J, Hubka P, Krauss JK, Scheper V, Kral A, Schwabe K. Processing of auditory information in forebrain regions after hearing loss in adulthood: Behavioral and electrophysiological studies in a rat model. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:966568. [DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.966568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BackgroundHearing loss was proposed as a factor affecting development of cognitive impairment in elderly. Deficits cannot be explained primarily by dysfunctional neuronal networks within the central auditory system. We here tested the impact of hearing loss in adult rats on motor, social, and cognitive function. Furthermore, potential changes in the neuronal activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the inferior colliculus (IC) were evaluated.Materials and methodsIn adult male Sprague Dawley rats hearing loss was induced under general anesthesia with intracochlear injection of neomycin. Sham-operated and naive rats served as controls. Postsurgical acoustically evoked auditory brainstem response (ABR)-measurements verified hearing loss after intracochlear neomycin-injection, respectively, intact hearing in sham-operated and naive controls. In intervals of 8 weeks and up to 12 months after surgery rats were tested for locomotor activity (open field) and coordination (Rotarod), for social interaction and preference, and for learning and memory (4-arms baited 8-arms radial maze test). In a final setting, electrophysiological recordings were performed in the mPFC and the IC.ResultsLocomotor activity did not differ between deaf and control rats, whereas motor coordination on the Rotarod was disturbed in deaf rats (P < 0.05). Learning the concept of the radial maze test was initially disturbed in deaf rats (P < 0.05), whereas retesting every 8 weeks did not show long-term memory deficits. Social interaction and preference was also not affected by hearing loss. Final electrophysiological recordings in anesthetized rats revealed reduced firing rates, enhanced irregular firing, and reduced oscillatory theta band activity (4–8 Hz) in the mPFC of deaf rats as compared to controls (P < 0.05). In the IC, reduced oscillatory theta (4–8 Hz) and gamma (30–100 Hz) band activity was found in deaf rats (P < 0.05).ConclusionMinor and transient behavioral deficits do not confirm direct impact of long-term hearing loss on cognitive function in rats. However, the altered neuronal activities in the mPFC and IC after hearing loss indicate effects on neuronal networks in and outside the central auditory system with potential consequences on cognitive function.
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Shing N, Walker MC, Chang P. The Role of Aberrant Neural Oscillations in the Hippocampal-Medial Prefrontal Cortex Circuit in Neurodevelopmental and Neurological Disorders. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2022; 195:107683. [PMID: 36174886 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2022.107683] [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: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The hippocampus (HPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) have well-established roles in cognition, emotion, and sensory processing. In recent years, interests have shifted towards developing a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying interactions between the HPC and mPFC in achieving these functions. Considerable research supports the idea that synchronized activity between the HPC and the mPFC is a general mechanism by which brain functions are regulated. In this review, we summarize current knowledge on the hippocampal-medial prefrontal cortex (HPC-mPFC) circuit in normal brain function with a focus on oscillations and highlight several neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders associated with aberrant HPC-mPFC circuitry. We further discuss oscillatory dynamics across the HPC-mPFC circuit as potentially useful biomarkers to assess interventions for neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders. Finally, advancements in brain stimulation, gene therapy and pharmacotherapy are explored as promising therapies for disorders with aberrant HPC-mPFC circuit dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathanael Shing
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK; Department of Medicine, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR17BH, UK
| | - Matthew C Walker
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Pishan Chang
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT.
