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Zhang K, Shen D, Huang S, Iqbal J, Huang G, Si J, Xue Y, Yang JL. The sexually divergent cFos activation map of fear extinction. Heliyon 2024; 10:e23748. [PMID: 38205315 PMCID: PMC10777019 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23748] [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: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Objective Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Exposure therapy is a common treatment for PTSD, but it has varying levels of efficacy depending on sex. In this study, we aimed to compare the sexual dimorphism in brain activation during the extinction of fear conditioning in male and female rats by detecting the c-fos levels in the whole brain. Methods Thirty-two rats (Male: n = 16; Female: n = 16) were randomly separated into the extinction group as well as the non-extinction group, and fear conditioning was followed by extinction and non-extinction, respectively. Subsequently, brain sections from the sacrificed animal were performed immunofluorescence and the collected data were analyzed by repeated two-way ANOVAs as well as Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Results Our findings showed that most brain areas activated during extinction were similar in both male and female rats, except for the reuniens thalamic nucleus and ventral hippocampi. Furthermore, we found differences in the correlation between c-fos activation levels and freezing behavior during extinction between male and female rats. Specifically, in male rats, c-fos activation in the anterior cingulate cortex was negatively correlated with the freezing level, while c-fos activation in the retrosplenial granular cortex was positively correlated with the freezing level; but in female rats did not exhibit any correlation between c-fos activation and freezing level. Finally, the functional connectivity analysis revealed differences in the neural networks involved in extinction learning between male and female rats. In male rats, the infralimbic cortex and insular cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and retrosplenial granular cortex, and dorsal dentate gyrus and dCA3 were strongly correlated after extinction. In female rats, prelimbic cortex and basolateral amygdala, insular cortex and dCA3, and anterior cingulate cortex and dCA1 were significantly correlated. Conclusion These results suggest divergent neural networks involved in extinction learning in male and female rats and provide a clue for improving the clinical treatment of exposure therapy based on the sexual difference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Zhang
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
- Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
| | - Dan Shen
- Xinxiang Medical University, 601 Jinsui Dadao, Hongqi District, Xinxiang City, Henan Province, China
| | - Shihao Huang
- National Institute on Drug Dependence and Beijing Key Laboratory on Drug Dependence Research, Peking University, 100191, Beijing, China
| | - Javed Iqbal
- Shenzhen Kangning Hospital & Shenzhen Mental Health Center, No. 77 Zhenbi Road, Shenzhen, 518118, China
- Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Gengdi Huang
- Shenzhen Kangning Hospital & Shenzhen Mental Health Center, No. 77 Zhenbi Road, Shenzhen, 518118, China
- Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Jijian Si
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Yanxue Xue
- National Institute on Drug Dependence and Beijing Key Laboratory on Drug Dependence Research, Peking University, 100191, Beijing, China
- Xinxiang Medical University, 601 Jinsui Dadao, Hongqi District, Xinxiang City, Henan Province, China
| | - Jian-Li Yang
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
- Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
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2
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Cintado MÁ, González G, Cárcel L, De la Casa LG. Unconditioned and conditioned anxiolytic effects of Sodium Valproate on flavor neophobia and fear conditioning. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0279511. [PMID: 37418453 PMCID: PMC10328238 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279511] [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: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/09/2023] Open
Abstract
In three experiments with rats, we analyzed the potential anxiolytic effects of sodium valproate, an anticonvulsant drug that has shown additional pharmacodynamic effects in animal models, including anxiolytic action. Since previous results have revealed that injecting valproate before allowing animals to consume a novel flavor solution resulted in an attenuation of neophobia, we predicted a similar effect when the novel flavor is presented on a drug-free trial in the presence of a context previously associated with the drug. In line with this hypothesis, in our first experiment we observed a reduction in neophobia to a novel flavor for those animals tested in the presence of the context associated with Sodium Valproate. However, a control group that received the drug before being allowed access to the novel flavor showed a significant reduction in consumption. Experiment 2 revealed that the unconditioned effects of the drug include a deleterious effect on the animals' locomotor activity that probably interferes with drinking behavior. Finally, in a third experiment, we directly tested the potential anxiolytic properties of sodium valproate by injecting the drug before implementing a fear conditioning procedure. These findings are explained in terms of the unconditioned anxiolytic action of the drug and the formation of an association between the context and the effects of the drug that evokes a conditioned response reminiscent of such anxiolytic effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Ángeles Cintado
- Laboratory of Animal Behavior & Neuroscience, Dpt. Experimental Psychology, Seville University, Seville, Spain
| | | | - Lucía Cárcel
- Laboratory of Animal Behavior & Neuroscience, Dpt. Experimental Psychology, Seville University, Seville, Spain
| | - Luis Gonzalo De la Casa
- Laboratory of Animal Behavior & Neuroscience, Dpt. Experimental Psychology, Seville University, Seville, Spain
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3
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Nguyen R, Koukoutselos K, Forro T, Ciocchi S. Fear extinction relies on ventral hippocampal safety codes shaped by the amygdala. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadg4881. [PMID: 37256958 PMCID: PMC10413664 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg4881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Extinction memory retrieval is influenced by spatial contextual information that determines responding to conditioned stimuli (CS). However, it is poorly understood whether contextual representations are imbued with emotional values to support memory selection. Here, we performed activity-dependent engram tagging and in vivo single-unit electrophysiological recordings from the ventral hippocampus (vH) while optogenetically manipulating basolateral amygdala (BLA) inputs during the formation of cued fear extinction memory. During fear extinction when CS acquire safety properties, we found that CS-related activity in the vH reactivated during sleep consolidation and was strengthened upon memory retrieval. Moreover, fear extinction memory was facilitated when the extinction context exhibited precise coding of its affective zones. Last, these activity patterns along with the retrieval of the fear extinction memory were dependent on glutamatergic transmission from the BLA during extinction learning. Thus, fear extinction memory relies on the formation of contextual and stimulus safety representations in the vH instructed by the BLA.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Thomas Forro
- Laboratory of Systems Neuroscience, Department of Physiology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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4
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Allen MT. Weaker situations: Uncertainty reveals individual differences in learning: Implications for PTSD. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2023:10.3758/s13415-023-01077-5. [PMID: 36944865 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-023-01077-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023]
Abstract
Few individuals who experience trauma develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, the identification of individual differences that signal increased risk for PTSD is important. Lissek et al. (2006) proposed using a weak rather than a strong situation to identify individual differences. A weak situation involves less-salient cues as well as some degree of uncertainty, which reveal individual differences. A strong situation involves salient cues with little uncertainty, which produce consistently strong responses. Results from fear conditioning studies that support this hypothesis are discussed briefly. This review focuses on recent findings from three learning tasks: classical eyeblink conditioning, avoidance learning, and a computer-based task. These tasks are interpreted as weaker learning situations in that they involve some degree of uncertainty. Individual differences in learning based on behavioral inhibition, which is a risk factor for PTSD, are explored. Specifically, behaviorally inhibited individuals and rodents (i.e., Wistar Kyoto rats), as well as individuals expressing PTSD symptoms, exhibit enhanced eyeblink conditioning. Behaviorally inhibited rodents also demonstrate enhanced avoidance responding (i.e., lever pressing). Both enhanced eyeblink conditioning and avoidance are most evident with schedules of partial reinforcement. Behaviorally inhibited individuals also performed better on reward and punishment trials than noninhibited controls in a probabilistic category learning task. Overall, the use of weaker situations with uncertain relationships may be more ecologically valid than learning tasks in which the aversive event occurs on every trial and may provide more sensitivity for identifying individual differences in learning for those at risk for, or expressing, PTSD symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Todd Allen
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, USA.
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5
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Senesi M, Lewis V, Adlard PA, Finkelstein DI, Kim JH, Collins SJ. Tailored behavioural tests reveal early and progressive cognitive deficits in M1000 prion disease. Neurobiol Dis 2023; 180:106075. [PMID: 36914075 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106075] [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: 01/02/2023] [Revised: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are pathogenically linked to the normal cellular prion protein (PrPC) misfolding into abnormal conformers (PrPSc), with PrPSc accumulation underpinning both transmission and neurotoxicity. Despite achieving this canonical understanding, however fundamental questions remain incompletely resolved, including the level of pathophysiological overlap between neurotoxic and transmitting species of PrPSc and the temporal profiles of their propagation. To further investigate the likely time of occurrence of significant levels of neurotoxic species during prion disease development, the well characterised in vivo M1000 murine model was employed. Following intracerebral inoculation, detailed serial cognitive and ethological testing at specified time points suggested subtle transition to early symptomatic disease from ∼50% of the overall disease course. In addition to observing a chronological order for impaired behaviours, different behavioural tests also showed distinctive profiles of evolving cognitive impairments with the Barnes maze demonstrating a relatively simple linear worsening of spatial learning and memory over an extended period while in contrast a conditioned fear memory paradigm previously untested in murine prion disease demonstrated more complex alterations during disease progression. These observations support the likely production of neurotoxic PrPSc from at least just prior to the mid-point of murine M1000 prion disease and illustrate the likely need to tailor the types of behavioural testing across the time course of disease progression for optimal detection of cognitive deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Senesi
- Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Victoria Lewis
- Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Paul A Adlard
- Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - David I Finkelstein
- Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Jee Hyun Kim
- Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, Australia; The Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
| | - Steven J Collins
- Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
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6
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Newsome P, Ruiz SG, Gold AL, Pine DS, Abend R. Fear-potentiated startle reveals diminished threat extinction in pathological anxiety. Int J Psychophysiol 2023; 183:81-91. [PMID: 36442665 PMCID: PMC9812922 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Revised: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Major theories propose that perturbed threat learning is central to pathological anxiety, but empirical support is inconsistent. Failures to detect associations with anxiety may reflect limitations in quantifying conditioned responses to anticipated threat, and hinder translation of theory into empirical work. In prior work, we could not detect threat-specific anxiety effects on states of conditioned threat using psychophysiology in a large sample of patients and healthy comparisons. Here, we examine the utility of an alternative fear potentiated startle (FPS) scoring in revealing associations between anxiety and threat conditioning and extinction in this dataset. Secondary analyses further explored associations among conditioned threat responses, subcortical morphometry, and treatment outcomes. METHODS Youths and adults with anxiety disorders and healthy comparisons (n = 306; 178 female participants; 8-50 years) previously completed a well-validated differential threat learning paradigm. FPS and skin conductance response (SCR) quantified psychophysiological responses during threat conditioning and extinction. In this report, we examined normalizing raw FPS scores to intertrial intervals (ITI) to address challenges in more common approaches to FPS scoring which could mask group effects. Secondary analyses examined associations between FPS and subcortical morphometry and with response to exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy in a subsample of patients. RESULTS Patients and comparisons showed comparable differential threat conditioning using FPS and SCR. While SCR suggested comparable extinction between groups, FPS revealed stronger retention of threat contingency during extinction in individuals with anxiety disorders. Extinction indexed with FPS was not associated with age, morphometry, or anxiety treatment outcome. CONCLUSION ITI-normalized FPS may have utility in detecting difficulties in extinguishing conditioned threat responses in anxiety. These findings provide support for extinction theories of anxiety and encourage continued research on aberrant extinction in pathological anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Newsome
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sonia G Ruiz
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Andrea L Gold
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Rany Abend
- Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Reichman University, Israel.
