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Osso LA, Hughes EG. Dynamics of mature myelin. Nat Neurosci 2024; 27:1449-1461. [PMID: 38773349 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01642-2] [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: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024]
Abstract
Myelin, which is produced by oligodendrocytes, insulates axons to facilitate rapid and efficient action potential propagation in the central nervous system. Traditionally viewed as a stable structure, myelin is now known to undergo dynamic modulation throughout life. This Review examines these dynamics, focusing on two key aspects: (1) the turnover of myelin, involving not only the renewal of constituents but the continuous wholesale replacement of myelin membranes; and (2) the structural remodeling of pre-existing, mature myelin, a newly discovered form of neural plasticity that can be stimulated by external factors, including neuronal activity, behavioral experience and injury. We explore the mechanisms regulating these dynamics and speculate that myelin remodeling could be driven by an asymmetry in myelin turnover or reactivation of pathways involved in myelin formation. Finally, we outline how myelin remodeling could have profound impacts on neural function, serving as an integral component of behavioral adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay A Osso
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Ethan G Hughes
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
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2
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Zhu Z, Kuchibhotla KV. Performance errors during rodent learning reflect a dynamic choice strategy. Curr Biol 2024; 34:2107-2117.e5. [PMID: 38677279 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.04.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Revised: 02/10/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/29/2024]
Abstract
Humans, even as infants, use cognitive strategies, such as exploration and hypothesis testing, to learn about causal interactions in the environment. In animal learning studies, however, it is challenging to disentangle higher-order behavioral strategies from errors arising from imperfect task knowledge or inherent biases. Here, we trained head-fixed mice on a wheel-based auditory two-choice task and exploited the intra- and inter-animal variability to understand the drivers of errors during learning. During learning, performance errors are dominated by a choice bias, which, despite appearing maladaptive, reflects a dynamic strategy. Early in learning, mice develop an internal model of the task contingencies such that violating their expectation of reward on correct trials (by using short blocks of non-rewarded "probe" trials) leads to an abrupt shift in strategy. During the probe block, mice behave more accurately with less bias, thereby using their learned stimulus-action knowledge to test whether the outcome contingencies have changed. Despite having this knowledge, mice continued to exhibit a strong choice bias during reinforced trials. This choice bias operates on a timescale of tens to hundreds of trials with a dynamic structure, shifting between left, right, and unbiased epochs. Biased epochs also coincided with faster motor kinematics. Although bias decreased across learning, expert mice continued to exhibit short bouts of biased choices interspersed with longer bouts of unbiased choices and higher performance. These findings collectively suggest that during learning, rodents actively probe their environment in a structured manner to refine their decision-making and maintain long-term flexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziyi Zhu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Johns Hopkins Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; The Solomon Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Kishore V Kuchibhotla
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Johns Hopkins Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; The Solomon Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
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3
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Cording KR, Tu EM, Wang H, Agopyan-Miu AHCW, Bateup HS. Cntnap2 loss drives striatal neuron hyperexcitability and behavioral inflexibility. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.09.593387. [PMID: 38766169 PMCID: PMC11100810 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.09.593387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by two major diagnostic criteria - persistent deficits in social communication and interaction, and the presence of restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior (RRBs). Evidence from both human and animal model studies of ASD suggest that alteration of striatal circuits, which mediate motor learning, action selection, and habit formation, may contribute to the manifestation of RRBs. CNTNAP2 is a syndromic ASD risk gene, and loss of function of Cntnap2 in mice is associated with RRBs. How loss of Cntnap2 impacts striatal neuron function is largely unknown. In this study, we utilized Cntnap2-/- mice to test whether altered striatal neuron activity contributes to aberrant motor behaviors relevant to ASD. We find that Cntnap2-/- mice exhibit increased cortical drive of striatal projection neurons (SPNs), with the most pronounced effects in direct pathway SPNs. This enhanced drive is likely due to increased intrinsic excitability of SPNs, which make them more responsive to cortical inputs. We also find that Cntnap2-/- mice exhibit spontaneous repetitive behaviors, increased motor routine learning, and cognitive inflexibility. Increased corticostriatal drive, in particular of the direct pathway, may contribute to the acquisition of repetitive, inflexible behaviors in Cntnap2 mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine R. Cording
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Emilie M. Tu
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Hongli Wang
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | | | - Helen S. Bateup
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
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4
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Hattori R, Hedrick NG, Jain A, Chen S, You H, Hattori M, Choi JH, Lim BK, Yasuda R, Komiyama T. Meta-reinforcement learning via orbitofrontal cortex. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:2182-2191. [PMID: 37957318 PMCID: PMC10689244 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01485-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
The meta-reinforcement learning (meta-RL) framework, which involves RL over multiple timescales, has been successful in training deep RL models that generalize to new environments. It has been hypothesized that the prefrontal cortex may mediate meta-RL in the brain, but the evidence is scarce. Here we show that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) mediates meta-RL. We trained mice and deep RL models on a probabilistic reversal learning task across sessions during which they improved their trial-by-trial RL policy through meta-learning. Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II-dependent synaptic plasticity in OFC was necessary for this meta-learning but not for the within-session trial-by-trial RL in experts. After meta-learning, OFC activity robustly encoded value signals, and OFC inactivation impaired the RL behaviors. Longitudinal tracking of OFC activity revealed that meta-learning gradually shapes population value coding to guide the ongoing behavioral policy. Our results indicate that two distinct RL algorithms with distinct neural mechanisms and timescales coexist in OFC to support adaptive decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryoma Hattori
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, University of Florida, Jupiter, FL, USA.