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Cerebrocortical activation following unilateral labyrinthectomy in mice characterized by whole-brain clearing: implications for sensory reweighting. Sci Rep 2022; 12:15424. [PMID: 36104440 PMCID: PMC9474865 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19678-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Posture and gait are maintained by sensory inputs from the vestibular, visual, and somatosensory systems and motor outputs. Upon vestibular damage, the visual and/or somatosensory systems functionally substitute by cortical mechanisms called “sensory reweighting”. We investigated the cerebrocortical mechanisms underlying sensory reweighting after unilateral labyrinthectomy (UL) in mice. Arc-dVenus transgenic mice, in which the gene encoding the fluorescent protein dVenus is transcribed under the control of the promoter of the immediate early gene Arc, were used in combination with whole-brain three-dimensional (3D) imaging. Performance on the rotarod was measured as a behavioral correlate of sensory reweighting. Following left UL, all mice showed the head roll-tilt until UL10, indicating the vestibular periphery damage. The rotarod performance worsened in the UL mice from UL1 to UL3, which rapidly recovered. Whole-brain 3D imaging revealed that the number of activated neurons in S1, but not in V1, in UL7 was higher than that in sham-treated mice. At UL7, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and agranular insular cortex (AIC) activation was also observed. Therefore, sensory reweighting to the somatosensory system could compensate for vestibular dysfunction following UL; further, mPFC and AIC contribute to the integration of sensory and motor functions to restore balance.
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Abnormal Brain Networks Related to Drug and Nondrug Reward Anticipation and Outcome Processing in Stimulant Use Disorder: A Functional Connectomics Approach. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2022; 8:560-571. [PMID: 36108930 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2022.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Revised: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Drug addiction is associated with blunted neural responses to nondrug rewards, such as money, but heightened responses to drug cues that predict drug-reward outcomes. This dissociation underscores the role of incentive context in the attribution of motivational salience, which may reflect a narrowing toward drug-related goals. This hypothesis, however, has scarcely been investigated. METHODS To address this important scientific gap, the current study performed an empirical assessment of differences in salience attribution by comparing patients with stimulant use disorder (SUD) (n = 41) with control participants (n = 48) on network connectivity related to anticipation and outcome processing using a modified monetary incentive delay task. We hypothesized increased task-related activation and connectivity to drug rewards in patients with SUD, and reduced task-related activation and connectivity to monetary rewards during incentive processing across brain networks. RESULTS In the presence of behavioral and regional brain activation similarities, we found that patients with SUD showed significantly less connectivity involving three separate distributed networks during monetary reward anticipation, and drug and monetary reward outcome processing. No group connectivity differences for drug reward anticipation were identified. Additional graph theory analyses revealed that patients with SUD had longer path lengths across these networks, all of which positively correlated with the duration of stimulant drug use. CONCLUSIONS Specific disruptions in connectivity in networks related to the anticipation of nondrug reward together with more general dysconnectivity in the processing of rewarding outcomes suggest an insensitivity to consequences. These observations support the notion of a predominance of habitual control in patients with SUD.
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Neuroanatomical Correlates of Perceived Stress Controllability in Adolescents and Emerging Adults. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 22:655-671. [PMID: 35091987 PMCID: PMC9308625 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-022-00985-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Stressful life events predict changes in brain structure and increases in psychopathology, but not everyone is equally affected by life stress. The learned helplessness theory posits that perceiving life stressors as uncontrollable leads to depression. Evidence supports this theory for youth, but the impact of perceived control diverges based on stressor type: perceived lack of control over dependent (self-generated) stressors is associated with greater depression symptoms when controlling for the frequency of stress exposure, but perceived control over independent (non-self-generated) stressors is not. However, it is unknown how perceived control over these stressor types is associated with brain structure. We tested whether perceived lack of control over dependent and independent life stressors, controlling for stressor exposure, is associated with gray matter (GM) in a priori regions of interest (ROIs; mPFC, hippocampus, amygdala) and across the cortex in a sample of 108 adolescents and emerging adults ages 14-22. There were no associations across the full sample between perceived control over either stressor type and GM in the ROIs. However, less perceived control over dependent stressors was associated with greater amygdala gray matter volume in female youth and greater medial prefrontal cortex thickness in male youth. Furthermore, whole-cortex analyses revealed less perceived control over dependent stressors was associated with greater GM thickness in cortical regions involved in cognitive and emotional regulation. Thus, appraisals of control have distinct associations with brain morphology while controlling for stressor frequency, highlighting the importance of differentiating between these aspects of the stress experience in future research.
