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Kopaeva L, Yakimov A, Urien L, Bauer EP. Chemogenetic activation of the ventral subiculum-BNST pathway reduces context fear expression. Learn Mem 2023; 30:164-168. [PMID: 37620150 PMCID: PMC10519403 DOI: 10.1101/lm.053797.123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
An inability to reduce fear in nonthreatening environments characterizes many anxiety disorders. The pathway from the ventral subiculum (vSUB) to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is more active in safe contexts than in aversive ones, as indexed by FOS expression. Here, we used chemogenetic techniques to specifically activate the vSUB-BNST pathway during both context and cued fear expression by expressing a Cre-dependent hM3D(Gq) receptor in BNST-projecting vSUB neurons. Activation of the vSUB-BNST pathway reduced context but not cued fear expression. These data suggest that the vSUB-BNST pathway contributes to behavioral responses to nonaversive contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leeza Kopaeva
- Department of Biology, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
| | - Alexandrina Yakimov
- Department of Biology, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
| | - Louise Urien
- Department of Biology, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
| | - Elizabeth P Bauer
- Department of Biology, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
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Tryon SC, Sakamoto IM, Kaigler KF, Gee G, Turner J, Bartley K, Fadel JR, Wilson MA. ChAT::Cre transgenic rats show sex-dependent altered fear behaviors, ultrasonic vocalizations and cholinergic marker expression. GENES, BRAIN, AND BEHAVIOR 2023; 22:e12837. [PMID: 36636833 PMCID: PMC9994175 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The cholinergic system is a critical regulator of Pavlovian fear learning and extinction. As such, we have begun investigating the cholinergic system's involvement in individual differences in cued fear extinction using a transgenic ChAT::Cre rat model. The current study extends behavioral phenotyping of a transgenic ChAT::Cre rat line by examining both freezing behavior and ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) during a Pavlovian cued fear learning and extinction paradigm. Freezing, 22 kHz USVs, and 50 kHz USVs were compared between male and female transgenic ChAT::Cre+ rats and their wildtype (Cre-) littermates during fear learning, contextual and cue-conditioned fear recall, cued fear extinction, and generalization to a novel tone. During contextual and cued fear recall ChAT::Cre+ rats froze slightly more than their Cre- littermates, and displayed significant sex differences in contextual and cue-conditioned freezing, 22 kHz USVs, and 50 kHz USVs. Females showed more freezing than males in fear recall trials, but fewer 22 kHz distress calls during fear learning and recall. Females also produced more 50 kHz USVs during exposure to the testing chambers prior to tone (or shock) presentation compared with males, but this effect was blunted in ChAT::Cre+ females. Corroborating previous studies, ChAT::Cre+ transgenic rats overexpressed vesicular acetylcholine transporter immunolabeling in basal forebrain, striatum, basolateral amygdala, and hippocampus, but had similar levels of acetylcholinesterase and numbers of ChAT+ neurons as Cre- rats. This study suggests that variance in behavior between ChAT::Cre+ and wildtype rats is sex dependent and advances theories that distinct neural circuits and processes regulate sexually divergent fear responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah C. Tryon
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & NeuroscienceUniversity of South Carolina School of MedicineColumbiaSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Iris M. Sakamoto
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & NeuroscienceUniversity of South Carolina School of MedicineColumbiaSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Kris F. Kaigler
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & NeuroscienceUniversity of South Carolina School of MedicineColumbiaSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Gabriella Gee
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & NeuroscienceUniversity of South Carolina School of MedicineColumbiaSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Jarrett Turner
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & NeuroscienceUniversity of South Carolina School of MedicineColumbiaSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Katherine Bartley
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & NeuroscienceUniversity of South Carolina School of MedicineColumbiaSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Jim R. Fadel
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & NeuroscienceUniversity of South Carolina School of MedicineColumbiaSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Marlene A. Wilson
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & NeuroscienceUniversity of South Carolina School of MedicineColumbiaSouth CarolinaUSA
- Columbia VA Health Care SystemColumbiaSouth CarolinaUSA
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Zhu M, Perkins MG, Lennertz R, Abdulzahir A, Pearce RA. Dose-dependent suppression of hippocampal contextual memory formation, place cells, and spatial engrams by the NMDAR antagonist (R)-CPP. Neuropharmacology 2022; 218:109215. [PMID: 35977628 PMCID: PMC9673467 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2022.109215] [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: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
We recently reported that the competitive NMDAR antagonist (R,S)-3-(2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP) does not suppress NMDAR-mediated field EPSPs (fEPSPNMDA) or long-term potentiation (LTP) in vitro at concentrations that block contextual conditioning in vivo. Here we tested one possible explanation for the mismatch - that the hippocampus is relatively resistant to CPP compared to other brain structures engaged in contextual fear conditioning. Using the context pre-exposure facilitation effect (CPFE) paradigm to separate the hippocampal and extra-hippocampal components of contextual learning, we found that the active enantiomer (R)-CPP suppressed the hippocampal component with an IC50 of 3.1 mg/kg, a dose that produces brain concentrations below those required to block fEPSPNMDA or LTP. Moreover, using in-vivo calcium imaging of place cells and spatial engrams to directly assess hippocampal spatial coding, we found that (R)-CPP dose-dependently reduced the development of place cells and interfered with the formation of stable spatial engrams when it was administered prior to exposing mice to a novel context. Both effects occurred at doses that interfered with freezing to context in CPFE experiments. We conclude that (R)-CPP blocks memory formation by interfering with hippocampal function, but that it does so by modulating NMDARs at sites that are not engaged in vitro in the same manner that they are in vivo - perhaps through interneuron circuits that do not contribute to fEPSPs and are not required to elicit LTP using standard induction protocols in vitro, but are essential for successful mnemonic function in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengwen Zhu
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA.