| | - Nathan G Hedrick
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Anant Jain
- Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Shuqi Chen
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hanjia You
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Mariko Hattori
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jun-Hyeok Choi
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Byung Kook Lim
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Ryohei Yasuda
- Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Takaki Komiyama
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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5
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Marmor O, Pollak Y, Doron C, Helmchen F, Gilad A. History information emerges in the cortex during learning. eLife 2023; 12:e83702. [PMID: 37921842 PMCID: PMC10624423 DOI: 10.7554/elife.83702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
We learn from our experience but the underlying neuronal mechanisms incorporating past information to facilitate learning is relatively unknown. Specifically, which cortical areas encode history-related information and how is this information modulated across learning? To study the relationship between history and learning, we continuously imaged cortex-wide calcium dynamics as mice learn to use their whiskers to discriminate between two different textures. We mainly focused on comparing the same trial type with different trial history, that is, a different preceding trial. We found trial history information in barrel cortex (BC) during stimulus presentation. Importantly, trial history in BC emerged only as the mouse learned the task. Next, we also found learning-dependent trial history information in rostrolateral (RL) association cortex that emerges before stimulus presentation, preceding activity in BC. Trial history was also encoded in other cortical areas and was not related to differences in body movements. Interestingly, a binary classifier could discriminate trial history at the single trial level just as well as current information both in BC and RL. These findings suggest that past experience emerges in the cortex around the time of learning, starting from higher-order association area RL and propagating down (i.e., top-down projection) to lower-order BC where it can be integrated with incoming sensory information. This integration between the past and present may facilitate learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Odeya Marmor
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University of JerusalemJerusalemIsrael
| | - Yael Pollak
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University of JerusalemJerusalemIsrael
| | - Chen Doron
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University of JerusalemJerusalemIsrael
| | - Fritjof Helmchen
- Brain Research Institute, University of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Neuroscience Center ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Ariel Gilad
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University of JerusalemJerusalemIsrael
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Mesías RE, Zaki Y, Guevara CA, Friedman LG, Hussein A, Therrien K, Magee AR, Tzavaras N, Del Valle P, Baxter MG, Huntley GW, Benson DL. Development and cadherin-mediated control of prefrontal corticostriatal projections in mice. iScience 2023; 26:108002. [PMID: 37854688 PMCID: PMC10579443 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Revised: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Action-outcome associations depend on prefrontal cortex (PFC) projections to the dorsal striatum. To assess how these projections form, we measured PFC axon patterning, synapse formation, and functional maturation in the postnatally developing mouse striatum. Using Hotspot analysis, we show that PFC axons form an adult-like pattern of clustered terminations in the first postnatal week that remains largely stable thereafter. PFC-striatal synaptic strength is adult-like by P21, while excitatory synapse density increases until adulthood. We then tested how the targeted deletion of a candidate adhesion/guidance protein, Cadherin-8 (Cdh8), from corticostriatal neurons regulates pathway development. Mutant mice showed diminished PFC axon targeting and reduced spontaneous glutamatergic synaptic activity in the dorsal striatum. They also exhibited impaired behavioral performance in action-outcome learning. The data show that PFC-striatal axons form striatal territories through an early, directed growth model and they highlight essential contributions of Cdh8 to the anatomical and functional features critical for the formation of action-outcome associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roxana E. Mesías
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Yosif Zaki
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Christopher A. Guevara
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Lauren G. Friedman
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Ayan Hussein
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Karen Therrien
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Alexandra R. Magee
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Nikolaos Tzavaras
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Pamela Del Valle
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Mark G. Baxter
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Section on Comparative Medicine, Department of Pathology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA
| | - George W. Huntley
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Deanna L. Benson
