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Martín-Sánchez A, González-Pardo H, Alegre-Zurano L, Castro-Zavala A, López-Taboada I, Valverde O, Conejo NM. Early-life stress induces emotional and molecular alterations in female mice that are partially reversed by cannabidiol. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2022; 115:110508. [PMID: 34973413 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2021.110508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Gender is considered as a pivotal determinant of mental health. Indeed, several psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression are more common and persistent in women than in men. In the past two decades, impaired brain energy metabolism has been highlighted as a risk factor for the development of these psychiatric disorders. However, comprehensive behavioural and neurobiological studies in brain regions relevant to anxiety and depression symptomatology are scarce. In the present study, we summarize findings describing cannabidiol effects on anxiety and depression in maternally separated female mice as a well-established rodent model of early-life stress associated with many mental disorders. Our results indicate that cannabidiol could prevent anxiolytic- and depressive-related behaviour in early-life stressed female mice. Additionally, maternal separation with early weaning (MSEW) caused long-term changes in brain oxidative metabolism in both nucleus accumbens and amygdalar complex measured by cytochrome c oxidase quantitative histochemistry. However, cannabidiol treatment could not revert brain oxidative metabolism impairment. Moreover, we identified hyperphosphorylation of mTOR and ERK 1/2 proteins in the amygdala but not in the striatum, that could also reflect altered brain intracellular signalling related with to bioenergetic impairment. Altogether, our study supports the hypothesis that MSEW induces profound long-lasting molecular changes in mTOR signalling and brain energy metabolism related to depressive-like and anxiety-like behaviours in female mice, which were partially ameliorated by CBD administration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Martín-Sánchez
- Neurobiology of Behaviour Research Group (GReNeC-NeuroBio), Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; Neuroscience Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Héctor González-Pardo
- Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Plaza Feijóo, Oviedo, Spain; Instituto de Neurociencias del Principado de Asturias (INEUROPA), University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain
| | - Laia Alegre-Zurano
- Neurobiology of Behaviour Research Group (GReNeC-NeuroBio), Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Adriana Castro-Zavala
- Neurobiology of Behaviour Research Group (GReNeC-NeuroBio), Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Isabel López-Taboada
- Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Plaza Feijóo, Oviedo, Spain; Instituto de Neurociencias del Principado de Asturias (INEUROPA), University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Olga Valverde
- Neurobiology of Behaviour Research Group (GReNeC-NeuroBio), Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; Neuroscience Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Nélida M Conejo
- Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Plaza Feijóo, Oviedo, Spain; Instituto de Neurociencias del Principado de Asturias (INEUROPA), University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain
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McCoy CR, Sabbagh MN, Huaman JP, Pickrell AM, Clinton SM. Oxidative metabolism alterations in the emotional brain of anxiety-prone rats. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2019; 95:109706. [PMID: 31330216 PMCID: PMC6708503 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2019.109706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2019] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Mood disorders such as anxiety and depression are heterogeneous disorders with many sufferers unresponsive to current pharmacological treatments. Individual differences in temperament represent one factor that may underlie symptom heterogeneity, so understanding its biological underpinnings can help pave the way to personalized therapies and improved patient outcomes. The present study uses a rodent model of temperamental differences to examine whether individual differences in emotional behavior phenotypes correspond to altered limbic brain cellular metabolism, an indicator of neuronal activity. The model uses two selectively bred rat lines - high novelty responder rats (HRs) that show highly exploratory behavior in a novel environment, active coping style and resilience to chronic mild stress compared to low novelty responder rats (LRs), which are inhibited in novel environments, display passive coping style, and are susceptible to chronic stress. Utilizing transcriptome data from a prior study in adult HR/LR rats, we first show that a preponderance of genes differing in the HR vs. LR hippocampus and amygdala are involved in cellular metabolism. This led us to then ask if oxygen consumption was altered in isolated mitochondria of the hippocampus and amygdala of HR/LR rats; here we found increased oxygen consumption reserve capacity in LR amygdala. Our last experiment examined activity of cytochrome c oxidase (COX), an enzyme responsible for ATP production and correlate of metabolic activity, in several brain regions of HR/LR rats. We found that LRs displayed higher COX activity in the dentate gyrus, prefrontal cortex, and dorsal raphe compared to HRs, with no significant HR/LR difference in nuclei of the amygdala. Correlational analyses of COX activity across brain regions suggested divergent connectivity between the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and dorsal raphe of HR vs. LR rats. Together these studies point to altered cellular metabolism in the limbic brain of LR/HR animals, which may reflect altered neural circuitry that drives their divergent behavioral profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Sarah M. Clinton
- Corresponding author at: Integrated Life Sciences Building (ILSB), 1981 Kraft Drive, Blacksburg, VA, , Phone: (540) 231-5946
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Barrett DW, Gonzalez-Lima F. Prefrontal-limbic Functional Connectivity during Acquisition and Extinction of Conditioned Fear. Neuroscience 2018; 376:162-171. [PMID: 29477695 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.02.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2017] [Revised: 02/12/2018] [Accepted: 02/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
This study is a new analysis to obtain novel metabolic data on the functional connectivity of prefrontal-limbic regions in Pavlovian fear acquisition and extinction of tone-footshock conditioning. Mice were analyzed with the fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) autoradiographic method to metabolically map regional brain activity. New FDG data were sampled from the nuclei of the habenula and other regions implicated in aversive conditioning, such as infralimbic cortex, amygdala and periaqueductal gray regions. The activity patterns among these regions were inter-correlated during acquisition, extinction or pseudorandom training to develop a functional connectivity model. Two subdivisions of the habenular complex showed increased activity after acquisition relative to extinction, with the pseudorandom group intermediate between the other two groups. Significant acquisition activation effects were also found in centromedial amygdala, dorsomedial and ventrolateral periaqueductal gray. FDG uptake increases during extinction were found only in dorsal and ventral infralimbic cortex. The overall pattern of activity correlations between these regions revealed extensive but differential functional connectivity during acquisition and extinction training, with less functional connectivity found after pseudorandom training. Interestingly, habenula nuclei showed a distinct pattern of inter-correlations with amygdala nuclei during extinction. The functional connectivity model revealed changing interactions among infralimbic cortex, amygdala, habenula and periaqueductal gray regions through the stages of Pavlovian fear acquisition and extinction. This study provided new data on the contributions of the habenula to fear conditioning, and revealed previously unreported infralimbic-amygdala-habenula-periaqueductal gray interactions implicated in acquisition and extinction of conditioned fear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas W Barrett