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7
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Jiang L, Dong R, Xu M, Liu Y, Xu J, Ma Z, Xia T, Gu X. Inhibition of the integrated stress response reverses oxidative stress damage-induced postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Front Cell Neurosci 2022; 16:992869. [PMID: 36212697 PMCID: PMC9534309 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2022.992869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a common complication following anesthesia and surgery that might lead to a decline in learning and memory. Oxidative stress damage is one of the pathogenic mechanisms underlying POCD. Recent studies had shown that the integrated stress response (ISR) is closely related to oxidative stress. The core response of the ISR is phosphorylation of eIF2α. Various cellular stress stimuli trigger activation of eIF2α kinases, thus causing phosphorylation of eIF2α. ISR is associated with many neurodegenerative diseases; however, the relationship between POCD and ISR has not been defined. In the present study, the tibias in 4-month-old male C57BL/6 mice were fractured under isoflurane anesthesia to establish the POCD animal model. Cognitive function was assessed by fear conditioning tests and the Y-maze from 3 to 14 days post-surgery. Western blot was used to determine the levels of PeIF2α, eIF2α, ATF4, GADD34, CHOP, BDNF, proBDNF, and p-NR2B expression. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured to determine oxidative stress in hippocampal tissues. After tibial fracture surgery in mice, the hippocampus had increased levels of PeIF2α, ATF4, GADD34, and CHOP protein, ROS-positive cells, and average fluorescence intensity, SOD activity was decreased, and the MDA level was increased. The ISR inhibitor, ISRIB, reduced the levels of PeIF2α, ATF4, GADD34, and CHOP protein, and alleviated oxidative stress in the hippocampus of POCD mice. Moreover, ISRIB ameliorated cognitive dysfunction in POCD mice. Our findings suggested that targeting ISR may represent an effective approach to combat POCD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linhao Jiang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Rui Dong
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Minhui Xu
- Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yujia Liu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jiyan Xu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Zhengliang Ma
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Xiaoping Gu Tianjiao Xia Zhengliang Ma
| | - Tianjiao Xia
- Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Xiaoping Gu Tianjiao Xia Zhengliang Ma
| | - Xiaoping Gu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Xiaoping Gu Tianjiao Xia Zhengliang Ma
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8
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Weis CN, Webb EK, deRoon-Cassini TA, Larson CL. Emotion Dysregulation Following Trauma: Shared Neurocircuitry of Traumatic Brain Injury and Trauma-Related Psychiatric Disorders. Biol Psychiatry 2022; 91:470-477. [PMID: 34561028 PMCID: PMC8801541 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.07.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Revised: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The psychological trauma associated with events resulting in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important and frequently overlooked factor that may impede brain recovery and worsen mental health following TBI. Indeed, individuals with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and TBI have significantly poorer clinical outcomes than individuals with a sole diagnosis. Emotion dysregulation is a common factor leading to poor cognitive and affective outcomes following TBI. Here, we synthesize how acute postinjury molecular processes stemming from either physical or emotional trauma may adversely impact circuitry subserving emotion regulation and ultimately yield long-term system-level functional and structural changes that are common to TBI and PTSD. In the immediate aftermath of traumatic injury, glucocorticoids stimulate excess glutamatergic activity, particularly in prefrontal cortex-subcortical circuitry implicated in emotion regulation. In human neuroimaging work, assessing this same circuitry well after the acute injury, TBI and PTSD show similar impacts on prefrontal and subcortical connectivity and activation. These neural profiles indicate that emotion regulation may be a useful target for treatment and early intervention to prevent the adverse sequelae of TBI. Ultimately, the success of future TBI and PTSD early interventions depends on the fields' ability to address both the physical and emotional impact of physical injury.
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9
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Transcriptome and chromatin alterations in social fear indicate association of MEG3 with successful extinction of fear. Mol Psychiatry 2022; 27:4064-4076. [PMID: 35338311 PMCID: PMC9718683 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01481-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Revised: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Social anxiety disorder is characterized by a persistent fear and avoidance of social situations, but available treatment options are rather unspecific. Using an established mouse social fear conditioning (SFC) paradigm, we profiled gene expression and chromatin alterations after the acquisition and extinction of social fear within the septum, a brain region important for social fear and social behaviors. Here, we particularly focused on the successful versus unsuccessful outcome of social fear extinction training, which corresponds to treatment responsive versus resistant patients in the clinics. Validation of coding and non-coding RNAs revealed specific isoforms of the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) Meg3 regulated, depending on the success of social fear extinction. Moreover, PI3K/AKT was differentially activated with extinction success in SFC-mice. In vivo knockdown of specific Meg3 isoforms increased baseline activity of PI3K/AKT signaling, and mildly delayed social fear extinction. Using ATAC-Seq and CUT&RUN, we found alterations in the chromatin structure of specific genes, which might be direct targets of lncRNA Meg3.
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Li HD, Li DN, Yang L, Long C. Deficiency of the CYLD Impairs Fear Memory of Mice and Disrupts Neuronal Activity and Synaptic Transmission in the Basolateral Amygdala. Front Cell Neurosci 2021; 15:740165. [PMID: 34602983 PMCID: PMC8485066 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2021.740165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Fear learning and memory are crucial for animal survival. Abnormal fear memory is a hallmark of many neuropsychiatric disorders. Appropriate neuronal activation and excitability in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) are necessary for the formation of fear memory. The gene cylindromatosis (Cyld), which encodes a lysine-63 deubiquitinase, is expressed in several brain regions including the amygdala. The functions of the cylindromatosis protein (CYLD) in the regulation of the neuronal activity, neural circuits and fear memory, remain largely unknown, however. Here, we report that Cyld knockout impairs amygdala-dependent tone-cued fear memory. The number of c-Fos+ neurons responding to the tone-cued fear test was reduced in the BLA of Cyld–/– mice, suggesting that the absence of CYLD causes aberrant neuronal activation. We found that this aberrant neuronal activation in the BLA of Cyld–/– mice may relate to the decreased excitability of principal neurons. Another possibility of aberrant neuronal activation could be the impaired excitatory synaptic transmission in the BLA of Cyld–/– mice. Specifically, both the frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents and the amplitude of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents in BLA principal neurons were decreased. In addition, Cyld mutation caused an increase in both the frequency of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents in principal neurons and the number of parvalbumin+ interneurons, consistent with excessive local circuit inhibition in the BLA of Cyld–/– mice. Taken together, these results suggest that CYLD deficiency disrupts the neuronal activity and synaptic transmission in the BLA of mice which may contribute to the impaired fear memory observed in Cyld–/– mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui-Dong Li
- School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Dan-Ni Li
- School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Li Yang
- School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Cheng Long
- School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,South China Normal University-Panyu Central Hospital Joint Laboratory of Translational Medical Research, Panyu Central Hospital, Guangzhou, China
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11
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Lewis V, Laberge F, Heyland A. Transcriptomic signature of extinction learning in the brain of the fire-bellied toad, Bombina orientalis. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2021; 184:107502. [PMID: 34391934 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Revised: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 08/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Insight into the molecular and cellular mechanisms of learning and memory from a diverse array of taxa contributes to our understanding of the evolution of these processes. The fire-bellied toad, Bombina orientalis, is a basal anuran amphibian model species who could help us describe shared and divergent characteristics of learning and memory mechanisms between amphibians and other vertebrates, and hence answer questions about the evolution of learning. Utilizing next generation sequencing techniques, we profiled gene expression patterns associated with the extinction of prey-catching conditioning in the brain of the fire-bellied toad. For this purpose, gene expression was at first compared between toads sacrificed after acquisition and extinction of the conditioned response. A second comparison was done between toads submitted to extinction following either short or long acquisition training, which results in toads displaying response extinction or resistance to extinction, respectively. We analyzed brain tissue transcription profiles common to both acquisition and extinction learning, or unique to extinction learning and resistance to extinction, and found significant overlap in gene expression related to molecular pathways involving neuronal plasticity (e.g. structural modification, transcription). However, extinction learning induced a unique GABAergic transcriptomic signal, which may be responsible for suppression of the original response memory. Further, when comparing extinction learning in short- and long-trained groups, short training engaged many pathways related to neuronal plasticity, as expected, but long training engaged molecular pathways related to the suppression of learning through epigenetic mediated transcriptional suppression and inhibitory neurotransmission. Overall, gene expression patterns associated with extinction learning in the fire-bellied toad were similar to those found in mammals submitted to extinction, although some divergent profiles highlighted potential differences in the mechanisms of learning and memory among tetrapods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vern Lewis
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
| | - Frédéric Laberge
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Andreas Heyland
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
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12
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Zwir I, Del-Val C, Arnedo J, Pulkki-Råback L, Konte B, Yang SS, Romero-Zaliz R, Hintsanen M, Cloninger KM, Garcia D, Svrakic DM, Lester N, Rozsa S, Mesa A, Lyytikäinen LP, Giegling I, Kähönen M, Martinez M, Seppälä I, Raitoharju E, de Erausquin GA, Mamah D, Raitakari O, Rujescu D, Postolache TT, Gu CC, Sung J, Lehtimäki T, Keltikangas-Järvinen L, Cloninger CR. Three genetic-environmental networks for human personality. Mol Psychiatry 2021; 26:3858-3875. [PMID: 31748689 PMCID: PMC8550959 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-019-0579-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Revised: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 10/24/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Phylogenetic, developmental, and brain-imaging studies suggest that human personality is the integrated expression of three major systems of learning and memory that regulate (1) associative conditioning, (2) intentionality, and (3) self-awareness. We have uncovered largely disjoint sets of genes regulating these dissociable learning processes in different clusters of people with (1) unregulated temperament profiles (i.e., associatively conditioned habits and emotional reactivity), (2) organized character profiles (i.e., intentional self-control of emotional conflicts and goals), and (3) creative character profiles (i.e., self-aware appraisal of values and theories), respectively. However, little is known about how these temperament and character components of personality are jointly organized and develop in an integrated manner. In three large independent genome-wide association studies from Finland, Germany, and Korea, we used a data-driven machine learning method to uncover joint phenotypic networks of temperament and character and also the genetic networks with which they are associated. We found three clusters of similar numbers of people with distinct combinations of temperament and character profiles. Their associated genetic and environmental networks were largely disjoint, and differentially related to distinct forms of learning and memory. Of the 972 genes that mapped to the three phenotypic networks, 72% were unique to a single network. The findings in the Finnish discovery sample were blindly and independently replicated in samples of Germans and Koreans. We conclude that temperament and character are integrated within three disjoint networks that regulate healthy longevity and dissociable systems of learning and memory by nearly disjoint sets of genetic and environmental influences.
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Grants
- Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology TIN2012-38805 and DPI2015-69585-R
- The Young Finns Study has been financially supported by the Academy of Finland: grants 286284, 134309 (Eye), 126925, 121584, 124282, 129378 (Salve), 117787 (Gendi), 41071 (Skidi), and 308676; the Social Insurance Institution of Finland; Competitive State Research Financing of the Expert Responsibility area of Kuopio, Tampere and Turku University Hospitals (grant X51001); Juho Vainio Foundation; Paavo Nurmi Foundation; Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research ; Finnish Cultural Foundation; Tampere Tuberculosis Foundation; Emil Aaltonen Foundation; Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation; Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation; Diabetes Research Foundation of Finnish Diabetes Association: and EU Horizon 2020 (grant 755320 for TAXINOMISIS).
- American Federation for Suicide Prevention
- Healthy Twin Family Register of Korea
- Anthropedia Foundation
- The Young Finns Study has been financially supported by the Academy of Finland: grants 286284, 322098, 134309 (Eye), 126925, 121584, 124282, 129378 (Salve), 117787 (Gendi), 41071 (Skidi), and 308676; the Social Insurance Institution of Finland; Competitive State Research Financing of the Expert Responsibility area of Kuopio, Tampere and Turku University Hospitals (grant X51001); Juho Vainio Foundation; Paavo Nurmi Foundation; Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research ; Finnish Cultural Foundation; Tampere Tuberculosis Foundation; Emil Aaltonen Foundation; Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation; Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation; Diabetes Research Foundation of Finnish Diabetes Association: and EU Horizon 2020 (grant 755320 for TAXINOMISIS); and Tampere University Hospital Supporting Foundation.