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Farzinpour Z, Liu A, Cao P, Mao Y, Zhang Z, Jin Y. Microglial Engulfment of Spines in the Ventral Zona Incerta Regulates Anxiety-Like Behaviors in a Mouse Model of Acute Pain. Front Cell Neurosci 2022; 16:898346. [PMID: 35910255 PMCID: PMC9337222 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2022.898346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Although activation of microglial cells is critical in developing brain disorders, their role in anxiety-like behaviors in pain is still vague. This study indicates that alteration of microglia’s neuronal spine engulfment capacity in ventral zona incerta (ZIV) leads to significant pain and anxiety-like behaviors in mice 1-day post-injection of Complete Freud’s Adjuvant (CFA1D). Performing whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in GABAergic neurons in the ZIV (ZIVGABA) in brain slices, we observed decreased activity in ZIvGABA and reduced frequency of the miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) in ZIVGABA of CFA1D mice compared with the saline1D mice. Besides, chemogenetic activation of ZIVGABA significantly relieved pain and anxiety-like behaviors in CFA1D mice. Conversely, in naïve mice, chemogenetic inhibition of ZIVGABA induced pain and anxiety-like behaviors. Interestingly, we found changes in the density and morphology of ZIVMicroglia and increased microglial engulfment of spines in ZIV of CFA1D mice. Furthermore, pain sensitization and anxiety-like behaviors were reversed when the ZIVMicroglia of CFA1D-treated mice were chemically inhibited by intra-ZIV minocycline injection, accompanied by the recovery of decreased ZIVGABA excitability. Conclusively, our results provide novel insights that dysregulation of microglial engulfment capacity encodes maladaptation of ZIVGABA, thus promoting the development of anxiety-like behaviors in acute pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zahra Farzinpour
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - An Liu
- Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Peng Cao
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Yu Mao
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Zhi Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- *Correspondence: Zhi Zhang,
| | - Yan Jin
- Stroke Center and Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Yan Jin,
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Sun G, Zeng F, McCartin M, Zhang Q, Xu H, Liu Y, Chen ZS, Wang J. Closed-loop stimulation using a multiregion brain-machine interface has analgesic effects in rodents. Sci Transl Med 2022; 14:eabm5868. [PMID: 35767651 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abm5868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Effective treatments for chronic pain remain limited. Conceptually, a closed-loop neural interface combining sensory signal detection with therapeutic delivery could produce timely and effective pain relief. Such systems are challenging to develop because of difficulties in accurate pain detection and ultrafast analgesic delivery. Pain has sensory and affective components, encoded in large part by neural activities in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), respectively. Meanwhile, studies show that stimulation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) produces descending pain control. Here, we designed and tested a brain-machine interface (BMI) combining an automated pain detection arm, based on simultaneously recorded local field potential (LFP) signals from the S1 and ACC, with a treatment arm, based on optogenetic activation or electrical deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the PFC in freely behaving rats. Our multiregion neural interface accurately detected and treated acute evoked pain and chronic pain. This neural interface is activated rapidly, and its efficacy remained stable over time. Given the clinical feasibility of LFP recordings and DBS, our findings suggest that BMI is a promising approach for pain treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guanghao Sun
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.,Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.,Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Fei Zeng
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Michael McCartin
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Qiaosheng Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.,Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Helen Xu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Yaling Liu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Zhe Sage Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.,Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA.,Department of Neuroscience & Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.,Neuroscience Institute, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.,Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA.,Department of Neuroscience & Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.,Neuroscience Institute, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
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42
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Viena TD, Rasch GE, Allen TA. Dual medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus projecting neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus. Brain Struct Funct 2022; 227:1857-1869. [PMID: 35279742 PMCID: PMC11229420 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-022-02478-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