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - F Gonzalez-Lima
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
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4
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Shumake J, Gonzalez-Lima F. Brain Systems Underlying Susceptibility to Helplessness and Depression. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016; 2:198-221. [PMID: 15006293 DOI: 10.1177/1534582303259057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
There has been a relative lack of research into the neurobiological predispositions that confer vulnerability to depression. This article reviews functional brain mappings from a genetic animal model, the congenitally helpless rat, which is predisposed to develop learned helplessness. Neurometabolic findings from this model are integrated with the neuroscientific literature from other animal models of depression as well as depressed humans. Changes in four major brain systems are suggested to underlie susceptibility to helplessness and possibly depression: (a) an unbalanced prefrontal-cingulate cortical system, (b) a dissociated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, (c) a dissociated septal-hippocampal system, and (d) a hypoactive brain reward system, as exemplified by a hypermetabolic habenula-interpeduncular nucleus pathway and a hypometabolic ventral tegmental area-striatum pathway. Functional interconnections and causal relationships among these systems are considered and further experiments are suggested, with theoretical attention to how an abnormality in any one system could affect the others.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Shumake
- Department of Psycology, University of Texas at Austin, USA
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McCoy CR, Golf SR, Melendez-Ferro M, Perez-Costas E, Glover ME, Jackson NL, Stringfellow SA, Pugh PC, Fant AD, Clinton SM. Altered metabolic activity in the developing brain of rats predisposed to high versus low depression-like behavior. Neuroscience 2016; 324:469-484. [PMID: 26979051 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2015] [Revised: 02/27/2016] [Accepted: 03/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Individual differences in human temperament can increase the risk of psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety. Our laboratory utilized a rat model of temperamental differences to assess neurodevelopmental factors underlying emotional behavior differences. Rats selectively bred for low novelty exploration (Low Responders, LR) display high levels of anxiety- and depression-like behavior compared to High Novelty Responder (HR) rats. Using transcriptome profiling, the present study uncovered vast gene expression differences in the early postnatal HR versus LR limbic brain, including changes in genes involved in cellular metabolism. These data led us to hypothesize that rats prone to high (versus low) anxiety/depression-like behavior exhibit distinct patterns of brain metabolism during the first weeks of life, which may reflect disparate patterns of synaptogenesis and brain circuit development. Thus, in a second experiment we examined activity of cytochrome C oxidase (COX), an enzyme responsible for ATP production and a correlate of metabolic activity, to explore functional energetic differences in the HR/LR early postnatal brain. We found that HR rats display higher COX activity in the amygdala and specific hippocampal subregions compared to LRs during the first 2 weeks of life. Correlational analysis examining COX levels across several brain regions and multiple early postnatal time points suggested desynchronization in the developmental timeline of the limbic HR versus LR brain during the first two postnatal weeks. These early divergent COX activity levels may reflect altered circuitry or synaptic activity in the early postnatal HR/LR brain, which could contribute to the emergence of their distinct behavioral phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chelsea R McCoy
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, 1720 7th Ave S., SC 745, University of Alabama-Birmingham AL, USA
| | - Samantha R Golf
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, 1720 7th Ave S., SC 745, University of Alabama-Birmingham AL, USA
| | - Miguel Melendez-Ferro
- Department of Surgery, 1600 7 Ave S., ACC300, University of Alabama-Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Emma Perez-Costas
- Department of Pediatrics, 1600 7 Ave S., ACC502, University of Alabama-Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Matthew E Glover
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, 1720 7th Ave S., SC 745, University of Alabama-Birmingham AL, USA
| | - Nateka L Jackson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, 1720 7th Ave S., SC 745, University of Alabama-Birmingham AL, USA
| | - Sara A Stringfellow
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, 1720 7th Ave S., SC 745, University of Alabama-Birmingham AL, USA
| | - Phyllis C Pugh
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, 1720 7th Ave S., SC 745, University of Alabama-Birmingham AL, USA
| | - Andrew D Fant
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 27599, USA
| | - Sarah M Clinton
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, 1720 7th Ave S., SC 745, University of Alabama-Birmingham AL, USA
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Andrews PW, Bharwani A, Lee KR, Fox M, Thomson JA. Is serotonin an upper or a downer? The evolution of the serotonergic system and its role in depression and the antidepressant response. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 51:164-88. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.01.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 169] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2013] [Revised: 01/08/2015] [Accepted: 01/15/2015] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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7
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Garafola CS, Henn FA. A change in hippocampal protocadherin gamma expression in a learned helpless rat. Brain Res 2014; 1593:55-64. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2014.08.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2014] [Revised: 08/09/2014] [Accepted: 08/25/2014] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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9
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Glenn DE, Minor TR, Vervliet B, Craske MG. The effect of glucose on hippocampal-dependent contextual fear conditioning. Biol Psychiatry 2014; 75:847-54. [PMID: 24199667 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.09.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2012] [Revised: 09/17/2013] [Accepted: 09/20/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The metabolic challenge of trauma disrupts hippocampal functioning, which is necessary for processing the complex co-occurring elements comprising the traumatic context. Poor contextual memory of trauma may subsequently contribute to intrusive memories and overgeneralization of fear. Glucose consumption following trauma may be a means to protect hippocampal functioning and contextual fear learning. This study experimentally examined the effect of glucose on hippocampal-dependent contextual learning versus cued fear learning in humans. METHODS Forty-two male participants underwent cued conditioning with an unconditional stimulus (US) (shock) paired with a discrete conditional stimulus (geometric shape) and context conditioning (requiring hippocampal processing) with a US unpredictably paired with a background context (picture of room). Participants were then blindly randomized to consume either a 25 g glucose or sweet-tasting placebo drink and returned for a test phase 24 hours later. Measures included acoustic startle response, US expectancy, blood glucose levels, and arousal ratings. RESULTS The glucose group showed superior retention of hippocampal-dependent contextual learning at test relative to the placebo group, as demonstrated by acoustic startle response and US expectancy ratings. Glucose and placebo groups did not differ on any measure of cued fear learning at test. CONCLUSIONS This study provides experimental evidence that in mildly stressed humans postconditioning glucose consumption improves retention of hippocampal-dependent contextual learning but not cued learning. Ultimately, glucose consumption following trauma may be a means of improving learning about the traumatic context, thereby preventing subsequent development of symptoms of posttraumatic stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E Glenn