- American Society for Suicide Prevention
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor Zwir
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Computer Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Coral Del-Val
- Department of Computer Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Javier Arnedo
- Department of Computer Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Laura Pulkki-Råback
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Bettina Konte
- Department of Psychiatry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | - Sarah S Yang
- Department of Epidemiology, and Institute of Health and Environment, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
| | | | - Mirka Hintsanen
- Unit of Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | | | - Danilo Garcia
- Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Blekinge Centre of Competence, Blekinge County Council, Karlskrona, Sweden
| | - Dragan M Svrakic
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Nigel Lester
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Sandor Rozsa
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Alberto Mesa
- Department of Computer Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Leo-Pekka Lyytikäinen
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, and Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center-Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Ina Giegling
- Department of Psychiatry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
- University Clinic, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Mika Kähönen
- Department of Clinical Physiology Tampere University Hospital, and Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center-Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Maribel Martinez
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Ilkka Seppälä
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, and Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center-Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Emma Raitoharju
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, and Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center-Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Gabriel A de Erausquin
- The Glenn Biggs Institute of Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Disorders, Long School of Medicine, University of Texas Heath San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Daniel Mamah
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Olli Raitakari
- Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku Hospital, Turku, Finland
- Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Dan Rujescu
- Department of Psychiatry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | - Teodor T Postolache
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Rocky Mountain Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center for Veteran Suicide Prevention, Denver, CO, USA
| | - C Charles Gu
- Division of Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Joohon Sung
- Department of Epidemiology, and Institute of Health and Environment, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
| | - Terho Lehtimäki
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, and Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center-Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | | | - C Robert Cloninger
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and School of Medicine, Department of Genetics, School of Arts and Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
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13
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Zabik NL, Iadipaolo AS, Marusak HA, Peters C, Burghardt K, Rabinak CA. A common genetic variant in fatty acid amide hydrolase is linked to alterations in fear extinction neural circuitry in a racially diverse, nonclinical sample of adults. J Neurosci Res 2021; 100:744-761. [PMID: 34051704 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Revised: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Poor fear extinction learning and recall are linked to the development of fear-based disorders, like posttraumatic stress disorder, and are associated with aberrant activation of fear-related neural circuitry. This includes greater amygdala activation during extinction learning and lesser hippocampal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) activation during recall. Emerging data indicate that genetic variation in fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH C385A; rs324420) is associated with increased peripheral endocannabinoid (eCB) levels and lesser threat-related amygdala reactivity. Preclinical studies link increased eCB signaling to better extinction learning and recall, thus FAAH C385A may protect against the development of trauma-related psychopathology by facilitating extinction learning. However, how this FAAH variant affects fear extinction neural circuitry remains unknown. In the present study, we used a novel, immersive-reality fear extinction paradigm paired with functional neuroimaging to assess FAAH C385A effects on fear-related neural circuitry and conditioned fear responding (US expectancy ratings, subjective units of distress, and skin conductance responding) in healthy adults from an urban area (Detroit, MI; N = 59; C/C = 35, A-carrier = 24). We found lesser amygdala activation in A-allele carriers, compared to C/C homozygotes, during early extinction recall. Likewise, we found lesser dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and greater hippocampus activation in early extinction learning in A-carriers compared to C/C homozygotes. We found no effects of FAAH C385A on vmPFC activation or behavioral fear indices. These data support and extend previous findings that FAAH genetic variation, associated with increased eCB signaling and subsequent enhanced fear extinction, may predict individual differences in successful fear learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole L Zabik
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Translational Neuroscience Program, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | | | - Hilary A Marusak
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Craig Peters
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Kyle Burghardt
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Christine A Rabinak
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Translational Neuroscience Program, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
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14
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Perez Garcia G, De Gasperi R, Gama Sosa MA, Perez GM, Otero-Pagan A, Pryor D, Abutarboush R, Kawoos U, Hof PR, Dickstein DL, Cook DG, Gandy S, Ahlers ST, Elder GA. Laterality and region-specific tau phosphorylation correlate with PTSD-related behavioral traits in rats exposed to repetitive low-level blast. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2021; 9:33. [PMID: 33648608 PMCID: PMC7923605 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-021-01128-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Accepted: 02/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Military veterans who experience blast-related traumatic brain injuries often suffer from chronic cognitive and neurobehavioral syndromes. Reports of abnormal tau processing following blast injury have raised concerns that some cases may have a neurodegenerative basis. Rats exposed to repetitive low-level blast exhibit chronic neurobehavioral traits and accumulate tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (Thr181). Using data previously reported in separate studies we tested the hypothesis that region-specific patterns of Thr181 phosphorylation correlate with behavioral measures also previously determined and reported in the same animals. Elevated p-tau Thr181 in anterior neocortical regions and right hippocampus correlated with anxiety as well as fear learning and novel object localization. There were no correlations with levels in amygdala or posterior neocortical regions. Particularly striking were asymmetrical effects on the right and left hippocampus. No systematic variation in head orientation toward the blast wave seems to explain the laterality. Levels did not correlate with behavioral measures of hyperarousal. Results were specific to Thr181 in that no correlations were observed for three other phospho-acceptor sites (threonine 231, serine 396, and serine 404). No consistent correlations were linked with total tau. These correlations are significant in suggesting that p-tau accumulation in anterior neocortical regions and the hippocampus may lead to disinhibited amygdala function without p-tau elevation in the amygdala itself. They also suggest an association linking blast injury with tauopathy, which has implications for understanding the relationship of chronic blast-related neurobehavioral syndromes in humans to neurodegenerative diseases.
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15
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Stanton ME, Murawski NJ, Jablonski SA, Robinson-Drummer PA, Heroux NA. Mechanisms of context conditioning in the developing rat. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2021; 179:107388. [PMID: 33482320 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Revised: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The article reviews our studies of contextual fear conditioning (CFC) in rats during a period of development---Postnatal Day (PND) 17-33---that represents the late-infant, juvenile, and early-adolescent stages. These studies seek to acquire 'systems level' knowledge of brain and memory development and apply it to a rodent model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This rodent model focuses on alcohol exposure from PND4-9, a period of brain development equivalent to the human third trimester, when neocortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum are especially vulnerable to adverse effects of alcohol. Our research emphasizes a variant of CFC, termed the Context Preexposure Facilitation Effect (CPFE, Fanselow, 1990), in which context representations incidentally learned on one occasion are retrieved and associated with immediate shock on a subsequent occasion. These representations can be encoded at the earliest developmental stage but seem not to be retained or retrieved until the juvenile period. This is associated with developmental differences in context-elicited expression, in prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala, of immediate early genes (IEGs) that are implicated in long-term memory. Loss-of-function studies establish a functional role for these regions as soon as the CPFE emerges during ontogeny. In our rodent model of FASD, the CPFE is much more sensitive to alcohol dose than other commonly used cognitive tasks. This impairment can be reversed by acute administration during behavioral testing of drugs that enhance cholinergic function. This effect is associated with normalized IEG expression in prefrontal cortex during incidental context learning. In summary, our findings suggest that long-term memory of incidentally-learned context representations depends on prefrontal-hippocampal circuitry that is important both for the normative development of context conditioning and for its disruption by developmental alcohol exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark E Stanton
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, United States.
| | - Nathen J Murawski
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, United States
| | - Sarah A Jablonski
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, United States
| | | | - Nicholas A Heroux
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, United States
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16
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Feng L, Han CX, Cao SY, Zhang HM, Wu GY. Deficits in motor and cognitive functions in an adult mouse model of hypoxia-ischemia induced stroke. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20646. [PMID: 33244072 PMCID: PMC7692481 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77678-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Ischemic strokes cause devastating brain damage and functional deficits with few treatments available. Previous studies have shown that the ischemia-hypoxia rapidly induces clinically similar thrombosis and neuronal loss, but any resulting behavioral changes are largely unknown. The goal of this study was to evaluate motor and cognitive deficits in adult HI mice. Following a previously established procedure, HI mouse models were induced by first ligating the right common carotid artery and followed by hypoxia. Histological data showed significant long-term neuronal losses and reactive glial cells in the ipsilateral striatum and hippocampus of the HI mice. Whereas the open field test and the rotarod test could not reliably distinguish between the sham and HI mice, in the tapered beam and wire-hanging tests, the HI mice showed short-term and long-term deficits, as evidenced by the increased number of foot faults and decreased hanging time respectively. In cognitive tests, the HI mice swam longer distances and needed more time to find the platform in the Morris water maze test and showed shorter freezing time in fear contextual tests after fear training. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that adult HI mice have motor and cognitive deficits and could be useful models for preclinical stroke research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Feng
- School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
| | - Chun-Xia Han
- School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Shu-Yu Cao
- Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - He-Ming Zhang
- Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
| | - Gang-Yi Wu
- School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
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17
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The role of carbonic anhydrases in extinction of contextual fear memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:16000-16008. [PMID: 32571910 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1910690117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Carbonic anhydrases (CAs; EC 4.2.1.1) are metalloenzymes present in mammals with 16 isoforms that differ in terms of catalytic activity as well as cellular and tissue distribution. CAs catalyze the conversion of CO2 to bicarbonate and protons and are involved in various physiological processes, including learning and memory. Here we report that the integrity of CA activity in the brain is necessary for the consolidation of fear extinction memory. We found that systemic administration of acetazolamide, a CA inhibitor, immediately after the extinction session dose-dependently impaired the consolidation of fear extinction memory of rats trained in contextual fear conditioning. d-phenylalanine, a CA activator, displayed an opposite action, whereas C18, a membrane-impermeable CA inhibitor that is unable to reach the brain tissue, had no effect. Simultaneous administration of acetazolamide fully prevented the procognitive effects of d-phenylalanine. Whereas d-phenylalanine potentiated extinction, acetazolamide impaired extinction also when infused locally into the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, basolateral amygdala, or hippocampal CA1 region. No effects were observed when acetazolamide or d-phenylalanine was infused locally into the substantia nigra pars compacta. Moreover, systemic administration of acetazolamide immediately after the extinction training session modulated c-Fos expression on a retention test in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of rats trained in contextual fear conditioning. These findings reveal that the engagement of CAs in some brain regions is essential for providing the brain with the resilience necessary to ensure the consolidation of extinction of emotionally salient events.