The paraventricular nucleus (PVT) of the midline thalamus is a critical higher-order cortico-thalamo-cortical integration site that plays a critical role in various behaviors including reward seeking, cue saliency, and emotional memory. Anatomical studies have shown that PVT projects to both medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus (HC). However, dual mPFC-HC projecting neurons which could serve a role in synchronizing mPFC and HC activity during PVT-dependent behaviors, have not been explored. Here we used a dual retrograde adenoassociated virus (AAV) tracing approach to characterize the location and proportion of different projection populations that send collaterals to mPFC and/or ventral hippocampus (vHC) in rats. Additionally, we examined the distribution of calcium binding proteins calretinin (CR) and calbindin (CB) with respect to these projection populations in PVT. We found that PVT contains separate populations of cells that project to mPFC, vHC, and those that innervate both regions. Interestingly, dual mPFC-HC projecting cells expressed neither CR nor CB. Topographically, CB+ and CR+ containing cells clustered around dual projecting neurons in PVT. These results are consistent with the features of dual mPFC-vHC projecting cells in the nucleus reuniens (RE) and suggestive of a functional mPFC-PVT-vHC system that may support mPFC-vHC interactions in PVT-dependent behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana D Viena
- Department of Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - Gabriela E Rasch
- Department of Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Timothy A Allen
- Department of Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
- Deparment of Environmental Health Sciences, Robert Stempel College of Public Health, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
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43
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Hippocampal-medial prefrontal cortex network dynamics predict performance during retrieval in a context-guided object memory task. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2203024119. [PMID: 35561217 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2203024119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
SignificanceRecovering relevant information, while ignoring the irrelevant, is crucial for episodic memory (remembering a particular event at a specific temporal and spatial context). Information presented at any time could drive the retrieval of more than one memory trace; thus, there should be a mechanism to select the retrieval of the most relevant trace. However, how the brain controls memory interference is not well understood. Here, we analyzed the communication between ventral hippocampus (vHPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during the resolution of an episodic memory task in rats. We found an increased synchronization between the vHPC and mPFC and identified specific mPFC neural subpopulations that selectively respond to object-context associations, and their firing preference correlates with the animals' behavioral responses.
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44
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Stekic A, Zeljkovic M, Zaric Kontic M, Mihajlovic K, Adzic M, Stevanovic I, Ninkovic M, Grkovic I, Ilic TV, Nedeljkovic N, Dragic M. Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation Ameliorates Cognitive Deficit and Attenuates Neuroinflammation via PI3K/Akt/mTOR Signaling Pathway in Alzheimer’s-Like Disease Model. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:889983. [PMID: 35656538 PMCID: PMC9152158 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.889983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurodegeneration implies progressive neuronal loss and neuroinflammation further contributing to pathology progression. It is a feature of many neurological disorders, most common being Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive stimulation which modulates excitability of stimulated brain areas through magnetic pulses. Numerous studies indicated beneficial effect of rTMS in several neurological diseases, including AD, however, exact mechanism are yet to be elucidated. We aimed to evaluate the effect of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), an rTMS paradigm, on behavioral, neurochemical and molecular level in trimethyltin (TMT)-induced Alzheimer’s-like disease model. TMT acts as a neurotoxic agent targeting hippocampus causing cognitive impairment and neuroinflammation, replicating behavioral and molecular aspects of AD. Male Wistar rats were divided into four experimental groups–controls, rats subjected to a single dose of TMT (8 mg/kg), TMT rats subjected to iTBS two times per day for 15 days and TMT sham group. After 3 weeks, we examined exploratory behavior and memory, histopathological and changes on molecular level. TMT-treated rats exhibited severe and cognitive deficit. iTBS-treated animals showed improved cognition. iTBS reduced TMT-induced inflammation and increased anti-inflammatory molecules. We examined PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway which is involved in regulation of apoptosis, cell growth and learning and memory. We found significant downregulation of phosphorylated forms of Akt and mTOR in TMT-intoxicated animals, which were reverted following iTBS stimulation. Application of iTBS produces beneficial effects on cognition in of rats with TMT-induced hippocampal neurodegeneration and that effect could be mediated via PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, which could candidate this protocol as a potential therapeutic approach in neurodegenerative diseases such as AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andjela Stekic
- Laboratory for Neurobiology, Department of General Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Milica Zeljkovic
- Laboratory for Neurobiology, Department of General Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Marina Zaric Kontic
- Department of Molecular Biology and Endocrinology, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Katarina Mihajlovic
