Differential involvement of medial prefrontal cortex and basolateral amygdala extracellular signal-regulated kinase in extinction of conditioned taste aversion is dependent on different intervals of extinction following conditioning

Activity of Insula to Basolateral Amygdala Projecting Neurons is Necessary and Sufficient for Taste Valence Representation

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is an associative learning paradigm, wherein consumption of an appetitive tastant (e.g., saccharin) is paired to the administration of a malaise-inducing agent, such as intraperitoneal injection of LiCl. Aversive taste learning and retrieval require neuronal activity within the anterior insula (aIC) and the basolateral amygdala (BLA). Here, we labeled neurons of the aIC projecting to the BLA in adult male mice using a retro-AAV construct and assessed their necessity in aversive and appetitive taste learning. By restricting the expression of chemogenetic receptors in aIC-to-BLA neurons, we demonstrate that activity within the aIC-to-BLA projection is necessary for both aversive taste memory acquisition and retrieval, but not for its maintenance, nor its extinction. Moreover, inhibition of the projection did not affect incidental taste learning per se, but effectively suppressed aversive taste memory retrieval when applied either during or before the encoding of the unconditioned stimulus for CTA (i.e., malaise). Remarkably, activation of the projection after novel taste consumption, without experiencing any internal discomfort, was sufficient to form an artificial aversive taste memory, resulting in strong aversive behavior upon retrieval. Our results indicate that aIC-to-BLA projecting neurons are an essential component in the ability of the brain to associate taste sensory stimuli with body states of negative valence and guide the expression of valence-specific behavior upon taste memory retrieval.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In the present study we subjected mice to the conditioned taste aversion paradigm, where animals learn to associate novel taste with malaise (i.e., assign it negative valence). We show that activation of neurons in the anterior insular cortex (aIC) that project into the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in response to conditioned taste aversion is necessary to form a memory for a taste of negative valence. Moreover, artificial activation of this pathway (without any feeling of pain) after the sampling of a taste can also lead to such associative memory. Thus, activation of aIC-to-BLA projecting neurons is necessary and sufficient to form and retrieve aversive taste memory.

Extra-Hippocampal Learning Deficits in Young Apolipoprotein E4 Mice and Their Synaptic Underpinning

The E4 allele of apolipoprotein (apoE4) is the primary genetic risk factor for late onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet the exact manner in which apoE4 leads to the development of AD is undetermined. Human and animal studies report that apoE4-related memory deficits appear earlier than the AD clinical manifestation, thus suggesting the existence of early, pre-pathological, apoE4 impairments that may later lead to AD onset. While current research regards the hippocampus as the initial and primary effected locus by apoE4, we presently investigate the possibility that apoE4 innately impairs any brain area that requires synaptic plasticity. To test this hypothesis, we trained young (3-4-month-old) target-replacement apoE3 and apoE4 mice in conditioned taste aversion (CTA) acquisition and extinction learnings- hippocampus-independent learnings that are easily performed at a young age. Synaptic vesicular markers analysis was conducted in the gustatory cortex (GC), basolateral amygdala (BLA), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and hippocampal CA3 to reveal underlying apoE4-related impairments. We have found that young apoE4 mice are severely impaired in CTA acquisition and extinction learning. CTA acquisition impairments were correlated with reduced vGat and vGlut levels in the BLA and GC, but not in the CA3. CTA extinction was correlated with lower synaptophysin and vGlut levels in the mPFC, a central region in CTA extinction. Our results support apoE4-related early-life plasticity impairments that precede the AD clinical manifestations and affect any brain area that depends on extensive plasticity; early impairments that may promote the development of AD pathologies later in life.

The Basolateral Nucleus of the Amygdala Executes the Parallel Processes of Avoidance and Palatability in the Retrieval of Conditioned Taste Aversion in Male Rats

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is an essential behavior for animal survival. Conditioned animals show avoidance and decreased palatability to a conditioned stimulus (CS) on CTA retrieval. In this study, we aimed to determine whether the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) is involved in CTA retrieval and whether avoidance and palatability in CTA retrieval are processed in the BLA. We developed an experimental chamber for time-course analysis of the behavior to approach a spout and lick a CS. In this experimental chamber, we analyzed the behavior of male rats following microinjections of GABA_A receptor agonist muscimol or saline into the BLA. The rats showed two types of approach behavior: they either (1) approached and licked the spout or (2) approached but did not lick the spout. Muscimol injection into the BLA decreased the frequency of the latter type of approach behavior, indicating that BLA inactivation reduced avoidance to the CS. The muscimol injection into the BLA also significantly increased the consumption of the CS. Lick microstructure analysis demonstrated that intra-BLA muscimol significantly increased licking burst number and size, indicating that BLA inactivation attenuated aversion to the CS as large burst licking is an indicator of high palatability. These results suggest that the increase in CS consumption with intra-BLA muscimol injection was due to alterations in approach and aversive responses to the CS. Therefore, we conclude that the BLA plays an essential role in CTA retrieval by parallel processing of avoidance and palatability.