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18
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Tripathi S, Verma A, Jha SK. Training on an Appetitive Trace-Conditioning Task Increases Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis and the Expression of Arc, Erk and CREB Proteins in the Dorsal Hippocampus. Front Cell Neurosci 2020; 14:89. [PMID: 32362814 PMCID: PMC7181388 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2020.00089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2019] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) plays an essential role in hippocampal-dependent memory consolidation. Increased neurogenesis enhances learning, whereas its ablation causes memory impairment. In contrast, few reports suggest that neurogenesis reduces after learning. Although the interest in exploring the role of adult neurogenesis in learning has been growing, the evidence is still limited. The role of the trace- and delay-appetitive-conditioning on AHN and its underlying mechanism are not known. The consolidation of trace-conditioned memory requires the hippocampus, but delay-conditioning does not. Moreover, the dorsal hippocampus (DH) and ventral hippocampus (VH) may have a differential role in these two conditioning paradigms. Here, we have investigated the changes in: (A) hippocampal cell proliferation and their progression towards neuronal lineage; and (B) expression of Arc, Erk1, Erk2, and CREB proteins in the DH and VH after trace- and delay-conditioning in the rat. The number of newly generated cells significantly increased in the trace-conditioned but did not change in the delay-conditioned animals compared to the control group. Similarly, the expression of Arc protein significantly increased in the DH but not in the VH after trace-conditioning. Nonetheless, it remains unaltered in the delay-conditioned group. The expression of pErk1, pErk2, and pCREB also increased in the DH after trace-conditioning. Whereas, the expression of only pErk1 pErk2 and pCREB proteins increased in the VH after delay-conditioning. Our results suggest that appetitive trace-conditioning enhances AHN. The increased DH neuronal activation and pErk1, pErk2, and pCREB in the DH may be playing an essential role in learning-induced cell-proliferation after appetitive trace-conditioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shweta Tripathi
- School of Life Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | - Anita Verma
- School of Life Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | - Sushil K Jha
- School of Life Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
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19
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Excitatory VTA to DH projections provide a valence signal to memory circuits. Nat Commun 2020; 11:1466. [PMID: 32193428 PMCID: PMC7081331 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15035-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The positive or negative value (valence) of past experiences is normally integrated into neuronal circuits that encode episodic memories and plays an important role in guiding behavior. Here, we show, using mouse behavioral models, that glutamatergic afferents from the ventral tegmental area to the dorsal hippocampus (VTA→DH) signal negative valence to memory circuits, leading to the formation of fear-inducing context memories and to context-specific reinstatement of fear. To a lesser extent, these projections also contributed to opioid-induced place preference, suggesting a role in signaling positive valence as well, and thus a lack of dedicated polarity. Manipulations of VTA terminal activity were more effective in females and paralleled by sex differences in glutamatergic signaling. By prioritizing retrieval of negative and positive over neutral memories, the VTA→DH circuit can facilitate the selection of adaptive behaviors when current and past experiences are valence congruent. The neuronal pathway that signals the positive or negative value of memories is not well understood. Here, the authors report that an excitatory projection from the ventral tegmental area to the dorsal hippocampus carries the valence information, contributing, especially in females, to the recurrence of fear and to drug seeking behavior.
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20
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Zwir I, Arnedo J, Del-Val C, Pulkki-Råback L, Konte B, Yang SS, Romero-Zaliz R, Hintsanen M, Cloninger KM, Garcia D, Svrakic DM, Rozsa S, Martinez M, Lyytikäinen LP, Giegling I, Kähönen M, Hernandez-Cuervo H, Seppälä I, Raitoharju E, de Erausquin GA, Raitakari O, Rujescu D, Postolache TT, Sung J, Keltikangas-Järvinen L, Lehtimäki T, Cloninger CR. Uncovering the complex genetics of human temperament. Mol Psychiatry 2020; 25:2275-2294. [PMID: 30279457 PMCID: PMC7515831 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-018-0264-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2018] [Revised: 07/21/2018] [Accepted: 08/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Experimental studies of learning suggest that human temperament may depend on the molecular mechanisms for associative conditioning, which are highly conserved in animals. The main genetic pathways for associative conditioning are known in experimental animals, but have not been identified in prior genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of human temperament. We used a data-driven machine learning method for GWAS to uncover the complex genotypic-phenotypic networks and environmental interactions related to human temperament. In a discovery sample of 2149 healthy Finns, we identified sets of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that cluster within particular individuals (i.e., SNP sets) regardless of phenotype. Second, we identified 3 clusters of people with distinct temperament profiles measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory regardless of genotype. Third, we found 51 SNP sets that identified 736 gene loci and were significantly associated with temperament. The identified genes were enriched in pathways activated by associative conditioning in animals, including the ERK, PI3K, and PKC pathways. 74% of the identified genes were unique to a specific temperament profile. Environmental influences measured in childhood and adulthood had small but significant effects. We confirmed the replicability of the 51 Finnish SNP sets in healthy Korean (90%) and German samples (89%), as well as their associations with temperament. The identified SNPs explained nearly all the heritability expected in each sample (37-53%) despite variable cultures and environments. We conclude that human temperament is strongly influenced by more than 700 genes that modulate associative conditioning by molecular processes for synaptic plasticity and long-term memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor Zwir
- grid.4367.60000 0001 2355 7002Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO USA ,grid.4489.10000000121678994Department of Computer Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Javier Arnedo
- grid.4367.60000 0001 2355 7002Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO USA ,grid.4489.10000000121678994Department of Computer Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Coral Del-Val
- grid.4489.10000000121678994Department of Computer Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Laura Pulkki-Råback
- grid.7737.40000 0004 0410 2071Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Bettina Konte
- grid.9018.00000 0001 0679 2801Department of Psychiatry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | - Sarah S. Yang
- grid.31501.360000 0004 0470 5905Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
| | - Rocio Romero-Zaliz
- grid.4489.10000000121678994Department of Computer Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Mirka Hintsanen
- grid.10858.340000 0001 0941 4873Unit of Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | | | - Danilo Garcia
- grid.8761.80000 0000 9919 9582Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden ,grid.435885.70000 0001 0597 1381Blekinge Centre of Competence, Blekinge County Council, Karlskrona, Sweden
| | - Dragan M. Svrakic
- grid.4367.60000 0001 2355 7002Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO USA
| | - Sandor Rozsa
- grid.4367.60000 0001 2355 7002Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO USA
| | - Maribel Martinez
- grid.4367.60000 0001 2355 7002Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO USA
| | - Leo-Pekka Lyytikäinen
- grid.502801.e0000 0001 2314 6254Fimlab Laboratories, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center-Tampere, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
| | - Ina Giegling
- grid.9018.00000 0001 0679 2801Department of Psychiatry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany ,grid.5252.00000 0004 1936 973XUniversity Clinic, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Mika Kähönen
- grid.502801.e0000 0001 2314 6254Department of Clinical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Tampere University Hospital, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
| | - Helena Hernandez-Cuervo
- grid.170693.a0000 0001 2353 285XDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurosurgery, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL USA
| | - Ilkka Seppälä
- grid.502801.e0000 0001 2314 6254Fimlab Laboratories, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center-Tampere, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
| | - Emma Raitoharju
- grid.502801.e0000 0001 2314 6254Fimlab Laboratories, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center-Tampere, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
| | - Gabriel A. de Erausquin
- grid.449717.80000 0004 5374 269XDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurology, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Texas Rio-Grande Valley School of Medicine, Harlingen, TX USA
| | - Olli Raitakari
- grid.410552.70000 0004 0628 215XDepartment of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Dan Rujescu
- grid.9018.00000 0001 0679 2801Department of Psychiatry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | - Teodor T. Postolache
- grid.411024.20000 0001 2175 4264Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ,Rocky Mountain Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center for Veteran Suicide Prevention, Denver, CO USA
| | - Joohon Sung
- grid.31501.360000 0004 0470 5905Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
| | - Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen
- grid.7737.40000 0004 0410 2071Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Terho Lehtimäki
- grid.502801.e0000 0001 2314 6254Fimlab Laboratories, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center-Tampere, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
| | - C. Robert Cloninger
- grid.4367.60000 0001 2355 7002Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO USA ,grid.4367.60000 0001 2355 7002Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, and Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO USA
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21
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Cloninger CR, Cloninger KM, Zwir I, Keltikangas-Järvinen L. The complex genetics and biology of human temperament: a review of traditional concepts in relation to new molecular findings. Transl Psychiatry 2019; 9:290. [PMID: 31712636 PMCID: PMC6848211 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-019-0621-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2019] [Revised: 09/25/2019] [Accepted: 10/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have shown that temperament is strongly influenced by more than 700 genes that modulate associative conditioning by molecular processes for synaptic plasticity and long-term learning and memory. The results were replicated in three independent samples despite variable cultures and environments. The identified genes were enriched in pathways activated by behavioral conditioning in animals, including the two major molecular pathways for response to extracellular stimuli, the Ras-MEK-ERK and the PI3K-AKT-mTOR cascades. These pathways are activated by a wide variety of physiological and psychosocial stimuli that vary in positive and negative valence and in consequences for health and survival. Changes in these pathways are orchestrated to maintain cellular homeostasis despite changing conditions by modulating temperament and its circadian and seasonal rhythms. In this review we first consider traditional concepts of temperament in relation to the new genetic findings by examining the partial overlap of alternative measures of temperament. Then we propose a definition of temperament as the disposition of a person to learn how to behave, react emotionally, and form attachments automatically by associative conditioning. This definition provides necessary and sufficient criteria to distinguish temperament from other aspects of personality that become integrated with it across the life span. We describe the effects of specific stimuli on the molecular processes underlying temperament from functional, developmental, and evolutionary perspectives. Our new knowledge can improve communication among investigators, increase the power and efficacy of clinical trials, and improve the effectiveness of treatment of personality and its disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Robert Cloninger
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
- School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and School of Medicine, Department of Genetics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
- Anthropedia Foundation, St. Louis, MO, USA.
| | | | - Igor Zwir
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Computer Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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22
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Tronson NC, Keiser AA. A Dynamic Memory Systems Framework for Sex Differences in Fear Memory. Trends Neurosci 2019; 42:680-692. [PMID: 31473031 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2019.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2019] [Revised: 06/17/2019] [Accepted: 07/29/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Emerging research demonstrates that a pattern of overlapping but distinct molecular and circuit mechanisms are engaged by males and females during memory tasks. Importantly, sex differences in neural mechanisms and behavioral strategies are evident even when performance on a memory task is similar between females and males. We propose that sex differences in memory may be best understood within a dynamic memory systems framework. Specifically, sex differences in hormonal influences and neural circuit development result in biases in the circuits engaged and the information preferentially stored or retrieved in males and females. By using animal models to understand the neural networks and molecular mechanisms required for memory in both sexes, we can gain crucial insights into sex and gender biases in disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie C Tronson
- Psychology Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
| | - Ashley A Keiser
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
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23
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Sartori SB, Singewald N. Novel pharmacological targets in drug development for the treatment of anxiety and anxiety-related disorders. Pharmacol Ther 2019; 204:107402. [PMID: 31470029 DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2019.107402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Accepted: 08/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Current medication for anxiety disorders is suboptimal in terms of efficiency and tolerability, highlighting the need for improved drug treatments. In this review an overview of drugs being studied in different phases of clinical trials for their potential in the treatment of fear-, anxiety- and trauma-related disorders is presented. One strategy followed in drug development is refining and improving compounds interacting with existing anxiolytic drug targets, such as serotonergic and prototypical GABAergic benzodiazepines. A more innovative approach involves the search for compounds with novel mechanisms of anxiolytic action using the growing knowledge base concerning the relevant neurocircuitries and neurobiological mechanisms underlying pathological fear and anxiety. The target systems evaluated in clinical trials include glutamate, endocannabinoid and neuropeptide systems, as well as ion channels and targets derived from phytochemicals. Examples of promising novel candidates currently in clinical development for generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder include ketamine, riluzole, xenon with one common pharmacological action of modulation of glutamatergic neurotransmission, as well as the neurosteroid aloradine. Finally, compounds such as D-cycloserine, MDMA, L-DOPA and cannabinoids have shown efficacy in enhancing fear-extinction learning in humans. They are thus investigated in clinical trials as an augmentative strategy for speeding up and enhancing the long-term effectiveness of exposure-based psychotherapy, which could render chronic anxiolytic drug treatment dispensable for many patients. These efforts are indicative of a rekindled interest and renewed optimism in the anxiety drug discovery field, after decades of relative stagnation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone B Sartori
- Institute of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck (CMBI), Leopold Franzens University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Nicolas Singewald
- Institute of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck (CMBI), Leopold Franzens University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
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24
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Wellman CL, Moench KM. Preclinical studies of stress, extinction, and prefrontal cortex: intriguing leads and pressing questions. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2019; 236:59-72. [PMID: 30225660 PMCID: PMC6374178 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-018-5023-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2018] [Accepted: 09/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Stress is associated with cognitive and emotional dysfunction, and increases risk for a variety of psychological disorders, including depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Prefrontal cortex is critical for executive function and emotion regulation, is a target for stress hormones, and is implicated in many stress-influenced psychological disorders. Extinction of conditioned fear provides an excellent model system for examining how stress-induced changes in corticolimbic structure and function are related to stress-induced changes in neural function and behavior, as the neural circuitry underlying this behavior is well characterized. OBJECTIVES This review examines how acute and chronic stress influences extinction and describes how stress alters the structure and function of the medial prefrontal cortex, a potential neural substrate for these effects. In addition, we identify important unanswered questions about how stress-induced change in prefrontal cortex may mediate extinction deficits and avenues for future research. KEY FINDINGS A substantial body of work demonstrates deficits in extinction after either acute or chronic stress. A separate and substantial literature demonstrates stress-induced neuronal remodeling in medial prefrontal cortex, along with several key neurohormonal contributors to this remodeling, and there is substantial overlap in prefrontal mechanisms underlying extinction and the mechanisms implicated in stress-induced dysfunction of-and neuronal remodeling in-medial prefrontal cortex. However, data directly examining the contribution of changes in prefrontal structure and function to stress-induced extinction deficits is currently lacking. CONCLUSIONS Understanding how stress influences extinction and its neural substrates as well as individual differences in this effect will elucidate potential avenues for novel interventions for stress-sensitive disorders characterized by deficits in extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cara L. Wellman
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Indiana University,Department of Psychological, Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Indiana University,Department of Psychological, Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University
| | - Kelly M. Moench
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Indiana University,Department of Psychological, Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Indiana University,Department of Psychological, Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University
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25
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N-Methyl D-aspartate receptor subunit signaling in fear extinction. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2019; 236:239-250. [PMID: 30238131 PMCID: PMC6374191 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-018-5022-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2018] [Accepted: 09/03/2018] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
N-Methyl D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) are central mediators of glutamate actions underlying learning and memory processes including those required for extinction of fear and fear-related behaviors. Consistent with this view, in animal models, antagonists of NMDAR typically impair fear extinction, whereas partial agonists have facilitating effects. Promoting NMDAR function has thus been recognized as a promising strategy towards reduction of fear symptoms in patients suffering from anxiety disorders and post-traumatic disorder (PTSD). Nevertheless, application of these drugs in clinical trials has proved of limited utility. Here we summarize recent advances in our knowledge of NMDAR pharmacology relevant for fear extinction, focusing on molecular, cellular, and circuit aspects of NMDAR function as they relate to fear extinction at the level of behavior and cognition. We also discuss how these advances from animal models might help to understand and overcome the limitations of existing approaches in human anxiety disorders and how novel, more specific, and personalized approaches might help advance future therapeutic strategies.