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
| | - Thomas R Minor
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Bram Vervliet
- Department of Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Michelle G Craske
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, California
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Mirrione MM, Schulz D, Lapidus KAB, Zhang S, Goodman W, Henn FA. Increased metabolic activity in the septum and habenula during stress is linked to subsequent expression of learned helplessness behavior. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:29. [PMID: 24550809 PMCID: PMC3909949 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2013] [Accepted: 01/13/2014] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Uncontrollable stress can have a profound effect on an organism's ability to respond effectively to future stressful situations. Behavior subsequent to uncontrollable stress can vary greatly between individuals, falling on a spectrum between healthy resilience and maladaptive learned helplessness. It is unclear whether dysfunctional brain activity during uncontrollable stress is associated with vulnerability to learned helplessness; therefore, we measured metabolic activity during uncontrollable stress that correlated with ensuing inability to escape future stressors. We took advantage of small animal positron emission tomography (PET) and 2-deoxy-2[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose ((18)FDG) to probe in vivo metabolic activity in wild type Sprague Dawley rats during uncontrollable, inescapable, unpredictable foot-shock stress, and subsequently tested the animals response to controllable, escapable, predictable foot-shock stress. When we correlated metabolic activity during the uncontrollable stress with consequent behavioral outcomes, we found that the degree to which animals failed to escape the foot-shock correlated with increased metabolic activity in the lateral septum and habenula. When used a seed region, metabolic activity in the habenula correlated with activity in the lateral septum, hypothalamus, medial thalamus, mammillary nuclei, ventral tegmental area, central gray, interpeduncular nuclei, periaqueductal gray, dorsal raphe, and rostromedial tegmental nucleus, caudal linear raphe, and subiculum transition area. Furthermore, the lateral septum correlated with metabolic activity in the preoptic area, medial thalamus, habenula, interpeduncular nuclei, periaqueductal gray, dorsal raphe, and caudal linear raphe. Together, our data suggest a group of brain regions involved in sensitivity to uncontrollable stress involving the lateral septum and habenula.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martine M. Mirrione
- Biomedical Sciences Department, Quinnipiac UniversityHamden, CT, USA
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NeuroscienceCold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Medical DepartmentUpton, NY, USA
| | - Daniela Schulz
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Medical DepartmentUpton, NY, USA
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Stony Brook UniversityStony Brook, NY, USA
| | | | - Samuel Zhang
- Psychiatry Department, Icahn School of MedicineNew York, NY, USA
| | - Wayne Goodman
- Psychiatry Department, Icahn School of MedicineNew York, NY, USA
| | - Fritz A. Henn
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NeuroscienceCold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Medical DepartmentUpton, NY, USA
- Psychiatry Department, Icahn School of MedicineNew York, NY, USA
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Biedermann S, Weber-Fahr W, Zheng L, Hoyer C, Vollmayr B, Gass P, Ende G, Sartorius A. Increase of hippocampal glutamate after electroconvulsive treatment: a quantitative proton MR spectroscopy study at 9.4 T in an animal model of depression. World J Biol Psychiatry 2012; 13:447-57. [PMID: 21767208 DOI: 10.3109/15622975.2011.580778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Recent evidence suggests that alterations in hippocampal glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are associated with the pathomechanism of depression and treatment effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Thus, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H MRS) at a 9.4 T animal system seems a promising tool to study underlying mechanisms since it allows for an accurate quantification of metabolites with distinction of glutamate, GABA and glutamine, as well as separation of taurine from choline. METHODS A well-validated animal model of treatment resistant depression (congenital learned helpless rats = cLH) was investigated by hippocampal in vivo ¹H MRS with and without a 1-week course of electroconvulsive shocks (ECS), an animal model of ECT, and compared to wild type (WT) animals, while saline and clomipramine injections served as additional controls. RESULTS Untreated cLH rats showed significantly lower glucose and higher taurine concentrations compared to WT animals. Besides alterations on these metabolites, ECS increased glutamate in WT and cLH and choline in cLH rats. Moreover, correlations between glutamate and GABA concentrations with learned helpless behaviour were revealed. CONCLUSIONS These findings support the idea of disordered hippocampal metabolism in an animal model of treatment resistant depression and suggest an early impact of ECS on MR-detectable hippocampal metabolites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Biedermann
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Department of Neuroimaging, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
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Mapping patterns of depression-related brain regions with cytochrome oxidase histochemistry: Relevance of animal affective systems to human disorders, with a focus on resilience to adverse events. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2011; 35:1876-89. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.02.