- Laboratory for Neurobiology, Department of General Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Marija Adzic
- Laboratory for Neurobiology, Department of General Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Ivana Stevanovic
- Medical Faculty of Military Medical Academy, University of Defence, Belgrade, Serbia
- Institute for Medical Research, Military Medical Academy, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Milica Ninkovic
- Medical Faculty of Military Medical Academy, University of Defence, Belgrade, Serbia
- Institute for Medical Research, Military Medical Academy, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Ivana Grkovic
- Department of Molecular Biology and Endocrinology, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Tihomir V. Ilic
- Medical Faculty of Military Medical Academy, University of Defence, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Nadezda Nedeljkovic
- Laboratory for Neurobiology, Department of General Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Milorad Dragic
- Laboratory for Neurobiology, Department of General Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
- *Correspondence: Milorad Dragic,
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45
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Pathway-specific inhibition of critical projections from the mediodorsal thalamus to the frontal cortex controls kindled seizures. Prog Neurobiol 2022; 214:102286. [PMID: 35537572 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
There is a large unmet need for improved treatment for temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE); circuit-specific manipulation that disrupts the initiation and propagation of seizures is promising in this regard. The midline thalamus, including the mediodorsal nucleus (MD) is a critical distributor of seizure activity, but its afferent and efferent pathways that mediate seizure activity are unknown. Here, we used chemogenetics to silence input and output projections of the MD to discrete regions of the frontal cortex in the kindling model of TLE in rats. Chemogenetic inhibition of the projection from the amygdala to the MD abolished seizures, an effect that was replicated using optogenetic inhibition. Chemogenetic inhibition of projections from the MD to the prelimbic cortex likewise abolished seizures. By contrast, inhibition of projections from the MD to other frontal regions produced partial (orbitofrontal cortex, infralimbic cortex) or no (cingulate, insular cortex) attenuation of behavioral or electrographic seizure activity. These results highlight the particular importance of projections from MD to prelimbic cortex in the propagation of amygdala-kindled seizures.
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46
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Lu Q, Wu F, Jiao J, Xue L, Song R, Shi Y, Kong Y, Sun J, Gu N, Han MH, Zhang Z. Selective activation of ABCA1/ApoA1 signaling in the V1 by magnetoelectric stimulation ameliorates depression via regulation of synaptic plasticity. iScience 2022; 25:104201. [PMID: 35479414 PMCID: PMC9036135 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Emerging evidence suggests that dysfunction of the visual cortex may be involved in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We previously established that combined magnetic stimulation system treatment (c-MSST) resulted in an antidepressant effect in mice. In the present study, we found that V1-targeted c-MSST induced significant antidepressant effects in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)- and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated mice. Proteomic screening investigation and repeatable validation revealed that expression of the V1 neuronal ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) and apolipoprotein A-1 (ApoA1) was downregulated in CUMS mice, an effect that was normalized by c-MSST. Neuron-specific knockdown of ABCA1 in V1 blocked c-MSST’s antidepressant effects. Mechanistically, CUMS reduced dendritic spine density and long-term plasticity in V1, and these deficits were reversed by c-MSST. V1-targeted c-MSST was found to induce rapid antidepressant effects that are mediated by alterations in synaptic plasticity via the ABCA1/ApoA1 signaling pathway in V1. c-MSST targeting the primary visual cortex induced antidepressant effects ABCA1/ApoA1 signaling contributed to c-MSST-mediated antidepressant actions Magnetic stimulation of primary visual cortex enhanced synaptic plasticity Circulating levels of ApoA1 were lower in patients with depression
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47
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Carretero-Hernández M, Catalano-Iniesta L, Blanco EJ, García-Barrado MJ, Carretero J. Highlights regarding prolactin in the dentate gyrus and hippocampus. VITAMINS AND HORMONES 2022; 118:479-505. [PMID: 35180938 DOI: 10.1016/bs.vh.2021.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Prolactin (PRL) is a pituitary hormone that has been typically related to lactogenesis in mammals. However, it has been described over 300 roles in the organism of vertebrae and its relationship with the central nervous system (CNS) is yet to be clarified. Mainly secreted by the pituitary gland, the source of prolactin in the CNS remains unclear, where some experiments suggest active transport via an unknown carrier or, on the contrary, PRL being synthesized on the brain. So far, it seems to be involved with neurogenesis, neuroprotection, maternal behavior and cognitive processes in the hippocampus and dentate gyrus, among other regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Carretero-Hernández
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Spain; Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla y León (INCyL), and Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology and Obesity, Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Spain.