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26
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Perez-Garcia G, Gama Sosa MA, De Gasperi R, Tschiffely AE, McCarron RM, Hof PR, Gandy S, Ahlers ST, Elder GA. Blast-induced "PTSD": Evidence from an animal model. Neuropharmacology 2018; 145:220-229. [PMID: 30227150 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.09.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2018] [Revised: 08/19/2018] [Accepted: 09/14/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
A striking observation among veterans returning from the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan has been the co-occurrence of blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD and mTBI might coexist due to additive effects of independent psychological and physical traumas experienced in a war zone. Alternatively blast injury might induce PTSD-related traits or damage brain structures that mediate responses to psychological stressors, increasing the likelihood that PTSD will develop following a subsequent psychological stressor. Rats exposed to repetitive low-level blasts consisting of three 74.5 kPa exposures delivered once daily for three consecutive days develop a variety of anxiety and PTSD-related behavioral traits that are present for at least 9 months after blast exposure. A single predator scent challenge delivered 8 months after the last blast exposure induces additional anxiety-related changes that are still present 45 days later. Because the blast injuries occur under general anesthesia, it appears that blast exposure in the absence of a psychological stressor can induce chronic PTSD-related traits. The reaction to a predator scent challenge delivered many months after blast exposure suggests that blast exposure in addition sensitizes the brain to react abnormally to subsequent psychological stressors. The development of PTSD-related behavioral traits in the absence of a psychological stressor suggests the existence of blast-induced "PTSD". Findings that PTSD-related behavioral traits can be reversed by BCI-838, a group II metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonist offers insight into pathogenesis and possible treatment options for blast-related brain injury. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled "Novel Treatments for Traumatic Brain Injury".
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgina Perez-Garcia
- Research and Development Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468, USA; Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Miguel A Gama Sosa
- General Medical Research Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10468, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Rita De Gasperi
- Research and Development Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Anna E Tschiffely
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA
| | - Richard M McCarron
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA; Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20914, USA
| | - Patrick R Hof
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Care, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Sam Gandy
- Research and Development Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468, USA; Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA; Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; NFL Neurological Care Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Stephen T Ahlers
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA
| | - Gregory A Elder
- Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA; Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Neurology Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468, USA.
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27
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Tchessalova D, Posillico CK, Tronson NC. Neuroimmune Activation Drives Multiple Brain States. Front Syst Neurosci 2018; 12:39. [PMID: 30210310 PMCID: PMC6123349 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2018.00039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2018] [Accepted: 08/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroimmune signaling is increasingly identified as a critical component of neuronal processes underlying memory, emotion and cognition. The interactions of microglia and astrocytes with neurons and synapses, and the individual cytokines and immune signaling molecules that mediate these interactions are a current focus of much research. Here, we discuss neuroimmune activation as a mechanism triggering different states that modulate cognitive and affective processes to allow for appropriate behavior during and after illness or injury. We propose that these states lie on a continuum from a naïve homeostatic baseline state in the absence of stimulation, to acute neuroimmune activity and chronic activation. Importantly, consequences of illness or injury including cognitive deficits and mood impairments can persist long after resolution of immune signaling. This suggests that neuroimmune activation also results in an enduring shift in the homeostatic baseline state with long lasting consequences for neural function and behavior. Such different states can be identified in a multidimensional way, using patterns of cytokine and glial activation, behavioral and cognitive changes, and epigenetic signatures. Identifying distinct neuroimmune states and their consequences for neural function will provide a framework for predicting vulnerability to disorders of memory, cognition and emotion both during and long after recovery from illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daria Tchessalova
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | | | - Natalie Celia Tronson
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.,Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
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28
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PSD-95-nNOS Coupling Regulates Contextual Fear Extinction in the Dorsal CA3. Sci Rep 2018; 8:12775. [PMID: 30143658 PMCID: PMC6109109 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-30899-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2017] [Accepted: 04/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Fear extinction depends on N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptors (NMDARs) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) activation in the limbic system. However, postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) coupling, the downstream signaling of NMDARs activation, obstructs the BDNF signaling transduction. Thus, we wondered distinct roles of NMDAR activation and PSD-95-nNOS coupling on fear extinction. To explore the mechanisms, we detected protein-protein interaction using coimmunoprecipitation and measured protein expression by western blot. Contextual fear extinction induced a shift from PSD-95-nNOS to PSD-95-TrkB association in the dorsal hippocampus and c-Fos expression in the dorsal CA3. Disrupting PSD-95-nNOS coupling in the dorsal CA3 up-regulated phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulates kinase (ERK) and BDNF, enhanced the association of BDNF-TrkB signaling with PSD-95, and promoted contextual fear extinction. Conversely, blocking NMDARs in the dorsal CA3 down-regulated BDNF expression and hindered contextual fear extinction. NMDARs activation and PSD-95-nNOS coupling play different roles in modulating contextual fear extinction in the hippocampus. Because inhibitors of PSD-95-nNOS interaction produce antidepressant and anxiolytic effect without NMDAR-induced side effects, PSD-95-nNOS could be a valuable target for PTSD treatment.
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29
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Running from fear: Exercise modulation of fear extinction. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2018; 151:28-34. [PMID: 29614374 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2018.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2018] [Revised: 03/22/2018] [Accepted: 03/30/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Extinction-based exposure therapy is the most common behavioral therapy for anxiety and trauma-related disorders, but fear tends to resurface even after successful extinction. Identification of novel strategies to enhance fear extinction and reduce fear relapse is of paramount importance to mental health. Exercise can enhance cognitive function, but it is not yet well understood whether exercise can be an effective augmentation strategy for fear extinction. In the current review, we present the current state of knowledge on the effects of exercise on fear extinction. Effects of exercise duration, explanations for conflicting results, and potential mechanisms, focusing on a hypothesized role for dopamine, are all discussed. We also provide new data suggesting that the timing in which acute exercise occurs relative to fear extinction, is a crucial variable in determining whether exercise can enhance fear extinction. Clinical implications and ideas to guide future research endeavors in this area are provided.
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30
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Abstract
Ketamine, principally an antagonist of N-methyl-ᴅ-aspartate receptors, induces schizophrenia-like symptoms in adult humans, warranting its use in the investigation of psychosis-related phenotypes in animal models. Genomic studies further implicate N-methyl-ᴅ-aspartate receptor-mediated processes in schizophrenia pathology, together with more broadly-defined synaptic plasticity and associative learning processes. Strong pathophysiological links have been demonstrated between fear learning and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. To further investigate the impact of ketamine on associative fear learning, we studied the effects of pre- and post-training ketamine on the consolidation and extinction of contextual fear memory in rats. Administration of 25 mg/kg ketamine prior to fear conditioning did not affect consolidation when potentially confounding effects of state dependency were controlled for. Pre-training ketamine (25 mg/kg) impaired the extinction of the conditioned fear response, which was mirrored with the use of a lower dose (8 mg/kg). Post-training ketamine (25 mg/kg) had no effect on the consolidation or extinction of conditioned fear. These observations implicate processes relating to the extinction of contextual fear memory in the manifestation of ketamine-induced phenotypes, and are consistent with existing hypotheses surrounding abnormal associative learning in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas E Clifton
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Kerrie L Thomas
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Jeremy Hall
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
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31
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Activation of Nigrostriatal Dopamine Neurons during Fear Extinction Prevents the Renewal of Fear. Neuropsychopharmacology 2018; 43:665-672. [PMID: 28976945 PMCID: PMC5770770 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2017.235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2017] [Revised: 09/23/2017] [Accepted: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Manipulations that increase dopamine (DA) signaling can enhance fear extinction, but the circuits involved remain unknown. DA neurons originating in the substantia nigra (SN) projecting to the dorsal striatum (DS) are traditionally viewed in the context of motor behavior, but growing data implicate this nigrostriatal circuit in emotion. Here we investigated the role of nigrostriatal DA in fear extinction. Activation of SN DA neurons with designer Gq-coupled receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (Gq-DREADD) during fear extinction had no effect on fear extinction acquisition, but enhanced fear extinction memory and blocked the renewal of fear in a novel context; a pattern of data paralleled by cFos expression in the central amygdala. D1 receptors in the DS are a likely target mediating the effects of SN DA activation. D1-expressing neurons in the medial DS (DMS) were recruited during fear extinction, and Gq-DREADD-induced DA potentiated activity of D1-expressing neurons in both the DMS and the lateral DS (DLS). Pharmacological activation of D1 receptors in the DS did not impact fear extinction acquisition or memory, but blocked fear renewal in a novel context. These data suggest that activation of SN DA neurons and DS D1 receptors during fear extinction render fear extinction memory resistant to the disrupting effects of changes in contextual contingencies, perhaps by recruiting habitual learning strategies involving the DLS. Nigrostriatal DA thus represents a novel target to enhance long-term efficacy of extinction-based therapies for anxiety and trauma-related disorders.