| | - Mark G Perkins
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA.
| | - Richard Lennertz
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA.
| | - Alifayaz Abdulzahir
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA.
| | - Robert A Pearce
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA.
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Grella SL, Fortin AH, Ruesch E, Bladon JH, Reynolds LF, Gross A, Shpokayte M, Cincotta C, Zaki Y, Ramirez S. Reactivating hippocampal-mediated memories during reconsolidation to disrupt fear. Nat Commun 2022; 13:4733. [PMID: 36096993 PMCID: PMC9468169 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32246-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Memories are stored in the brain as cellular ensembles activated during learning and reactivated during retrieval. Using the Tet-tag system in mice, we label dorsal dentate gyrus neurons activated by positive, neutral or negative experiences with channelrhodopsin-2. Following fear-conditioning, these cells are artificially reactivated during fear memory recall. Optical stimulation of a competing positive memory is sufficient to update the memory during reconsolidation, thereby reducing conditioned fear acutely and enduringly. Moreover, mice demonstrate operant responding for reactivation of a positive memory, confirming its rewarding properties. These results show that interference from a rewarding experience can counteract negative affective states. While memory-updating, induced by memory reactivation, involves a relatively small set of neurons, we also find that activating a large population of randomly labeled dorsal dentate gyrus neurons is effective in promoting reconsolidation. Importantly, memory-updating is specific to the fear memory. These findings implicate the dorsal dentate gyrus as a potential therapeutic node for modulating memories to suppress fear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie L Grella
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60660, USA
| | - Amanda H Fortin
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Evan Ruesch
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - John H Bladon
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
- Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, 02453, USA
| | - Leanna F Reynolds
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Abby Gross
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Monika Shpokayte
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Christine Cincotta
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Yosif Zaki
- Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Steve Ramirez
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
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Trott JM, Krasne FB, Fanselow MS. Sex differences in contextual fear learning and generalization: a behavioral and computational analysis of hippocampal functioning. Learn Mem 2022; 29:283-296. [PMID: 36206390 PMCID: PMC9488020 DOI: 10.1101/lm.053515.121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
There are sex differences in anxiety disorders with regard to occurrence and severity of episodes such that females tend to experience more frequent and more severe episodes. Contextual fear learning and generalization are especially relevant to anxiety disorders, which are often defined by expressing fear and/or anxiety in safe contexts. In contextual fear conditioning, a representation of the context must first be created, and then that representation must be paired with an aversive consequence. With some variation, the experiments presented here use a 3-d procedure in which day 1 consists of pre-exposure to the to-be-shocked context, day 2 consists of a single context-shock pairing after some placement-to-shock interval (PSI), and day 3 consists of testing in either the same or a novel context. With shorter pre-exposure periods, male rats showed more contextual fear, consistent with previous literature; however, after longer pre-exposure periods, female rats showed greater contextual fear. Additionally, while pre-exposure and PSI are both periods of time prior to the shock, it was found that they were not equivalent to each other. Animals with 120 sec of pre-exposure and a 30-sec PSI show a differential level and time course of fear expression than animals who received no pre-exposure and a 150-sec PSI, and this further depended on sex of the rat. Additionally, an experiment comparing recently versus remotely acquired contextual fear was run. Males were again shown to have greater contextual fear at both time points, and this contextual fear incubated/increased over time in males but not females. To facilitate identification of what processes caused sex differences, we used BaconX, a conceptual and computational model of hippocampal contextual learning. Computational simulations using this model predicted many of our key findings. Furthermore, these simulations suggest potential mechanisms with regard to hippocampal computation; namely, an increased feature sampling rate in males, which may account for the sex differences presented here and in prior literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy M Trott
- Staglin Center for Brain and Behavioral Health, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
| | - Franklin B Krasne
- Staglin Center for Brain and Behavioral Health, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
| | - Michael S Fanselow
- Staglin Center for Brain and Behavioral Health, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
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Todd TP, Leaton RN, Helmstetter FJ. Introduction to the Special Issue to Commemorate the Scientific Legacy of David J. Bucci. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2022; 190:107612. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2022.107612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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