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2010] [Revised: 02/24/2011] [Accepted: 02/25/2011] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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Shumake J, Colorado RA, Barrett DW, Gonzalez-Lima F. Metabolic mapping of the effects of the antidepressant fluoxetine on the brains of congenitally helpless rats. Brain Res 2010; 1343:218-25. [PMID: 20470763 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2010] [Revised: 05/03/2010] [Accepted: 05/04/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Antidepressants require adaptive brain changes before efficacy is achieved, and they may impact the affectively disordered brain differently than the normal brain. We previously demonstrated metabolic disturbances in limbic and cortical regions of the congenitally helpless rat, a model of susceptibility to affective disorder, and we wished to test whether administration of fluoxetine would normalize these metabolic differences. Fluoxetine was chosen because it has become a first-line drug for the treatment of affective disorders. We hypothesized that fluoxetine antidepressant effects may be mediated by decreasing metabolism in the habenula and increasing metabolism in the ventral tegmental area. We measured the effects of fluoxetine on forced swim behavior and regional brain cytochrome oxidase activity in congenitally helpless rats treated for 2 weeks with fluoxetine (5mg/kg, i.p., daily). Fluoxetine reduced immobility in the forced swim test as anticipated, but congenitally helpless rats responded in an atypical manner, i.e., increasing climbing without affecting swimming. As hypothesized, fluoxetine reduced metabolism in the habenula and increased metabolism in the ventral tegmental area. In addition, fluoxetine reduced the metabolism of the hippocampal dentate gyrus and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. This study provided the first detailed mapping of the regional brain effects of an antidepressant drug in congenitally helpless rats. All of the effects were consistent with previous studies that have metabolically mapped the effects of serotonergic antidepressants in the normal rat brain, and were in the predicted direction of metabolic normalization of the congenitally helpless rat for all affected brain regions except the prefrontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Shumake
- Department of Psychology and Pharmacology, University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA
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Harro J. Inter-individual differences in neurobiology as vulnerability factors for affective disorders: implications for psychopharmacology. Pharmacol Ther 2009; 125:402-22. [PMID: 20005252 DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2009.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2009] [Accepted: 11/25/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Susceptibility to affective disorders is individually different, and determined both by genetic variance and life events that cause significant differences in the CNS structure and function between individual subjects. Therefore it is plausible that search for the inter-individual differences in endophenotypes that mediate the effects of causal factors, both genetic and environmental, will reveal the substrates for vulnerability, help to clarify pathogenetic mechanisms, and possibly aid in developing strategies to discover better, more personalized treatments. This review first examines comparatively a number of animal models of human affect and affect-related disorders that rely on persistent inter-individual differences, and then highlights some of the neurobiological findings in these models that are compatible with much of research in human behavioural and personality traits. Many behaviours occur in specific combinations in several models, but often remarkable dissociations are observed, providing a variety of constellations of traits. It is concluded that more systematic comparative experimentation on behaviour and neurobiology in different models is warranted to reveal possible "building blocks" of affect-related personality common in animals and humans. Looking into the perspectives in psychopharmacology the focus is placed on probable associations of inter-individual differences with brain structure and function, personality and coping strategies, and psychiatric vulnerability, highlighting some unexpected interactions between vulnerability endophenotypes, adverse life events, and behavioural traits. It is argued that further studies on inter-individual differences in affect and underlying neurobiology should include formal modeling of their epistatic, hierarchical and dynamic nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaanus Harro
- Department of Psychology, University of Tartu, Estonian Centre of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Tiigi 78, 50410 Tartu, Estonia.
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15
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Zanelati TV, Biojone C, Moreira FA, Guimarães FS, Joca SRL. Antidepressant-like effects of cannabidiol in mice: possible involvement of 5-HT1A receptors. Br J Pharmacol 2009; 159:122-8. [PMID: 20002102 DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.2009.00521.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 280] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychotomimetic compound from Cannabis sativa that induces anxiolytic- and antipsychotic-like effects in animal models. Effects of CBD may be mediated by the activation of 5-HT(1A) receptors. As 5-HT(1A) receptor activation may induce antidepressant-like effects, the aim of this work was to test the hypothesis that CBD would have antidepressant-like activity in mice as assessed by the forced swimming test. We also investigated if these responses depended on the activation of 5-HT(1A) receptors and on hippocampal expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Male Swiss mice were given (i.p.) CBD (3, 10, 30, 100 mg*kg(-1)), imipramine (30 mg*kg(-1)) or vehicle and were submitted to the forced swimming test or to an open field arena, 30 min later. An additional group received WAY100635 (0.1 mg*kg(-1), i.p.), a 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist, before CBD (30 mg*kg(-1)) and assessment by the forced swimming test. BDNF protein levels were measured in the hippocampus of another group of mice treated with CBD (30 mg*kg(-1)) and submitted to the forced swimming test. KEY RESULTS CBD (30 mg*kg(-1)) treatment reduced immobility time in the forced swimming test, as did the prototype antidepressant imipramine, without changing exploratory behaviour in the open field arena. WAY100635 pretreatment blocked CBD-induced effect in the forced swimming test. CBD (30 mg*kg(-1)) treatment did not change hippocampal BDNF levels. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS CBD induces antidepressant-like effects comparable to those of imipramine. These effects of CBD were probably mediated by activation of 5-HT(1A) receptors.
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Affiliation(s)
- T V Zanelati
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
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16
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Effect of chronic stress on behavior and cerebral oxidative metabolism in rats with high or low positive affect. Neuroscience 2009; 164:963-74. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.08.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2009] [Revised: 08/14/2009] [Accepted: 08/16/2009] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Bipolar and major depressive disorder: neuroimaging the developmental-degenerative divide. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2009; 33:699-771. [PMID: 19428491 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2009.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 361] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2009] [Accepted: 01/14/2009] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Both major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder are the subject of a voluminous imaging and genetics literature. Here, we attempt a comprehensive review of MRI and metabolic PET studies conducted to date on these two disorders, and interpret our findings from the perspective of developmental and degenerative models of illness. Elevated activity and volume loss of the hippocampus, orbital and ventral prefrontal cortex are recurrent themes in the literature. In contrast, dorsal aspects of the PFC tend to display hypometabolism. Ventriculomegaly and white matter hyperintensities are intimately associated with depression in elderly populations and likely have a vascular origin. Important confounding influences are medication, phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity, and technological limitations. We suggest that environmental stress and genetic risk variants interact with each other in a complex manner to alter neural circuitry and precipitate illness. Imaging genetic approaches hold out promise for advancing our understanding of affective illness.