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32
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Agís-Balboa RC, Pinheiro PS, Rebola N, Kerimoglu C, Benito E, Gertig M, Bahari-Javan S, Jain G, Burkhardt S, Delalle I, Jatzko A, Dettenhofer M, Zunszain PA, Schmitt A, Falkai P, Pape JC, Binder EB, Mulle C, Fischer A, Sananbenesi F. Formin 2 links neuropsychiatric phenotypes at young age to an increased risk for dementia. EMBO J 2017; 36:2815-2828. [PMID: 28768717 PMCID: PMC5623844 DOI: 10.15252/embj.201796821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2017] [Revised: 06/23/2017] [Accepted: 06/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Age-associated memory decline is due to variable combinations of genetic and environmental risk factors. How these risk factors interact to drive disease onset is currently unknown. Here we begin to elucidate the mechanisms by which post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at a young age contributes to an increased risk to develop dementia at old age. We show that the actin nucleator Formin 2 (Fmn2) is deregulated in PTSD and in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Young mice lacking the Fmn2 gene exhibit PTSD-like phenotypes and corresponding impairments of synaptic plasticity, while the consolidation of new memories is unaffected. However, Fmn2 mutant mice develop accelerated age-associated memory decline that is further increased in the presence of additional risk factors and is mechanistically linked to a loss of transcriptional homeostasis. In conclusion, our data present a new approach to explore the connection between AD risk factors across life span and provide mechanistic insight to the processes by which neuropsychiatric diseases at a young age affect the risk for developing dementia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Carlos Agís-Balboa
- Department for Epigenetics and Systems Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Paulo S Pinheiro
- Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
- CNRS UMR 5297, Bordeaux, France
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nelson Rebola
- Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
- CNRS UMR 5297, Bordeaux, France
| | - Cemil Kerimoglu
- Department for Epigenetics and Systems Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Eva Benito
- Department for Epigenetics and Systems Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Michael Gertig
- Department for Epigenetics and Systems Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Sanaz Bahari-Javan
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Gaurav Jain
- Department for Epigenetics and Systems Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Susanne Burkhardt
- Department for Epigenetics and Systems Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ivana Delalle
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alexander Jatzko
- Department of Psychosomatics, Westpfalzklinikum-Kaiserslautern, Teaching Hospital, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Markus Dettenhofer
- CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Patricia A Zunszain
- Stress, Psychiatry and Immunology Laboratory, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Andrea Schmitt
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
- Laboratory of Neuroscience (LIM27), Institute of Psychiatry, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Peter Falkai
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Julius C Pape
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
| | - Elisabeth B Binder
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
| | - Christophe Mulle
- Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
- CNRS UMR 5297, Bordeaux, France
| | - Andre Fischer
- Department for Epigenetics and Systems Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Farahnaz Sananbenesi
- Department for Epigenetics and Systems Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Research Group for Genome Dynamics in Brain Diseases, Göttingen, Germany
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Kim DH, Kang M, Kim CH, Huh YH, Cho IH, Ryu HH, Chung KH, Park CS, Rhee S, Lee YS, Song WK. SPIN90 Modulates Long-Term Depression and Behavioral Flexibility in the Hippocampus. Front Mol Neurosci 2017; 10:295. [PMID: 28979184 PMCID: PMC5611360 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2017.00295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2017] [Accepted: 09/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The importance of actin-binding proteins (ABPs) in the regulation of synapse morphology and plasticity has been well established. SH3 protein interacting with Nck, 90 kDa (SPIN90), an Nck-interacting protein highly expressed in synapses, is essential for actin remodeling and dendritic spine morphology. Synaptic targeting of SPIN90 to spine heads or dendritic shafts depends on its phosphorylation state, leading to blockage of cofilin-mediated actin depolymerization and spine shrinkage. However, the physiological role of SPIN90 in long-term plasticity, learning and memory are largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that Spin90-knockout (KO) mice exhibit substantial deficits in synaptic plasticity and behavioral flexibility. We found that loss of SPIN90 disrupted dendritic spine density in CA1 neurons of the hippocampus and significantly impaired long-term depression (LTD), leaving basal synaptic transmission and long-term potentiation (LTP) intact. These impairments were due in part to deficits in AMPA receptor endocytosis and its pre-requisites, GluA1 dephosphorylation and postsynaptic density (PSD) 95 phosphorylation, but also by an intrinsic activation of Akt-GSK3β signaling as a result of Spin90-KO. In accordance with these defects, mice lacking SPIN90 were found to carry significant deficits in object-recognition and behavioral flexibility, while learning ability was largely unaffected. Collectively, these findings demonstrate a novel modulatory role for SPIN90 in hippocampal LTD and behavioral flexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dae Hwan Kim
- Bio Imaging and Cell Logistics Research Center, School of Life Sciences, Gwangju Institute of Science and TechnologyGwangju, South Korea
| | - Minkyung Kang
- Department of Physiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of MedicineSeoul, South Korea
| | - Chong-Hyun Kim
- Center for Neuroscience, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Division of Bio-Medical Science and Technology, KIST School, Korea University of Science and TechnologySeoul, South Korea
| | - Yun Hyun Huh
- Bio Imaging and Cell Logistics Research Center, School of Life Sciences, Gwangju Institute of Science and TechnologyGwangju, South Korea
| | - In Ha Cho
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth CollegeHanover, NH, United States
| | - Hyun-Hee Ryu
- Department of Physiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of MedicineSeoul, South Korea.,Department of Life Science, Chung-Ang UniversitySeoul, South Korea
| | - Kyung Hwun Chung
- Electron Microscope Facility, Dental Research Institute, Seoul National UniversitySeoul, South Korea
| | - Chul-Seung Park
- School of Life Sciences, Gwangju Institute of Science and TechnologyGwangju, South Korea
| | - Sangmyung Rhee
- Department of Life Science, Chung-Ang UniversitySeoul, South Korea
| | - Yong-Seok Lee
- Department of Physiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of MedicineSeoul, South Korea
| | - Woo Keun Song
- Bio Imaging and Cell Logistics Research Center, School of Life Sciences, Gwangju Institute of Science and TechnologyGwangju, South Korea
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Bernier BE, Lacagnina AF, Ayoub A, Shue F, Zemelman BV, Krasne FB, Drew MR. Dentate Gyrus Contributes to Retrieval as well as Encoding: Evidence from Context Fear Conditioning, Recall, and Extinction. J Neurosci 2017; 37:6359-6371. [PMID: 28546308 PMCID: PMC5490069 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3029-16.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 109] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Revised: 04/10/2017] [Accepted: 05/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Dentate gyrus (DG) is widely thought to provide a teaching signal that enables hippocampal encoding of memories, but its role during retrieval is poorly understood. Some data and models suggest that DG plays no role in retrieval; others encourage the opposite conclusion. To resolve this controversy, we evaluated the effects of optogenetic inhibition of dorsal DG during context fear conditioning, recall, generalization, and extinction in male mice. We found that (1) inhibition during training impaired context fear acquisition; (2) inhibition during recall did not impair fear expression in the training context, unless mice had to distinguish between similar feared and neutral contexts; (3) inhibition increased generalization of fear to an unfamiliar context that was similar to a feared one and impaired fear expression in the conditioned context when it was similar to a neutral one; and (4) inhibition impaired fear extinction. These effects, as well as several seemingly contradictory published findings, could be reproduced by BACON (Bayesian Context Fear Algorithm), a physiologically realistic hippocampal model positing that acquisition and retrieval both involve coordinated activity in DG and CA3. Our findings thus suggest that DG contributes to retrieval and extinction, as well as to the initial establishment of context fear.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Despite abundant evidence that the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) plays a critical role in memory, it remains unclear whether the role of DG relates to memory acquisition or retrieval. Using contextual fear conditioning and optogenetic inhibition, we show that DG contributes to both of these processes. Using computational simulations, we identify specific mechanisms through which the suppression of DG affects memory performance. Finally, we show that DG contributes to fear extinction learning, a process in which learned fear is attenuated through exposures to a fearful context in the absence of threat. Our data resolve a long-standing question about the role of DG in memory and provide insight into how disorders affecting DG, including aging, stress, and depression, influence cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian E Bernier
- Center for Learning and Memory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, and
| | - Anthony F Lacagnina
- Center for Learning and Memory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, and
| | - Adam Ayoub
- Center for Learning and Memory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, and
| | - Francis Shue
- Center for Learning and Memory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, and
| | - Boris V Zemelman
- Center for Learning and Memory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, and
| | - Franklin B Krasne
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Michael R Drew
- Center for Learning and Memory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, and
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Enhanced Histone Acetylation in the Infralimbic Prefrontal Cortex is Associated with Fear Extinction. Cell Mol Neurobiol 2017; 37:1287-1301. [DOI: 10.1007/s10571-017-0464-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2016] [Accepted: 01/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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Foilb AR, Flyer-Adams JG, Maier SF, Christianson JP. Posterior insular cortex is necessary for conditioned inhibition of fear. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2016; 134 Pt B:317-27. [PMID: 27523750 PMCID: PMC5424894 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2016] [Revised: 08/01/2016] [Accepted: 08/10/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Veridical detection of safety versus danger is critical to survival. Learned signals for safety inhibit fear, and so when presented, reduce fear responses produced by danger signals. This phenomenon is termed conditioned inhibition of fear. Here, we report that CS+/CS- fear discrimination conditioning over 5 days in rats leads the CS- to become a conditioned inhibitor of fear, as measured by the classic tests of conditioned inhibition: summation and retardation of subsequent fear acquisition. We then show that NMDA-receptor antagonist AP5 injected to posterior insular cortex (IC) before training completely prevented the acquisition of a conditioned fear inhibitor, while intra-AP5 to anterior and medial IC had no effect. To determine if the IC contributes to the recall of learned fear inhibition, injections of the GABAA agonist muscimol were made to posterior IC before a summation test. This resulted in fear inhibition per se, which obscured inference to the effect of IC inactivation with recall of the safety cue. Control experiments sought to determine if the role of the IC in conditioned inhibition learning could be reduced to simpler fear discrimination function, but fear discrimination and recall were unaffected by AP5 or muscimol, respectively, in the posterior IC. These data implicate a role of posterior IC in the learning of conditioned fear inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison R Foilb
- Department of Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA.
| | - Johanna G Flyer-Adams
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Center of Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0354, USA
| | - Steven F Maier
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Center of Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0354, USA
| | - John P Christianson
- Department of Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Center of Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0354, USA
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Jiang L, Mao R, Tong J, Li J, Chai A, Zhou Q, Yang Y, Wang L, Li L, Xu L. Inhibition of Rac1 activity in the hippocampus impaired extinction of contextual fear. Neuropharmacology 2016; 109:216-222. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2016.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2015] [Revised: 06/01/2016] [Accepted: 06/17/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
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Traumatic stress causes distinctive effects on fear circuit catecholamines and the fear extinction profile in a rodent model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2016; 26:1484-1495. [PMID: 27492886 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2016.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2016] [Revised: 05/14/2016] [Accepted: 06/10/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Central catecholamines regulate fear memory across the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), amygdala (AMYG), and hippocampus (HPC). However, inadequate evidence exists to address the relationships among these fear circuit areas in terms of the fear symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). By examining the behavioral profile in a Pavlovian fear conditioning paradigm together with tissue/efflux levels of dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) and their reuptake abilities across the fear circuit areas in rats that experienced single prolonged stress (SPS, a rodent model of PTSD), we demonstrated that SPS-impaired extinction retrieval was concomitant with the changes of central DA/NE in a dissociable manner. For tissue levels, diminished DA and increased NE were both observed in the mPFC and AMYG. DA efflux and synaptosomal DA transporter were consistently reduced in the AMYG/vHPC, whereas SPS reduced NE efflux in the infralimbic cortex and synaptosomal NE transporter in the mPFC. Furthermore, a lower expression of synaptosomal VMAT2 was observed in the mPFC, AMYG, and vHPC after SPS. Finally, negative correlations were observed between retrieval freezing and DA in the mPFC/AMYG; nevertheless, the phenomena became invalid after SPS. Our results suggest that central catecholamines are crucially involved in the retrieval of fear extinction in which DA and NE play distinctive roles across the fear circuit areas.
