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Bencze D, Marián M, Szőllősi Á, Pajkossy P, Nemecz Z, Keresztes A, Hermann P, Vidnyánszky Z, Racsmány M. Contribution of the lateral occipital and parahippocampal cortices to pattern separation of objects and contexts. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae295. [PMID: 39077920 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae295] [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: 01/16/2024] [Revised: 06/23/2024] [Indexed: 07/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Contextual features are integral to episodic memories; yet, we know little about context effects on pattern separation, a hippocampal function promoting orthogonalization of overlapping memory representations. Recent studies suggested that various extrahippocampal brain regions support pattern separation; however, the specific role of the parahippocampal cortex-a region involved in context representation-in pattern separation has not yet been studied. Here, we investigated the contribution of the parahippocampal cortex (specifically, the parahippocampal place area) to context reinstatement effects on mnemonic discrimination, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. During scanning, participants saw object images on unique context scenes, followed by a recognition task involving the repetitions of encoded objects or visually similar lures on either their original context or a lure context. Context reinstatement at retrieval improved item recognition but hindered mnemonic discrimination. Crucially, our region of interest analyses of the parahippocampal place area and an object-selective visual area, the lateral occipital cortex indicated that while during successful mnemonic decisions parahippocampal place area activity decreased for old contexts compared to lure contexts irrespective of object novelty, lateral occipital cortex activity differentiated between old and lure objects exclusively. These results imply that pattern separation of contextual and item-specific memory features may be differentially aided by scene and object-selective cortical areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorottya Bencze
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - Miklós Marián
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest 1117, Hungary
- Institute of Psychology, University of Szeged, Egyetem utca 2., Szeged 6722, Hungary
| | - Ágnes Szőllősi
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest 1117, Hungary
- Cognitive Medicine Research Group, Competence Centre for Neurocybernetics of the Life Sciences Cluster of the Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation of the University of Szeged, University of Szeged, Dugonics tér 13., Szeged 6720, Hungary
| | - Péter Pajkossy
- Cognitive Medicine Research Group, Competence Centre for Neurocybernetics of the Life Sciences Cluster of the Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation of the University of Szeged, University of Szeged, Dugonics tér 13., Szeged 6720, Hungary
- Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Egry József utca 1., Budapest 1111, Hungary
| | - Zsuzsanna Nemecz
- Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Izabella utca 46., Budapest 1064, Hungary
- Brain Imaging Centre, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest 1117, Hungary
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Izabella utca. 46., Budapest 1064, Hungary
| | - Attila Keresztes
- Brain Imaging Centre, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest 1117, Hungary
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Izabella utca. 46., Budapest 1064, Hungary
| | - Petra Hermann
- Brain Imaging Centre, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - Zoltán Vidnyánszky
- Brain Imaging Centre, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - Mihály Racsmány
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest 1117, Hungary
- Institute of Psychology, University of Szeged, Egyetem utca 2., Szeged 6722, Hungary
- Cognitive Medicine Research Group, Competence Centre for Neurocybernetics of the Life Sciences Cluster of the Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation of the University of Szeged, University of Szeged, Dugonics tér 13., Szeged 6720, Hungary
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Grupe DW, Barnes AL, Gresham L, Kirvin-Quamme A, Nord E, Alexander AL, Abercrombie HC, Schaefer SM, Davidson RJ. Perceived stress associations with hippocampal-dependent behavior and hippocampal subfield volume. Neurobiol Stress 2022; 19:100469. [PMID: 35859546 PMCID: PMC9289864 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2022.100469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Individual differences in stress appraisals influence trajectories of risk and resilience following exposure to chronic and acute stressors. Smaller hippocampal volume may contribute to elevated stress appraisals via deficient pattern separation, a process depending on dentate gyrus (DG)/CA3 hippocampal subfields. Here, we investigated links between perceived stress, DG/CA3 volume, and behavioral pattern separation to test hypothesized mechanisms underlying stress-related psychopathology. Methods We collected the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and ratings of subjective stress reactivity during the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) from 71 adult community participants. We obtained high-resolution T2 MRI scans and used Automatic Segmentation of Hippocampal Subfields to estimate DG/CA3 volume in 56 of these participants. Participants completed the mnemonic similarity