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O'Reilly KC, Shumake J, Bailey SJ, Gonzalez-Lima F, Lane MA. Chronic 13-cis-retinoic acid administration disrupts network interactions between the raphe nuclei and the hippocampal system in young adult mice. Eur J Pharmacol 2009; 605:68-77. [PMID: 19168052 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2008.12.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2008] [Revised: 12/11/2008] [Accepted: 12/18/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Previously, we showed that chronic administration of 13-cis-retinoic acid (13-cis-RA) induces depression-related behaviors in mice and that 13-cis-RA alters components of the serotonergic system in vitro. Work by others has shown that 13-cis-RA reduces hippocampal neurogenesis in mice and orbitofrontal cortex metabolism in humans. In the current study, we measured cytochrome oxidase activity, a metabolic marker that reflects steady state neuronal energy demand, in various regions of the brain to determine the effects of 13-cis-RA on neuronal metabolic activity and network interactions between the raphe nuclei and the hippocampal system. Brain cytochrome oxidase activity in young adult male mice was analyzed following 6 weeks of daily 13-cis-RA (1 mg/kg) or vehicle injection and behavioral testing. Chronic 13-cis-RA administration significantly decreased cytochrome oxidase activity only in the inferior rostral linear nucleus of the raphe. However, covariance analysis of interregional correlations in cytochrome oxidase activity revealed that 13-cis-RA treatment caused a functional uncoupling between the dorsal raphe nuclei and the hippocampus. Furthermore, a path analysis indicated that a network comprising lateral habenula to dorsal raphe to hippocampus was effectively uncoupled in 13-cis-RA treated animals. Finally, cytochrome oxidase activity in the dentate gyrus of 13-cis-RA treated mice was inversely correlated with depression-related behavior. Taken together, these data show that 13-cis-RA alters raphe metabolism and disrupts functional connectivity between the raphe nuclei and the hippocampal formation, which may contribute to the observed increase in depression-related behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kally C O'Reilly
- Institute of Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
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19
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Spivey J, Barrett D, Padilla E, Gonzalez-Lima F. Mother-infant separation leads to hypoactive behavior in adolescent Holtzman rats. Behav Processes 2008; 79:59-65. [PMID: 18585869 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2008.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2008] [Revised: 05/05/2008] [Accepted: 05/16/2008] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
This is the first study of the effects of mother-infant separation (MS) on adolescent behavior of Holtzman (HO) rats. Different rat strains, such as Harlan Sprague-Dawley and HO, share a common origin. However, MS may lead to hypoactive behavioral effects in HO rats because of their greater susceptibility to show depressive-like responses to stress. Sixty HO pups were divided into three groups at postnatal day 2 (P2). For 10 days, the MS group was separated 6h daily and the early handled (EH) group 15 min daily. A standard facility reared (SFR) group was not separated. Animals were tested for novel open-field activity (P28), defensive withdrawal in a light-dark (LD) apparatus (P29) and familiar open-field (P30). Behavioral measures were classified into general activity (ambulatory and short movement time), orienting (rearing time) and risk-taking (velocity and exposed zone time). MS rats displayed reductions in general activity and risk-taking, and increases in orienting time. In contrast, EH favored risk-taking behavior, which may be consistent with previous findings implicating early handling as beneficial in coping with stress. Sex differences in these behaviors were limited. This study suggests a genetic predisposition in HO rats for predominantly hypoactive/anxiety-like behaviors when exposed to an early life stressor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaclyn Spivey
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-0187, USA
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20
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Joca SRL, Ferreira FR, Guimarães FS. Modulation of stress consequences by hippocampal monoaminergic, glutamatergic and nitrergic neurotransmitter systems. Stress 2007; 10:227-49. [PMID: 17613938 DOI: 10.1080/10253890701223130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Several findings relate the hippocampal formation to the behavioural consequences of stress. It contains a high concentration of corticoid receptors and undergoes plastic modifications, including decreased neurogenesis and cellular remodelling, following stress exposure. Various major neurotransmitter systems in the hippocampus are involved in these effects. Serotonin (5-HT) seems to exert a protective role in the hippocampus and attenuates the behavioural consequences of stress by activating 5-HT1A receptors in this structure. These effects may mediate the therapeutic actions of several antidepressants. The role of noradrenaline is less clear and possibly depends on the specific hippocampal region (dorsal vs. ventral). The deleterious modifications induced in the hippocampus by stress might involve a decrease in neurotrophic factors such as brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) following glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation. In addition to glutamate, nitric oxide (NO) could also be related to these effects. Systemic and intra-hippocampal administration of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors attenuates stress-induced behavioural consequences. The challenge for the future will be to integrate results related to these different neurotransmitter systems in a unifying theory about the role of the hippocampus in mood regulation, depressive disorder and antidepressant effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sâmia Regiane Lourenço Joca
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
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21
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Hwang BH, Chang HM, Gu ZH, Suzuki R. c-fos gene expression is increased in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus of Sprague-Dawley rats with visceral pain induced by acetic acid without detectable changes of corticotrophin-releasing factor mRNA: a quantitative approach with an image analysis system. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2007; 290:406-13. [PMID: 17514764 DOI: 10.1002/ar.20495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
This study is the first of its kind to demonstrate that c-Fos immunoreactivity (ir) together with c-fos mRNA in their immediately adjacent tissue sections of a discrete brain region can be reliably measured. The c-fos gene expression in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN) of Sprague-Dawley rats for an animal model for visceral or somatovisceral pain induced by 2% acetic acid (AA) was used in this study. Specifically, c-fos mRNA signals were measured by quantitative autoradiography after in situ hybridization using c-fos oligodeoxynucleotide probe, and c-Fos-ir signals were represented by c-Fos immunostaining, as detected using c-Fos antibody in a regular immunohistochemistry. Signals from both c-Fos-ir and c-fos mRNA in the PVN were measured from their immediately adjacent cryostat sections. For the measurement of c-Fos-ir, it was carried out by reading 10 rectangles (1,000 microm(2)/rectangle) on each PVN section with c-Fos immunostaining. Specific signals were obtained from subtracting the nonspecific background signal from the total signals using a computer-assisted image analysis system. Results indicated that the AA treatment induced a significant increase of both c-Fos-ir and c-fos mRNA in the PVN. Interestingly, there was no increase of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) mRNA expression in the PVN and central nucleus of the amygdala of Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to the AA treatment. In summary, this study has demonstrated that c-Fos-ir in the PVN with an anatomical resolution can be semiquantitatively measured after immunohistochemistry using an image analysis system, and that increased c-fos mRNA in the PVN 1 hr after the AA treatment is associated with no changes of the CRF mRNA expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bang H Hwang
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA.