| | - Leonardo Catalano-Iniesta
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Spain; Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla y León (INCyL), and Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology and Obesity, Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Spain
| | - Enrique J Blanco
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Spain; Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla y León (INCyL), and Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology and Obesity, Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Spain
| | - María José García-Barrado
- Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla y León (INCyL), and Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology and Obesity, Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Spain; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Spain
| | - José Carretero
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Spain; Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla y León (INCyL), and Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology and Obesity, Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Spain
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48
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Schlecht M, Jayachandran M, Rasch GE, Allen TA. Dual projecting cells linking thalamic and cortical communication routes between the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2022; 188:107586. [PMID: 35045320 PMCID: PMC8851867 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2022.107586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Revised: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The interactions between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the hippocampus (HC) are critical for memory and decision making and have been specifically implicated in several neurological disorders including schizophrenia, epilepsy, frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. The ventral midline thalamus (vmThal), and lateral entorhinal cortex and perirhinal cortex (LEC/PER) constitute major communication pathways that facilitate mPFC-HC interactions in memory. Although vmThal and LEC/PER circuits have been delineated separately we sought to determine whether these two regions share cell-specific inputs that could influence both routes simultaneously. To do this we used a dual fluorescent retrograde tracing approach using cholera toxin subunit-B (CTB-488 and CTB-594) with injections targeting vmThal and the LEC/PER in rats. Retrograde cell body labeling was examined in key regions of interest within the mPFC-HC system including: (1) mPFC, specifically anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsal and ventral prelimbic cortex (dPL, vPL), and infralimbic cortex (IL); (2) medial and lateral septum (MS, LS); (3) subiculum (Sub) along the dorsal-ventral and proximal-distal axes; and (4) LEC and medial entorhinal cortex (MEC). Results showed that dual vmThal-LEC/PER-projecting cell populations are found in MS, vSub, and the shallow layers II/III of LEC and MEC. We did not find any dual projecting cells in mPFC or in the cornu ammonis (CA) subfields of the HC. Thus, mPFC and HC activity is sent to vmThal and LEC/PER via non-overlapping projection cell populations. Importantly, the dual projecting cell populations in MS, vSub, and EC are in a unique position to simultaneously influence both cortical and thalamic mPFC-HC pathways critical to memory. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The interactions between mPFC and HC are critical for learning and memory, and dysfunction within this circuit is implicated in various neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. mPFC-HC interactions are mediated through multiple communication pathways including a thalamic hub through the vmThal and a cortical hub through lateral entorhinal cortex and perirhinal cortex. Our data highlight newly identified dual projecting cell populations in the septum, Sub, and EC of the rat brain. These dual projecting cells may have the ability to modify the information flow within the mPFC-HC circuit through synchronous activity, and thus offer new cell-specific circuit targets for basic and translational studies in memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Schlecht
- Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA
| | - Maanasa Jayachandran
- Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA
| | - Gabriela E Rasch
- Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA; Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Timothy A Allen
- Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA.