task, which provides a behavioral index of pattern separation. Analyses investigated associations between perceived stress, DG/CA3 volume, and behavioral pattern separation, controlling for age, gender, hemisphere, and intracranial volume. Results Greater PSS scores and TSST subjective stress reactivity were each independently related to poorer behavioral pattern separation, together accounting for 15% of variance in behavioral performance in a simultaneous regression. Contrary to hypotheses, DG/CA3 volume was not associated with either stress measure, although exploratory analyses suggested a link between hippocampal volume asymmetry and PSS scores. Conclusions We observed novel associations between laboratory and questionnaire measures of perceived stress and a behavioral assay of pattern separation. Additional work is needed to clarify the involvement of the hippocampus in this stress-behavior relationship and determine the relevance of behavioral pattern separation for stress-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel W Grupe
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Healthy Minds, 625 W Washington Ave, Madison, WI, 53703, USA.,University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, 1500 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Alexandra L Barnes
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Healthy Minds, 625 W Washington Ave, Madison, WI, 53703, USA
| | - Lauren Gresham
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Healthy Minds, 625 W Washington Ave, Madison, WI, 53703, USA
| | - Andrew Kirvin-Quamme
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Healthy Minds, 625 W Washington Ave, Madison, WI, 53703, USA
| | - Elizabeth Nord
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Healthy Minds, 625 W Washington Ave, Madison, WI, 53703, USA
| | - Andrew L Alexander
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, 1500 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53705, USA.,University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Medical Physics, 1111 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53705, USA.,University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Psychiatry, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI, 53719, USA
| | - Heather C Abercrombie
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Healthy Minds, 625 W Washington Ave, Madison, WI, 53703, USA.,University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, 1500 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Stacey M Schaefer
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Healthy Minds, 625 W Washington Ave, Madison, WI, 53703, USA.,University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, 1500 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
| | - Richard J Davidson
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Healthy Minds, 625 W Washington Ave, Madison, WI, 53703, USA.,University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, 1500 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53705, USA.,University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Psychiatry, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI, 53719, USA.,University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Psychology, 1202 W Johnson St, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
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Davidson P, Jönsson P, Johansson M. The association between mnemonic discrimination ability and differential fear learning. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2022; 75:101715. [PMID: 34959001 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2021.101715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 12/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES It is important to be able to learn which stimuli in our surroundings predict aversive outcomes. To maintain emotional well-being, it is similarly important to be able to learn which stimuli predict safety. The ability to discriminate between stimuli that predict danger and safety has been suggested to not only have an emotional component, but also a cognitive one. One such candidate mechanism is mnemonic discrimination (MD), the ability to differentiate between two memories that are similar but not identical. In the present study, we wanted to examine if MD performance helps to explain inter-individual differences in the ability to acquire a differentiated fear response during fear conditioning. METHODS Participants performed a task assessing MD ability, and then underwent a fear conditioning procedure. Fear responses were measured using skin conductance responses (SCRs). RESULTS Results revealed no support for MD ability being associated with to which degree a differentiated fear response was acquired, or with the time needed to acquire such a response. LIMITATIONS Our only outcome measurement was SCRs. Future studies need to include fear ratings, expectancy ratings and neural responses. Future studies also need to examine this using a stimulus material where the conditioned stimulus and the safety stimulus are more difficult to distinguish from each other. CONCLUSIONS If MD ability has a role in inhibiting overgeneralization of fear learning, this does not seem to be driven by MD already during the initial learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Per Davidson
- Department of Psychology, Lund University, Box 213, 221 00, Lund, Sweden; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, CNY 149 13th Street, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, CNY 149 13th Street, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA.