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22
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Matrov D, Kolts I, Harro J. Cerebral oxidative metabolism in rats with high and low exploratory activity. Neurosci Lett 2007; 413:154-8. [PMID: 17234343 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2006.11.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2006] [Revised: 11/16/2006] [Accepted: 11/22/2006] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
To reveal brain regions most significantly related to individual differences in exploratory behaviour, oxidative metabolism was measured by cytochrome c oxidase histochemistry in 2 months old Wistar rats with persistently high (HE) or low (LE) exploratory activity in a novel environment. LE-rats had significantly higher levels of oxidative metabolism in dorsal raphe and inferior colliculi. In contrast, HE-rats had higher metabolic activity in entorhinal cortex. In conclusion, rats with different exploratory styles differ in underlying cerebral activity as measured via oxidative metabolism in regions implicated in defensive behaviours and cognitive processing of sensory stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denis Matrov
- Department of Psychology, Centre of Behavioural and Health Sciences, University of Tartu, Tiigi 78, EE-50410 Tartu, Estonia
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23
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Wrubel KM, Barrett D, Shumake J, Johnson SE, Gonzalez-Lima F. Methylene blue facilitates the extinction of fear in an animal model of susceptibility to learned helplessness. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2006; 87:209-17. [PMID: 17011803 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2006.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2006] [Revised: 08/22/2006] [Accepted: 08/23/2006] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The objectives were to (1) extend previous findings on fear extinction deficits in male congenitally helpless rats (a model for susceptibility to learned helplessness) to female congenitally helpless rats, and (2) attempt a therapeutic intervention with methylene blue, a metabolic enhancer that improves memory retention, to alleviate the predicted extinction deficits. In the first experiment, fear acquisition (four tone-shock pairings in operant chamber) was followed by extinction training (60 tones in open field). Congenitally helpless rats showed fear acquisition similar to controls but had dramatic extinction deficits, and did not display the gradual extinction curves observed in controls. Congenitally helpless rats demonstrated greater tone-evoked freezing as compared to controls in both the acquisition and extinction contexts one week after extinction training, and also in the extinction probe conducted one month later. In the second experiment (which began one month after the first experiment) congenitally helpless subjects were further exposed to tones for 5 days, each followed by 4 mg/kg methylene blue or saline IP, and had a fear renewal test in the acquisition context. Methylene blue administration improved retention of the extinction memory as demonstrated by significant decreases in fear renewal as compared to saline-administered congenitally helpless subjects. The impaired ability to extinguish fear to a traumatic memory in congenitally helpless rats supports the validity of this strain as an animal model for vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder, and this study further suggests that methylene blue may facilitate fear extinction as an adjunct to exposure therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn M Wrubel
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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24
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Pezük P, Göz D, Aksoy A, Canbeyli R. BNST lesions aggravate behavioral despair but do not impair navigational learning in rats. Brain Res Bull 2006; 69:416-21. [PMID: 16624673 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2006.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2005] [Revised: 02/07/2006] [Accepted: 02/13/2006] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is a basal forebrain structure involved in many motivational processes closely linked to stress regulation. The present study investigated the effect of bilateral lesions of the BNST in male Wistar rats on behavioral despair and navigational learning in the Morris water maze both of which present stressful challenges. Compared to controls, BNST-lesioned animals displayed longer duration of immobility in the second of two forced swim tests used to assess behavioral despair but performed similarly in the water maze task. The present results indicate strongly that the BNST is involved in the modulation of behavioral despair. Experimentally induced depression by BNST lesions does not impair learning and memory in the water maze suggesting a possible dissociation between BNST-mediated depression and cognitive performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pinar Pezük
- Psychobiology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Bogazici University, 34342 Bebek, Istanbul, Turkey
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25
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Sakata JT, Crews D, Gonzalez-Lima F. Behavioral correlates of differences in neural metabolic capacity. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005; 48:1-15. [PMID: 15708625 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresrev.2004.07.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/26/2004] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Cytochrome oxidase is a rate-limiting enzyme in oxidative phosphorylation, the major energy-synthesizing pathway used by the central nervous system, and cytochrome oxidase histochemistry has been extensively utilized to map changes in neural metabolism following experimental manipulations. However, the value of cytochrome oxidase activity in predicting behavior has not been analyzed. We argue that this endeavor is important because genetic composition and embryonic environment can engender differences in baseline neural metabolism in pertinent neural circuits, and these differences could represent differences in the degree to which specific behaviors are 'primed.' Here we review our studies in which differences in cytochrome oxidase activity and in behavior were studied in parallel. Using mammalian and reptilian models, we find that embryonic experiences that shape the propensity to display social behaviors also affect cytochrome oxidase activity in limbic brain areas, and elevated cytochrome oxidase activity in preoptic, hypothalamic, and amygdaloid nuclei correlates with heightened aggressive and sexual tendencies. Selective breeding regimes were used to create rodent genetic lines that differ in their susceptibility to display learned helplessness and in behavioral excitability. Differences in cytochrome oxidase activity in areas like the paraventricular hypothalamus, frontal cortex, habenula, septum, and hippocampus correlate with differences in susceptibility to display learned helplessness, and differences in activity in the dentate gyrus and perirhinal and posterior parietal cortex correlate with differences in hyperactivity. Thus, genetic and embryonic manipulations that engender specific behavioral differences produce specific neurometabolic profiles. We propose that knowledge of neurometabolic differences can yield valuable predictions about behavioral phenotype in other systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jon T Sakata
- Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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26
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Dwivedi Y, Mondal AC, Payappagoudar GV, Rizavi HS. Differential regulation of serotonin (5HT)2A receptor mRNA and protein levels after single and repeated stress in rat brain: role in learned helplessness behavior. Neuropharmacology 2005; 48:204-14. [PMID: 15695159 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2004.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2004] [Revised: 09/20/2004] [Accepted: 10/15/2004] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Stress-induced learned helplessness in animals serves as a model of behavioral depression and other stress-related disorders. Our recent report that repeated stress prolongs the duration of learned helplessness behavior in rats may be important since acute and recurrent disorders may have different responsive mechanisms. To examine the role of serotonergic (5HT) mechanisms in such behavior, we studied the expression of 5HT2A receptors in different brain areas of rats, and further investigated whether the alterations in expression of 5HT2A receptors are similar after single versus repeated stress. Rats exposed to inescapable shock once on day 1, or twice, on day 1 and day 7, were tested for escape latency on days 2 and 4, or day 14, respectively. Higher escape latencies were observed on day 2 after single, and on day 14 after repeated shock. Whereas the single-stress paradigm produced a significant decrease of 5HT2A receptor mRNA and protein expression in hippocampus of non-learned helpless and learned helpless rats as compared with tested controls, repeated stress resulted in increase in frontal cortex but decrease in hippocampus and hypothalamus of learned helpless rats only, as compared with tested control rats. These results demonstrate differential regulation of 5HT2A receptors in LH rats after single and repeated stress, which may be critical in the pathophysiology of depression/other stress-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yogesh Dwivedi
- Psychiatric Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1601 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
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27
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Abstract
Among the most useful models for depressive disorders are those, which involve a stress induced change in behaviour. Learned helplessness is one such model and is induced through exposure to uncontrollable and unpredictable aversive events. Learned helplessness as induced in rats using foot shock is well characterized and has good face validity and predictive validity as a model of depression, including alterations in HPA axis activity and REM sleep characteristic of depression. The data concerning the validity will be briefly reviewed. The model can also be used to look at the role of genetics through selective breeding. These studies will be reviewed and the utility of the genetic strains for understanding the interaction of stress and affect will be examined. A second model of depression using exposure to chronic stress also has high face and predictive validity. A new form of this approach, recently described, also is suitable for the examination of genetic factors leading to depressive like behaviour and this will be presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fritz A Henn
- Central Institute of Mental Health, D-68159 Mannheim, Germany.