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Abstract
Fear memory is the best-studied form of memory. It was thoroughly investigated in the past 60 years mostly using two classical conditioning procedures (contextual fear conditioning and fear conditioning to a tone) and one instrumental procedure (one-trial inhibitory avoidance). Fear memory is formed in the hippocampus (contextual conditioning and inhibitory avoidance), in the basolateral amygdala (inhibitory avoidance), and in the lateral amygdala (conditioning to a tone). The circuitry involves, in addition, the pre- and infralimbic ventromedial prefrontal cortex, the central amygdala subnuclei, and the dentate gyrus. Fear learning models, notably inhibitory avoidance, have also been very useful for the analysis of the biochemical mechanisms of memory consolidation as a whole. These studies have capitalized on in vitro observations on long-term potentiation and other kinds of plasticity. The effect of a very large number of drugs on fear learning has been intensively studied, often as a prelude to the investigation of effects on anxiety. The extinction of fear learning involves to an extent a reversal of the flow of information in the mentioned structures and is used in the therapy of posttraumatic stress disorder and fear memories in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Izquierdo
- National Institute of Translational Neuroscience, National Research Council of Brazil, and Memory Center, Brain Institute, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Cristiane R. G. Furini
- National Institute of Translational Neuroscience, National Research Council of Brazil, and Memory Center, Brain Institute, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Jociane C. Myskiw
- National Institute of Translational Neuroscience, National Research Council of Brazil, and Memory Center, Brain Institute, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
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40
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From Memory Impairment to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder-Like Phenotypes: The Critical Role of an Unpredictable Second Traumatic Experience. J Neurosci 2016; 35:15903-15. [PMID: 26631471 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0771-15.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Arousal and stress critically regulate memory formation and retention. Increasing levels of stress produce an inverted U-shaped effect on cognitive performance, including the retention of explicit memories, and experiencing a severe stress during a traumatic event may lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The molecular mechanisms underlying the impairing effect of a severe stress on memory and the key contribution of traumatic experiences toward the development of PTSD are still unknown. Here, using increasing footshock intensities in an inhibitory avoidance paradigm, we reproduced the inverted U-shaped curve of memory performance in rats. We then show that the inverted U profile of memory performance correlates with an inverted U profile of corticosterone level in the circulation and of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, phosphorylated tropomyosin-receptor kinase B, and methyl CpG binding protein in the dorsal hippocampus. Furthermore, training with the highest footshock intensity (traumatic experience) led to a significant elevation of hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors. Exposure to an unpredictable, but not to a predictable, highly stressful reminder shock after a first traumatic experience resulted in PTSD-like phenotypes, including increased memory of the trauma, high anxiety, threat generalization, and resistance to extinction. Systemic corticosterone injection immediately after the traumatic experience, but not 3 d later, was sufficient to produce PTSD-like phenotypes. We suggest that, although after a first traumatic experience a suppression of the corticosterone-dependent response protects against the development of an anxiety disorder, experiencing more than one trauma (multiple hits) is a critical contributor to the etiology of PTSD.
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41
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Palmer CP, Metheny HE, Elkind JA, Cohen AS. Diminished amygdala activation and behavioral threat response following traumatic brain injury. Exp Neurol 2016; 277:215-226. [PMID: 26791254 PMCID: PMC4761321 DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2016.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2015] [Revised: 12/28/2015] [Accepted: 01/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Each year, approximately 3.8 million people suffer mild to moderate traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) that result in an array of neuropsychological symptoms and disorders. Despite these alarming statistics, the neurological bases of these persistent, debilitating neuropsychological symptoms are currently poorly understood. In this study we examined the effects of mTBI on the amygdala, a brain structure known to be critically involved in the processing of emotional stimuli. Seven days after lateral fluid percussion injury (LFPI), mice underwent a series of physiological and behavioral experiments to assess amygdala function. Brain-injured mice exhibited a decreased threat response in a cued fear conditioning paradigm, congruent with a decrease in amygdala excitability determined with basolateral amygdala (BLA) field excitatory post-synaptic potentials together with voltage-sensitive dye imaging (VSD). Furthermore, beyond exposing a general decrease in the excitability of the primary input of the amygdala, the lateral amygdala (LA), VSD also revealed a decrease in the relative strength or activation of internuclear amygdala circuit projections after LFPI. Thus, not only does activation of the LA require increased stimulation, but the proportion of this activation that is propagated to the primary output of the amygdala, the central amygdala, is also diminished following LFPI. Intracellular recordings revealed no changes in the intrinsic properties of BLA pyramidal neurons after LFPI. This data suggests that mild to moderate TBI has prominent effects on amygdala function and provides a potential neurological substrate for many of the neuropsychological symptoms suffered by TBI patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher P Palmer
- Neuroscience Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
| | - Hannah E Metheny
- Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
| | - Jaclynn A Elkind
- Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
| | - Akiva S Cohen
- Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States; Department of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
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42
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Maren S, Holmes A. Stress and Fear Extinction. Neuropsychopharmacology 2016; 41:58-79. [PMID: 26105142 PMCID: PMC4677122 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2015.180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 237] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2015] [Revised: 06/03/2015] [Accepted: 06/17/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Stress has a critical role in the development and expression of many psychiatric disorders, and is a defining feature of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Stress also limits the efficacy of behavioral therapies aimed at limiting pathological fear, such as exposure therapy. Here we examine emerging evidence that stress impairs recovery from trauma by impairing fear extinction, a form of learning thought to underlie the suppression of trauma-related fear memories. We describe the major structural and functional abnormalities in brain regions that are particularly vulnerable to stress, including the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus, which may underlie stress-induced impairments in extinction. We also discuss some of the stress-induced neurochemical and molecular alterations in these brain regions that are associated with extinction deficits, and the potential for targeting these changes to prevent or reverse impaired extinction. A better understanding of the neurobiological basis of stress effects on extinction promises to yield novel approaches to improving therapeutic outcomes for PTSD and other anxiety and trauma-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Andrew Holmes
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
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43
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Corcoran KA, Frick BJ, Radulovic J, Kay LM. Analysis of coherent activity between retrosplenial cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, and anterior cingulate cortex during retrieval of recent and remote context fear memory. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2016; 127:93-101. [PMID: 26691782 PMCID: PMC4718831 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2015.11.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2015] [Revised: 10/23/2015] [Accepted: 11/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Memory for contextual fear conditioning relies upon the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) regardless of how long ago conditioning occurred, whereas areas connected to the RSC, such as the dorsal hippocampus (DH) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) appear to play time-limited roles. To better understand whether these brain regions functionally interact during memory processing and how the passage of time affects these interactions, we simultaneously recorded local field potentials (LFPs) from these three regions as well as anterior dorsal thalamus (ADT), which provides one of the strongest inputs to RSC, and measured coherence of oscillatory activity within the theta (4-12Hz) and gamma (30-80Hz) frequency bands. We identified changes of theta coherence related to encoding, retrieval, and extinction of context fear, whereas changes in gamma coherence were restricted to fear extinction. Specifically, exposure to a novel context and retrieval of recently acquired fear conditioning memory were associated with increased theta coherence between RSC and all three other structures. In contrast, RSC-DH and RSC-ADT theta coherence were decreased in mice that successfully retrieved, relative to mice that failed to retrieve, remote memory. Greater RSC-ADT theta and gamma coherence were observed during recent, compared to remote, extinction of freezing responses. Thus, the degree of coherence between RSC and connected brain areas may predict and contribute to context memory retrieval and retrieval-related phenomena such as fear extinction. Importantly, although theta coherence in this circuit increases during memory encoding and retrieval of recent memory, failure to decrease RSC-DH theta coherence might be linked to retrieval deficit in the long term, and possibly contribute to aberrant memory processing characteristic of neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin A Corcoran
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Asher Center for the Study and Treatment of Depressive Disorders, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States.
| | - Brendan J Frick
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Asher Center for the Study and Treatment of Depressive Disorders, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Jelena Radulovic
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Asher Center for the Study and Treatment of Depressive Disorders, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Leslie M Kay
- Department of Psychology, Institute for Mind and Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
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Mika A, Bouchet CA, Bunker P, Hellwinkel JE, Spence KG, Day HEW, Campeau S, Fleshner M, Greenwood BN. Voluntary exercise during extinction of auditory fear conditioning reduces the relapse of fear associated with potentiated activity of striatal direct pathway neurons. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2015; 125:224-35. [PMID: 26454156 PMCID: PMC4648665 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2015.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2015] [Revised: 09/22/2015] [Accepted: 10/01/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Relapse of previously extinguished fear presents a significant, pervasive obstacle to the successful long-term treatment of anxiety and trauma-related disorders. Thus, identification of a novel means to enhance fear extinction to stand the passage of time and generalize across contexts is of the utmost importance. Acute bouts of exercise can be used as inexpensive, noninvasive treatment strategies to reduce anxiety, and have been shown to enhance memory for extinction when performed in close temporal proximity to the extinction session. However, it is unclear whether acute exercise can be used to prevent relapse of fear, and the neural mechanisms underlying this potential effect are unknown. The current study therefore examined whether acute exercise during extinction of auditory fear can protect against the later relapse of fear. Male F344 rats lacking an extended history of wheel running were conditioned to fear a tone CS and subsequently extinguished within either a freely mobile running wheel, a locked wheel, or a control context lacking a wheel. Rats exposed to fear extinction within a freely mobile wheel ran during fear extinction, and demonstrated reduced fear as well as attenuated corticosterone levels during re-exposure to the extinguished CS during the relapse test in a novel context 1week later. Examination of cfos mRNA patterns elicited by re-exposure to the extinguished CS during the relapse test revealed that acute exercise during extinction decreased activation of brain circuits classically involved in driving fear expression and interestingly, increased activity within neurons of the direct striatal pathway involved in reward signaling. These data suggest that exercise during extinction reduces relapse through a mechanism involving the direct pathway of the striatum. It is suggested that a positive affective state could become associated with the CS during exercise during extinction, thus resulting in a relapse-resistant extinction memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Mika
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, 354 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, United States; Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, UCB Boulder 80309, United States
| | - Courtney A Bouchet
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO 80217, United States
| | - Preston Bunker
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, 354 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, United States
| | - Justin E Hellwinkel
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, 354 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, United States
| | - Katie G Spence
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, 354 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, United States
| | - Heidi E W Day
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, 345 UCB Boulder CO 80309, United States; Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, UCB Boulder 80309, United States
| | - Serge Campeau
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, 345 UCB Boulder CO 80309, United States; Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, UCB Boulder 80309, United States
| | - Monika Fleshner
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, 354 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, United States; Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, UCB Boulder 80309, United States
| | - Benjamin N Greenwood
- Department of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, CO 80217, United States.