| | - Peter Jönsson
- School of Education and Environment, Centre for Psychology, Kristianstad University, Elmetorpsvägen 15, 298 88, Kristianstad, Sweden
| | - Mikael Johansson
- Department of Psychology, Lund University, Box 213, 221 00, Lund, Sweden
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Westacott LJ, Haan N, Evison C, Marei O, Hall J, Hughes TR, Zaben M, Morgan BP, Humby T, Wilkinson LS, Gray WP. Dissociable effects of complement C3 and C3aR on survival and morphology of adult born hippocampal neurons, pattern separation, and cognitive flexibility in male mice. Brain Behav Immun 2021; 98:136-150. [PMID: 34403734 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2021.08.215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) is a form of ongoing plasticity in the brain that supports specific aspects of cognition. Disruptions in AHN have been observed in neuropsychiatric conditions presenting with inflammatory components and are associated with impairments in cognition and mood. Recent evidence highlights important roles of the complement system in synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis during neurodevelopment and in acute learning and memory processes. In this work we investigated the impact of the complement C3/C3aR pathway on AHN and its functional implications for AHN-related behaviours. In C3-/- mice, we found increased numbers and accelerated migration of adult born granule cells, indicating that absence of C3 leads to abnormal survival and distribution of adult born neurons. Loss of either C3 or C3aR affected the morphology of immature neurons, reducing morphological complexity, though these effects were more pronounced in the absence of C3aR. We assessed functional impacts of the cellular phenotypes in an operant spatial discrimination task that assayed AHN sensitive behaviours. Again, we observed differences in the effects of manipulating C3 or C3aR, in that whilst C3aR-/- mice showed evidence of enhanced pattern separation abilities, C3-/- mice instead demonstrated impaired behavioural flexibility. Our findings show that C3 and C3aR manipulation have distinct effects on AHN that impact at different stages in the development and maturation of newly born neurons, and that the dissociable cellular phenotypes are associated with specific alterations in AHN-related behaviours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura J Westacott
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetic and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK; Hodge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Niels Haan
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetic and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK; Hodge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Claudia Evison
- National Centre for Mental Health, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Omar Marei
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetic and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Jeremy Hall
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetic and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK; Hodge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Timothy R Hughes
- Complement Biology Group, Systems Immunity Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, CF14 4XW Cardiff, UK
| | - Malik Zaben
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetic and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK; Brain Repair and Intracranial Neurotherapeutics (BRAIN), Biomedical Research Unit, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - B Paul Morgan
- Complement Biology Group, Systems Immunity Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, CF14 4XW Cardiff, UK; Hodge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Trevor Humby
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetic and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK; Behavioural Genetics Group, Schools of Psychology and Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK; Hodge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Lawrence S Wilkinson
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetic and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK; Behavioural Genetics Group, Schools of Psychology and Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK; Hodge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - William P Gray
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetic and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK; Hodge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK; Brain Repair and Intracranial Neurotherapeutics (BRAIN), Biomedical Research Unit, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, CF24 4HQ, UK.
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Mnemonic discrimination is associated with individual differences in anxiety vulnerability. Behav Brain Res 2020; 401:113056. [PMID: 33290756 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.113056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2020] [Revised: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Increased generalization between fear-inducing stimuli (e.g., looking over the edge of a tall building) and perceptually-similar neutral stimuli (e.g., an aerial photograph) is observed in all subtypes of anxiety disorders, leading to avoidance behaviors that feed forward from the feared stimulus to other, seemingly unrelated stimuli. However, recent research suggests a much more nuanced relationship between generalization, discrimination, and behavior. This study seeks to extend current understanding by using a mnemonic discrimination task to explore the relationship between risk for anxiety and differences in mnemonic discrimination abilities. Participants self-reported trait anxiety and behavioral inhibition (a temperamental construct linked to risk for anxiety), and also completed a memory task. After incidental encoding of color photographs of neutral everyday objects, participants performed a surprise recognition task, where they categorized each test image as "old" (identical to a previously viewed image), "similar" (new but perceptually-similar to a studied image, with half the images being highly similar and the other half being less similar to the studied images), or "new" (new and perceptually-dissimilar to studied images). We found that those with high behavioral inhibition are more successful at discriminating between previously seen "old" items from highly similar items. In contrast, those with high trait anxiousness are less successful at the same kind of discrimination. Interestingly, these relationships were not apparent in low similarity items. Our data suggest that behavioral inhibition and trait anxiety may be associated with unique aspects of individual differences in mnemonic discrimination abilities.
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