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Shumake J, Conejo-Jimenez N, Gonzalez-Pardo H, Gonzalez-Lima F. Brain differences in newborn rats predisposed to helpless and depressive behavior. Brain Res 2004; 1030:267-76. [PMID: 15571675 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2004.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/12/2004] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Inborn brain differences in metabolic capacity were mapped in congenitally helpless rats, a genetically selected strain predisposed to show helpless and depressive behavior. There are a number of brain regions showing abnormal metabolism in adult congenitally helpless rats. Some of these alterations may be innate while others may be due to environmental factors, such as maternal care and postnatal stress. To identify which brain structures show innate differences, brains of newborn rats from congenitally helpless and non-helpless strains were compared using cytochrome oxidase histochemistry, an endogenous marker of regional metabolic capacity. A smaller subset of regions affected in adults showed significantly less metabolic activity in the newborn brains, including paraventricular hypothalamus, habenula, hippocampus, subiculum, lateral septal nucleus, anterior cingulate cortex, infralimbic cortex, and medial orbitofrontal cortex. A covariance analysis further revealed a striking reduction of functional connectivity in the congenitally helpless brain, including a complete decoupling of limbic forebrain regions from midbrain/diencephalic regions. This pattern of brain metabolism suggests that helplessness vulnerability is linked to altered functioning of limbic networks that are key to controlling the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This implies that vulnerable animals have innate deficits in brain systems that would normally allow them to cope with stress, predisposing them in this manner to more readily develop helpless and depressive behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Shumake
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Neuroscience, 1 University Station A8000, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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29
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Sakata JT, Crews D. Cytochrome oxidase activity in the preoptic area correlates with differences in sexual behavior of intact and castrated male leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius). Behav Neurosci 2004; 118:857-62. [PMID: 15301612 DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.118.4.857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Although the utility of analyzing behavioral experience effects on neural cytochrome oxidase (CO) activity is well recognized, the behavioral correlates of endogenous differences in CO activity have rarely been explored. In male leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius), the incubation temperature experienced during embryogenesis (IncT) and age affect CO activity in the preoptic area (POA), an area that modulates copulatory behavior. In this study, the authors assessed whether differences in POA CO activity correlate with differences in sexual behavior in intact and castrated geckos. Males with IncT- and age-dependent increases in POA CO activity mounted females with shorter latencies while intact and after castration and ejaculated more frequently after castration. The authors discuss the predictive value of CO activity and propose similar parallels in other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- J T Sakata
- Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
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30
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Huang YH, Cheng CY, Hong CJ, Tsai SJ. Expression of c-Fos-like immunoreactivity in the brain of mice with learned helplessness. Neurosci Lett 2004; 363:280-3. [PMID: 15182960 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2004.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2004] [Revised: 04/02/2004] [Accepted: 04/02/2004] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The learned helplessness (LH) developed after repeat inescapable stress is a well validated animal model of human major depression and is not species specific. c-Fos, the protein product of the protooncogene c-fos, is expressed in neurons under a variety of stressors and could reflect the regional neuronal activation. Using the LH paradigm in mice, we examined c-Fos expression in several brain regions related to stress response or major depression. The LH mice showed significantly lower c-Fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI) in the hippocampus dentate gyrus and the lateral septal nucleus, and higher FLI in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus compared with the naive mice. Our finding in the mice LH model supported previous studies in rats showing that the lateral septal nucleus and the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus are important in LH behaviors. We further demonstrated that hippocampus dentate gyrus, a region important for learning and major depression, may also be involved in the LH behaviors. These related brain regions could provide a basis for further exploration of the molecular mechanisms underlying LH behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yn-Ho Huang
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Shih-Pai, Taipei, 112, Taiwan, ROC.
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31
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Vollmayr B, Bachteler D, Vengeliene V, Gass P, Spanagel R, Henn F. Rats with congenital learned helplessness respond less to sucrose but show no deficits in activity or learning. Behav Brain Res 2004; 150:217-21. [PMID: 15033295 DOI: 10.1016/s0166-4328(03)00259-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2003] [Revised: 07/23/2003] [Accepted: 07/23/2003] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Inbred rat strains for congenital learned helplessness (cLH) and for congenital resistance to learned helplessness (cNLH) were investigated as a model to study genetic predisposition to major depression. Congenitally helpless rats respond less to sucrose under a progressive ratio schedule. This is not confounded by locomotor hypoactivity: in contrast, cLH rats show a slight hyperactivity during the first 5 min of an open field test. cLH rats acquire operant responding to sucrose as readily as cNLH rats and exhibit normal memory acquisition and retrieval in the Morris water maze, thus ruling out general learning deficits as the cause of the decreased response to sucrose. Reduced total responses and reduced breaking points for sucrose in the cLH strain argue for anhedonia, which is an analogue to loss of pleasure essential for the diagnosis of major depressive episodes, and thus confirm the validity of congenitally learned helpless rats as a model of major depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Vollmayr
- Department of Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health J5, D-68159 Mannheim, Germany.