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45
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Ang ST, Lee ATH, Foo FC, Ng L, Low CM, Khanna S. GABAergic neurons of the medial septum play a nodal role in facilitation of nociception-induced affect. Sci Rep 2015; 5:15419. [PMID: 26487082 PMCID: PMC4614072 DOI: 10.1038/srep15419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2015] [Accepted: 09/25/2015] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The present study explored the functional details of the influence of medial septal region (MSDB) on spectrum of nociceptive behaviours by manipulating intraseptal GABAergic mechanisms. Results showed that formalin-induced acute nociception was not affected by intraseptal microinjection of bicuculline, a GABAA receptor antagonist, or on selective lesion of septal GABAergic neurons. Indeed, the acute nociceptive responses were dissociated from the regulation of sensorimotor behaviour and generation of theta-rhythm by the GABAergic mechanisms in MSDB. The GABAergic lesion attenuated formalin-induced unconditioned cellular response in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and blocked formalin-induced conditioned place avoidance (F-CPA), and as well as the contextual fear induced on conditioning with brief footshock. The effects of lesion on nociceptive-conditioned cellular responses were, however, variable. Interestingly, the lesion attenuated the conditioned representation of experimental context in dorsal hippocampus field CA1 in the F-CPA task. Collectively, the preceding suggests that the MSDB is a nodal centre wherein the GABAergic neurons mediate nociceptive affect-motivation by regulating cellular mechanisms in ACC that confer an aversive value to the noxious stimulus. Further, in conjunction with a modulatory influence on hippocampal contextual processing, MSDB may integrate affect with context as part of associative learning in the F-CPA task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seok Ting Ang
- Departments of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, 10 Medical Dr, Singapore
- Neurobiology Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd, Singapore
| | - Andy Thiam Huat Lee
- Departments of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, 10 Medical Dr, Singapore
- Neurobiology Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd, Singapore
| | - Fang Chee Foo
- Departments of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, 10 Medical Dr, Singapore
- Neurobiology Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd, Singapore
| | - Lynn Ng
- Departments of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, 10 Medical Dr, Singapore
| | - Chian-Ming Low
- Departments of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, 10 Medical Dr, Singapore
- Departments of Anaesthesia, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, 10 Medical Dr, Singapore
- Neurobiology Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd, Singapore
| | - Sanjay Khanna
- Departments of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, 10 Medical Dr, Singapore
- Neurobiology Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd, Singapore
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Langberg T, Dashek R, Mulvey B, Miller KA, Osting S, Stafstrom CE, Sutula TP. Distinct behavioral phenotypes in novel "fast" kindling-susceptible and "slow" kindling-resistant rat strains selected by stimulation of the hippocampal perforant path. Neurobiol Dis 2015; 85:122-129. [PMID: 26462817 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2015.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2015] [Revised: 09/29/2015] [Accepted: 10/08/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Kindling is a phenomenon of activity-dependent neural circuit plasticity induced by repeated seizures that results in progressive permanent increases in susceptibility to epilepsy. As the permanent structural and functional modifications induced by kindling include a diverse range of molecular, cellular, and functional alterations in neural circuits, it is of interest to determine if genetic background associated with seizure-induced plasticity might also influence plasticity in neural circuitry underlying other behaviors. Outbred Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were selected and bred for ~15 generations for "fast' or "slow" rates of kindling development in response to stimulation of the perforant path input to the hippocampus. After 7-8 generations of selection and breeding, consistent phenotypes of "fast" and "slow" kindling rates were observed. By the 15th generation "fast" kindling rats referred to as Perforant Path Kindling Susceptible (PPKS) rats demonstrated a kindling rate of 10.7 ± 1.1 afterdischarges (ADs) to the milestone of the first secondary generalized (Class V) seizure, which differed significantly from "slow" kindling Perforant Path Kindling Resistant (PPKR) rats requiring 25.5 ± 2.0 ADs, and outbred SD rats requiring 16.8 ± 2.5 ADs (p<0.001, ANOVA). Seizure-naïve adult PPKS and PPKR rats from offspring of this generation and age-matched adult outbred SD rats were compared in validated behavioral measures including the open field test as a measure of exploratory activity, the Morris water maze as a measure of hippocampal spatial memory, and fear conditioning as a behavioral paradigm of associative fear learning. The PPKS ("fast" kindling) strain with increased susceptibility to seizure-induced plasticity demonstrated statistically significant increases in motor exploratory activity in the open field test and reduced spatial learning the Morris water maze, but demonstrated normal fear conditioned learning comparable to outbred SD rats and the "slow" kindling-resistant PPKR strain. These results confirm that selection and breeding on the basis of responses to repeated pathway activation by stimulation can produce enduring modification of genetic background influencing behavior. These observations also suggest that genetic background underlying susceptibility or resistance to seizure-induced plasticity in hippocampal circuitry also differentially influences distinct behaviors and learning that depend on circuitry activated by the kindling selection process, and may have implications for associations between epilepsy, comorbid behavioral conditions, and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomer Langberg
- Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 1685 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705, United States.
| | - Ryan Dashek
- Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 1685 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705, United States.
| | - Bernard Mulvey
- Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 1685 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705, United States.
| | - Kimberly A Miller
- Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 1685 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705, United States.
| | - Susan Osting
- Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 1685 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705, United States.
| | - Carl E Stafstrom
- Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 1685 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705, United States.
| | - Thomas P Sutula
- Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 1685 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705, United States.
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47
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Ballinger MD, Saito A, Abazyan B, Taniguchi Y, Huang CH, Ito K, Zhu X, Segal H, Jaaro-Peled H, Sawa A, Mackie K, Pletnikov MV, Kamiya A. Adolescent cannabis exposure interacts with mutant DISC1 to produce impaired adult emotional memory. Neurobiol Dis 2015; 82:176-184. [PMID: 26093170 PMCID: PMC4640936 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2015.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2014] [Revised: 06/05/2015] [Accepted: 06/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Cannabis is an increasingly popular and controversial drug used worldwide. Cannabis use often begins during adolescence, a highly susceptible period for environmental stimuli to alter functional and structural organization of the developing brain. Given that adolescence is a critical time for the emergence of mental illnesses before full-onset in early adulthood, it is particularly important to investigate how genetic insults and adolescent cannabis exposure interact to affect brain development and function. Here we show for the first time that a perturbation in disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) exacerbates the response to adolescent exposure to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ(9)-THC), a major psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, consistent with the concept that gene-environment interaction may contribute to the pathophysiology of psychiatric conditions. We found that chronic adolescent treatment with Δ(9)-THC exacerbates deficits in fear-associated memory in adult mice that express a putative dominant-negative mutant of DISC1 (DN-DISC1). Synaptic expression of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) is down-regulated in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala, critical brain regions for fear-associated memory, by either expression of DN-DISC1 or adolescent Δ(9)-THC treatment. Notably, elevation of c-Fos expression evoked by context-dependent fear memory retrieval is impaired in these brain regions in DN-DISC1 mice. We also found a synergistic reduction of c-Fos expression induced by cue-dependent fear memory retrieval in DN-DISC1 with adolescent Δ(9)-THC exposure. These results suggest that alteration of CB1R-mediated signaling in DN-DISC1 mice may underlie susceptibility to detrimental effects of adolescent cannabis exposure on adult behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael D Ballinger
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Atsushi Saito
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Bagrat Abazyan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Yu Taniguchi
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ching-Hsun Huang
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Koki Ito
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Xiaolei Zhu
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Hadar Segal
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Hanna Jaaro-Peled
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Akira Sawa
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ken Mackie
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Mikhail V Pletnikov
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Atsushi Kamiya
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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48
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The learning of fear extinction. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 47:670-83. [PMID: 25452113 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.10.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2014] [Revised: 10/19/2014] [Accepted: 10/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Recent work on the extinction of fear-motivated learning places emphasis on its putative circuitry and on its modulation. Extinction is the learned inhibition of retrieval of previously acquired responses. Fear extinction is used as a major component of exposure therapy in the treatment of fear memories such as those of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is initiated and maintained by interactions between the hippocampus, basolateral amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which involve feedback regulation of the latter by the other two areas. Fear extinction depends on NMDA receptor activation. It is positively modulated by d-serine acting on the glycine site of NMDA receptors and blocked by AP5 (2-amino-5-phosphono propionate) in the three structures. In addition, histamine acting on H2 receptors and endocannabinoids acting on CB1 receptors in the three brain areas mentioned, and muscarinic cholinergic fibers from the medial septum to hippocampal CA1 positively modulate fear extinction. Importantly, fear extinction can be made state-dependent on circulating epinephrine, which may play a role in situations of stress. Exposure to a novel experience can strongly enhance the consolidation of fear extinction through a synaptic tagging and capture mechanism; this may be useful in the therapy of states caused by fear memory like PTSD.
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Camarena V, Cao L, Abad C, Abrams A, Toledo Y, Araki K, Araki M, Walz K, Young JI. Disruption of Mbd5 in mice causes neuronal functional deficits and neurobehavioral abnormalities consistent with 2q23.1 microdeletion syndrome. EMBO Mol Med 2015; 6:1003-15. [PMID: 25001218 PMCID: PMC4154129 DOI: 10.15252/emmm.201404044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
2q23.1 microdeletion syndrome is characterized by intellectual disability, motor delay, autistic-like behaviors, and a distinctive craniofacial phenotype. All patients carry a partial or total deletion of methyl-CpG-binding domain protein 5 (MBD5), suggesting that haploinsufficiency of this gene is responsible for the phenotype. To confirm this hypothesis and to examine the role of MBD5 in vivo, we have generated and characterized an Mbd5 gene-trap mouse model. Our study indicates that the Mbd5+/GT mouse model recapitulates most of the hallmark phenotypes observed in 2q23.1 deletion carriers including abnormal social behavior, cognitive impairment, and motor and craniofacial abnormalities. In addition, neuronal cultures uncovered a deficiency in neurite outgrowth. These findings support a causal role of MBD5 in 2q23.1 microdeletion syndrome and suggest a role for MBD5 in neuronal processes. The Mbd5+/GT mouse model will advance our understanding of the abnormal brain development underlying the emergence of 2q23.1 deletion-associated behavioral and cognitive symptoms. Subject Categories Genetics, Gene Therapy & Genetic Disease; Neuroscience
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Camarena
- Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Lei Cao
- Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Clemer Abad
- John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, Miller School of Medicine University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Alexander Abrams
- Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Yaima Toledo
- Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Kimi Araki
- Institute of Resource Development and Analysis, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Masatake Araki
- Institute of Resource Development and Analysis, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Katherina Walz
- Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, Miller School of Medicine University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Juan I Young
- Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, Miller School of Medicine University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
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50
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Singewald N, Schmuckermair C, Whittle N, Holmes A, Ressler KJ. Pharmacology of cognitive enhancers for exposure-based therapy of fear, anxiety and trauma-related disorders. Pharmacol Ther 2014; 149:150-90. [PMID: 25550231 PMCID: PMC4380664 DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2014.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 272] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2014] [Accepted: 12/24/2014] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Pathological fear and anxiety are highly debilitating and, despite considerable advances in psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy they remain insufficiently treated in many patients with PTSD, phobias, panic and other anxiety disorders. Increasing preclinical and clinical evidence indicates that pharmacological treatments including cognitive enhancers, when given as adjuncts to psychotherapeutic approaches [cognitive behavioral therapy including extinction-based exposure therapy] enhance treatment efficacy, while using anxiolytics such as benzodiazepines as adjuncts can undermine long-term treatment success. The purpose of this review is to outline the literature showing how pharmacological interventions targeting neurotransmitter systems including serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, histamine, glutamate, GABA, cannabinoids, neuropeptides (oxytocin, neuropeptides Y and S, opioids) and other targets (neurotrophins BDNF and FGF2, glucocorticoids, L-type-calcium channels, epigenetic modifications) as well as their downstream signaling pathways, can augment fear extinction and strengthen extinction memory persistently in preclinical models. Particularly promising approaches are discussed in regard to their effects on specific aspects of fear extinction namely, acquisition, consolidation and retrieval, including long-term protection from return of fear (relapse) phenomena like spontaneous recovery, reinstatement and renewal of fear. We also highlight the promising translational value of the preclinial research and the clinical potential of targeting certain neurochemical systems with, for example d-cycloserine, yohimbine, cortisol, and L-DOPA. The current body of research reveals important new insights into the neurobiology and neurochemistry of fear extinction and holds significant promise for pharmacologically-augmented psychotherapy as an improved approach to treat trauma and anxiety-related disorders in a more efficient and persistent way promoting enhanced symptom remission and recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Singewald
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Pharmacy and CMBI, Leopold-Franzens University of Innsbruck, Innrain 80-82, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - C Schmuckermair
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Pharmacy and CMBI, Leopold-Franzens University of Innsbruck, Innrain 80-82, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - N Whittle
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Pharmacy and CMBI, Leopold-Franzens University of Innsbruck, Innrain 80-82, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - A Holmes
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - K J Ressler
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
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