Choice Behavior Guided by Learned, But Not Innate, Taste Aversion Recruits the Orbitofrontal Cortex

The ability to select an appropriate behavioral response guided by previous emotional experiences is critical for survival. Although much is known about brain mechanisms underlying emotional associations, little is known about how these associations guide behavior when several choices are available. To address this, we performed local pharmacological inactivations of several cortical regions before retrieval of an aversive memory in choice-based versus no-choice-based conditioned taste aversion (CTA) tasks in rats. Interestingly, we found that inactivation of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), but not the dorsal or ventral medial prefrontal cortices, blocked retrieval of choice CTA. However, OFC inactivation left retrieval of no-choice CTA intact, suggesting its role in guiding choice, but not in retrieval of CTA memory. Consistently, OFC activity increased in the choice condition compared with no-choice, as measured with c-Fos immunolabeling. Notably, OFC inactivation did not affect choice behavior when it was guided by innate taste aversion. Consistent with an anterior insular cortex (AIC) involvement in storing taste memories, we found that AIC inactivation impaired retrieval of both choice and no-choice CTA. Therefore, this study provides evidence for OFC's role in guiding choice behavior and shows that this is dissociable from AIC-dependent taste aversion memory. Together, our results suggest that OFC is required and recruited to guide choice selection between options of taste associations relayed from AIC.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT

Survival and mental health depend on being able to choose stimuli not associated with danger. This is particularly important when danger is associated with stimuli that we ingest. Although much is known about the brain mechanisms that underlie associations with dangerous taste stimuli, very little is known about how these stored emotional associations guide behavior when it involves choice. By combining pharmacological and immunohistochemistry tools with taste-guided tasks, our study provides evidence for the key role of orbitofrontal cortex activity in choice behavior and shows that this is dissociable from the adjacent insular cortex-dependent taste aversion memory. Understanding the brain mechanisms that underlie the impact that emotional associations have on survival choice behaviors may lead to better treatments for mental disorders characterized by emotional decision-making deficits.

Avian reovirus S1133-induced apoptosis is associated with Bip/GRP79-mediated Bim translocation to the endoplasmic reticulum

In this study the mechanism of avian reovirus (ARV) S1133-induced pathogenesis was investigated, with a focus on the contribution of ER stress to apoptosis. Our results showed that upregulation of the ER stress response protein, as well as caspase-3 activation, occurred in ARV S1133-infected cultured cells and in SPF White Leghorn chicks organs. Upon infection, Bim was translocated specifically to the ER, but not mitochondria, in the middle to late infectious stages. In addition, ARV S1133 induced JNK phosphorylation and promoted JNK-Bim complex formation, which correlated with the Bim translocation and apoptosis induction that was observed at the same time point. Knockdown of BiP/GRP78 by siRNA and inhibition of BiP/GRP78 using EGCG both abolished the formation of the JNK-Bim complex, caspase-3 activation, and subsequent apoptosis induction by ARV S1133 efficiently. These results suggest that BiP/GRP78 played critical roles and works upstream of JNK-Bim in response to the ARV S1133-mediated apoptosis process.

Acquisition and expression of conditioned taste aversion differentially affects extracellular signal regulated kinase and glutamate receptor phosphorylation in rat prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) can be applied to study associative learning and its relevant underpinning molecular mechanisms in discrete brain regions. The present study examined, by immunohistochemistry and immunocytochemistry, the effects of acquisition and expression of lithium-induced CTA on activated Extracellular signal Regulated Kinase (p-ERK) in the prefrontal cortex (PFCx) and nucleus accumbens (Acb) of male Sprague-Dawley rats. The study also examined, by immunoblotting, whether acquisition and expression of lithium-induced CTA resulted in modified levels of phosphorylation of glutamate receptor subunits (NR1 and GluR1) and Thr³⁴- and Thr^{75-Dopamine-and-cAMP-Regulated} PhosphoProtein (DARPP-32). CTA acquisition was associated with an increase of p-ERK-positive neurons and phosphorylated NR1 receptor subunit (p-NR1) in the PFCx, whereas p-GluR1, p-Thr³⁴- and p-Thr⁷⁵-DARPP-32 levels were not changed in this brain region. CTA expression increased the number of p-ERK-positive neurons in the shell (AcbSh) and core (AcbC) but left unmodified p-NR1, p-GluR1, p-Thr³⁴- and p-Thr^75-DARPP-32 levels. Furthermore, post-embedding immunogold quantitative analysis in AcbSh revealed that CTA expression significantly increased nuclear p-ERK immunostaining as well as p-ERK-labeled axo-spinous contacts. Overall, these results indicate that ERK and NR1, but not GluR1 and DARPP-32, are differentially phosphorylated as a consequence of acquisition and expression of aversive associative learning. Moreover, these results confirm that CTA represents an useful approach to study the molecular basis of associative learning in rats and suggest the involvement of ERK cascade in learning-associated synaptic plasticity.