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32
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Hammack SE, Richey KJ, Watkins LR, Maier SF. Chemical Lesion of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis Blocks the Behavioral Consequences of Uncontrollable Stress. Behav Neurosci 2004; 118:443-8. [PMID: 15113272 DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.118.2.443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Uncontrollable or inescapable shock (IS) produces behavioral changes that are characterized by a sensitized fear system and a deficit in fight-flight responding. These behavioral changes have been argued to represent an anxiety-like state produced by the uncontrollability of the stressor. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) has been implicated in the mediation of long-duration responses to unpredictable stressors, which have also been argued to represent anxiety. In the present study, the effects of BNST chemical lesion on the IS-induced sensitization of freezing to an environment previously paired with shock and the IS-induced impairment of escape responding were investigated. BNST chemical lesion blocked the potentiation of freezing and the increases in escape latency that normally follow IS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sayamwong E Hammack
- Department of Psychiatry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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33
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Sartorius A, Vollmayr B, Neumann-Haefelin C, Ende G, Hoehn M, Henn FA. Specific creatine rise in learned helplessness induced by electroconvulsive shock treatment. Neuroreport 2003; 14:2199-201. [PMID: 14625447 DOI: 10.1097/00001756-200312020-00013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Metabolic changes in the hippocampus formation can be investigated with in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Learned helplessness (LH) is a well validated animal model of depression which we established in Sprague-Dawley rats defining some as "learned helpless" (LH) or not "learned helpless" (NLH). Helpless and non-helpless rats received a course of daily administered electroconvulsive shocks (ECS) for 6 days. MRS measurements were performed on a 4.7 T animal scanner with an average voxel size within the rat hippocampus of 10 microl. In LH rats hippocampal creatine/NAA rose significantly (14%) whereas creatine/NAA of NLH rats showed no increase at all. A possible connection between hippocampal creatine levels and major depressive disorders as a reflection of changes in energy metabolism is discussed.
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34
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Joca SRL, Padovan CM, Guimarães FS. Estresse, depressão e hipocampo. BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY 2003; 25 Suppl 2:46-51. [PMID: 14978587 DOI: 10.1590/s1516-44462003000600011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
A exposição a fatores estressantes tem papel importante no desenvolvimento de transtornos depressivos. Os mecanismos envolvidos nesta relação, no entanto, ainda são pouco conhecidos, mas algumas evidências sugerem a participação da formação hipocampal: 1. o estresse pode causar alterações plásticas no hipocampo, que incluem remodelação dendrítica e inibição de neurogênese. Drogas antidepressivas impendem estes efeitos, possivelmente por aumentarem a expressão de fatores neurotróficos; 2. a facilitação da neurotransmissão serotoninérgica no hipocampo atenua conseqüências comportamentais do estresse e produz efeitos antidepressivos em modelos animais; 3. o antagonismo do principal neurotransmissor excitatório no hipocampo, o glutamato, produz efeitos semelhantes; 4. o hipocampo parece estar "hiperativo" em animais mais sensíveis em modelos de depressão e em humanos resistentes à antidepressivos; 5. o hipocampo, em conjunto com o complexo amigdalar, parece ter papel fundamental na consolidação e evocação de memórias aversivas. Não obstante estas evidências, o desafio futuro será o de tentar integrar os resultados destes diferentes campos (farmacológico, molecular, eletrofisiológico, clínico) em uma teoria unificadora sobre o papel do hipocampo na regulação do humor e seus transtornos bem como nos efeitos de tratamentos antidepressivos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sâmia Regiane L Joca
- Departamento de Farmacologia, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil
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Joca SRL, Padovan CM, Guimarães FS. Activation of post-synaptic 5-HT(1A) receptors in the dorsal hippocampus prevents learned helplessness development. Brain Res 2003; 978:177-84. [PMID: 12834912 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-8993(03)02943-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Activation of post-synaptic 5-HT(1A) receptors in the dorsal hippocampus is proposed to mediate stress adaptation. Chronic social stress and high corticosteroid levels would impair this coping mechanism, predisposing animals to learned helplessness. To test the hypothesis that increasing serotonin levels in the dorsal hippocampus would attenuate the development of learned helplessness, rats received inescapable foot-shock (pre-test session) and were tested in a shuttle box 24-h later. Pre-stressed animals showed impairment of escape responses. This effect was prevented by chronic (21 days) treatment with imipramine (15 mg/kg). Similar results were obtained when the animals received bilateral intra-hippocampal injections, immediately after pre-test, of zimelidine (100 nmol/0.5 microl), a serotonin reuptake blocker, or 8-OH-DPAT (10 nmol), a 5-HT(1A) receptor agonist. The zimelidine effect was prevented by pre-treatment with WAY-100635 (30 nmol), a 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist. These data suggest that facilitation of serotonergic neurotransmission in the dorsal hippocampus mediates adaptation to severe inescapable stress, probably through the activation of post-synaptic 5-HT(1A) receptors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sâmia Regiane Lourenço Joca
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Av Bandeirantes 3900, 14049-900, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
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Shumake J, Edwards E, Gonzalez-Lima F. Opposite metabolic changes in the habenula and ventral tegmental area of a genetic model of helpless behavior. Brain Res 2003; 963:274-81. [PMID: 12560133 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-8993(02)04048-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 177] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Congenitally helpless rats have been selectively bred to display an immediate helpless response to stress in order to model hereditary brain differences that contribute to depression vulnerability. Differences in regional brain metabolism between congenitally helpless and non-helpless rats were investigated using quantitative cytochrome oxidase histochemistry. The results indicated that congenitally helpless rats had 64-71% elevated metabolism in the habenula and a 25% elevation in the related interpeduncular nucleus. In contrast, helpless rats had 28% reduced metabolism in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and 14-16% reductions in the basal ganglia and basolateral and central amygdala. The opposite metabolic changes in the habenula and ventral tegmental area may be especially important for determining the congenitally helpless rat's global pattern of brain activity, which resembles the metabolic activity pattern produced by dopamine antagonism.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Shumake
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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