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49
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Nosjean A, Granon S. Brain Adaptation to Acute Stress: Effect of Time, Social Buffering, and Nicotinic Cholinergic System. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:3990-4011. [PMID: 34905774 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Revised: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Both social behavior and stress responses rely on the activity of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) and on cholinergic transmission. We previously showed in adult C57BL/6J (B6) mice that social interaction has a buffering effect on stress-related prefrontal activity, depending on the β2-/- cholinergic nicotinic receptors (nAChRs, β2-/- mice). The latency for this buffer to emerge being short, we question here whether the associated brain plasticity, as reflected by regional c-fos protein quantification and PFC-BLA functional connectivity, is modulated by time. Overall, we show that time normalized the stress-induced PFC hyperactivation in B6 mice and PFC hypo-activation in β2-/- mice, with no effect on BLA. It also triggered a multitude of functional links between PFC subareas, and between PFC and BLA in B6 mice but not β2-/- mice, showing a central role of nAChRs in this plasticity. Coupled with social interaction and time, stress led to novel and drastic diminution of functional connectivity within the PFC in both genotypes. Thus, time, emotional state, and social behavior induced dissociated effects on PFC and BLA activity and important cortico-cortical reorganizations. Both activity and plasticity were under the control of the β2-nAChRs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Nosjean
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay (NeuroPSI), 91400 Saclay, France
| | - Sylvie Granon
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay (NeuroPSI), 91400 Saclay, France
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50
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Craeghs L, Callaerts-Vegh Z, Verslegers M, Van der Jeugd A, Govaerts K, Dresselaers T, Wogensen E, Verreet T, Moons L, Benotmane MA, Himmelreich U, D'Hooge R. Prenatal Radiation Exposure Leads to Higher-Order Telencephalic Dysfunctions in Adult Mice That Coincide with Reduced Synaptic Plasticity and Cerebral Hypersynchrony. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:3525-3541. [PMID: 34902856 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab431] [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: 04/06/2021] [Revised: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Higher-order telencephalic circuitry has been suggested to be especially vulnerable to irradiation or other developmentally toxic impact. This report details the adult effects of prenatal irradiation at a sensitive time point on clinically relevant brain functions controlled by telencephalic regions, hippocampus (HPC), and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Pregnant C57Bl6/J mice were whole-body irradiated at embryonic day 11 (start of neurogenesis) with X-ray intensities of 0.0, 0.5, or 1.0 Gy. Female offspring completed a broad test battery of HPC-/PFC-controlled tasks that included cognitive performance, fear extinction, exploratory, and depression-like behaviors. We examined neural functions that are mechanistically related to these behavioral and cognitive changes, such as hippocampal field potentials and long-term potentiation, functional brain connectivity (by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging), and expression of HPC vesicular neurotransmitter transporters (by immunohistochemical quantification). Prenatally exposed mice displayed several higher-order dysfunctions, such as decreased nychthemeral activity, working memory defects, delayed extinction of threat-evoked response suppression as well as indications of perseverative behavior. Electrophysiological examination indicated impaired hippocampal synaptic plasticity. Prenatal irradiation also induced cerebral hypersynchrony and increased the number of glutamatergic HPC terminals. These changes in brain connectivity and plasticity could mechanistically underlie the irradiation-induced defects in higher telencephalic functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Livine Craeghs
- Department of Brain & Cognition, Research Group Biological Psychology, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Zsuzsanna Callaerts-Vegh
- Department of Brain & Cognition, Research Group Biological Psychology, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Mieke Verslegers
- Department of Radiobiology, Institute for Environmental Health and Safety, Nuclear Research Center (SCK CEN), Mol 2400, Belgium
| | - Ann Van der Jeugd
- Department of Brain & Cognition, Research Group Biological Psychology, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Kristof Govaerts
- Department of Imaging & Pathology, Research Group Biomedical MRI, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Tom Dresselaers
- Department of Imaging & Pathology, Research Group Biomedical MRI, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Elise Wogensen
- Department of Brain & Cognition, Research Group Biological Psychology, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Tine Verreet
- Department of Radiobiology, Institute for Environmental Health and Safety, Nuclear Research Center (SCK CEN), Mol 2400, Belgium
| | - Lieve Moons
- Department of Biology, Research Group Neural Circuit Development and Regeneration, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Mohammed A Benotmane
- Department of Radiobiology, Institute for Environmental Health and Safety, Nuclear Research Center (SCK CEN), Mol 2400, Belgium
| | - Uwe Himmelreich
- Department of Imaging & Pathology, Research Group Biomedical MRI, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Rudi D'Hooge
- Department of Brain & Cognition, Research Group Biological Psychology, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven 3000, Belgium
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