Molecular mechanisms underlying memory consolidation of taste information in the cortex

The senses of taste and odor are both chemical senses. However, whereas an organism can detect an odor at a relatively long distance from its source, taste serves as the ultimate proximate gatekeeper of food intake: it helps in avoiding poisons and consuming beneficial substances. The automatic reaction to a given taste has been developed during evolution and is well adapted to conditions that may occur with high probability during the lifetime of an organism. However, in addition to this automatic reaction, animals can learn and remember tastes, together with their positive or negative values, with high precision and in light of minimal experience. This ability of mammalians to learn and remember tastes has been studied extensively in rodents through application of reasonably simple and well defined behavioral paradigms. The learning process follows a temporal continuum similar to those of other memories: acquisition, consolidation, retrieval, relearning, and reconsolidation. Moreover, inhibiting protein synthesis in the gustatory cortex (GC) specifically affects the consolidation phase of taste memory, i.e., the transformation of short- to long-term memory, in keeping with the general biochemical definition of memory consolidation. This review aims to present a general background of taste learning, and to focus on recent findings regarding the molecular mechanisms underlying taste–memory consolidation in the GC. Specifically, the roles of neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, immediate early genes, and translation regulation are addressed.

The endocannabinoid system in anxiety, fear memory and habituation

Evidence for the involvement of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in anxiety and fear has been accumulated, providing leads for novel therapeutic approaches. In anxiety, a bidirectional influence of the ECS has been reported, whereby anxiolytic and anxiogenic responses have been obtained after both increases and decreases of the endocannabinoid tone. The recently developed genetic tools have revealed different but complementary roles for the cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor on GABAergic and glutamatergic neuronal populations. This dual functionality, together with the plasticity of CB1 receptor expression, particularly on GABAergic neurons, as induced by stressful and rewarding experiences, gives the ECS a unique regulatory capacity for maintaining emotional homeostasis. However, the promiscuity of the endogenous ligands of the CB1 receptor complicates the interpretation of experimental data concerning ECS and anxiety. In fear memory paradigms, the ECS is mostly involved in the two opposing processes of reconsolidation and extinction of the fear memory. Whereas ECS activation deteriorates reconsolidation, proper extinction depends on intact CB1 receptor signalling. Thus, both for anxiety and fear memory processing, endocannabinoid signalling may ensure an appropriate reaction to stressful events. Therefore, the ECS can be considered as a regulatory buffer system for emotional responses.

ERK pathway activation bidirectionally affects visual recognition memory and synaptic plasticity in the perirhinal cortex

ERK 1,2 pathway mediates experience-dependent gene transcription in neurons and several studies have identified its pivotal role in experience-dependent synaptic plasticity and in forms of long term memory involving hippocampus, amygdala, or striatum. The perirhinal cortex (PRHC) plays an essential role in familiarity-based object recognition memory. It is still unknown whether ERK activation in PRHC is necessary for recognition memory consolidation. Most important, it is unknown whether by modulating the gain of the ERK pathway it is possible to bidirectionally affect visual recognition memory and PRHC synaptic plasticity. We have first pharmacologically blocked ERK activation in the PRHC of adult mice and found that this was sufficient to impair long term recognition memory in a familiarity-based task, the object recognition task (ORT). We have then tested performance in the ORT in Ras-GRF1 knock-out (KO) mice, which exhibit a reduced activation of ERK by neuronal activity, and in ERK1 KO mice, which have an increased activation of ERK2 and exhibit enhanced striatal plasticity and striatal mediated memory. We found that Ras-GRF1 KO mice have normal short term memory but display a long term memory deficit; memory reconsolidation is also impaired. On the contrary, ERK1 KO mice exhibit a better performance than WT mice at 72 h retention interval, suggesting a longer lasting recognition memory. In parallel with behavioral data, LTD was strongly reduced and LTP was significantly smaller in PRHC slices from Ras-GRF1 KO than in WT mice while enhanced LTP and LTD were found in PRHC slices from ERK1 KO mice.