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
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7
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Chen Y, Li W. Rapid eye movement sleep contributes to the formation of new axonal varicosities in mouse cerebellar parallel fibers after motor training. Neurosci Lett 2023; 810:137349. [PMID: 37327855 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2023.137349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Synaptic structural plasticity is essential for the development, learning and memory. It is well established that sleep plays important roles in synaptic plasticity after motor learning. In cerebellar cortex, parallel fibers of granule cells make excitatory synapses to the dendrites of Purkinje cells. However, the synaptic structural dynamics between parallel and Purkinje cells after motor training and the function of sleep in cerebellar synaptic plasticity remain unclear. Here, we used two-photon microscopy to examine presynaptic axonal structural dynamics at parallel fiber-Purkinje cell synapses and investigated the effect of REM sleep in synaptic plasticity of mouse cerebellar cortex following motor training. We found that motor training induces higher formation of new axonal varicosities in cerebellar parallel fibers. Our results also indicate that calcium activities of granule cells significantly increase during REM sleep, and REM sleep deprivation prevents motor training-induced formation of axonal varicosities in parallel fibers, suggesting that higher calcium activity of granule cells was crucial for promoting newly formed axonal varicosities after motor training. Together, these findings reveal the effect of motor training on parallel fiber presynaptic structural modification and the important role of REM sleep in synaptic plasticity in cerebellar cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Chen
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
| | - Wei Li
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China; School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China.
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Schreiner DC, Wright A, Baltz ET, Wang T, Cazares C, Gremel CM. Chronic alcohol exposure alters action control via hyperactive premotor corticostriatal activity. Cell Rep 2023; 42:112675. [PMID: 37342908 PMCID: PMC10468874 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Revised: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) alters decision-making control over actions, but disruptions to the responsible neural circuit mechanisms are unclear. Premotor corticostriatal circuits are implicated in balancing goal-directed and habitual control over actions and show disruption in disorders with compulsive, inflexible behaviors, including AUD. However, whether there is a causal link between disrupted premotor activity and altered action control is unknown. Here, we find that mice chronically exposed to alcohol (chronic intermittent ethanol [CIE]) showed impaired ability to use recent action information to guide subsequent actions. Prior CIE exposure resulted in aberrant increases in the calcium activity of premotor cortex (M2) neurons that project to the dorsal medial striatum (M2-DMS) during action control. Chemogenetic reduction of this CIE-induced hyperactivity in M2-DMS neurons rescued goal-directed action control. This suggests a direct, causal relationship between chronic alcohol disruption to premotor circuits and decision-making strategy and provides mechanistic support for targeting activity of human premotor regions as a potential treatment in AUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Drew C Schreiner
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Andrew Wright
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Emily T Baltz
- The Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Tianyu Wang
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Christian Cazares
- The Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Christina M Gremel
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; The Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
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Mesías RE, Zaki Y, Guevara CA, Friedman LG, Hussein A, Therrien K, Magee AR, Tzavaras N, Valle PD, Baxter MG, Huntley GW, Benson DL. Development of prefrontal corticostriatal connectivity in mice. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.14.532475. [PMID: 36993639 PMCID: PMC10054964 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.14.532475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Rational decision making is grounded in learning to associate actions with outcomes, a process that depends on projections from prefrontal cortex to dorsomedial striatum. Symptoms associated with a variety of human pathological conditions ranging from schizophrenia and autism to Huntington's and Parkinson's disease point toward functional deficits in this projection, but its development is not well understood, making it difficult to investigate how perturbations in development of this circuitry could contribute to pathophysiology. We applied a novel strategy based on Hotspot Analysis to assess the developmental progression of anatomical positioning of prefrontal cortex to striatal projections. Corticostriatal axonal territories established at P7 expand in concert with striatal growth but remain largely unchanged in positioning through adulthood, indicating they are generated by directed, targeted growth and not modified extensively by postnatal experience. Consistent with these findings, corticostriatal synaptogenesis increased steadily from P7 to P56, with no evidence for widescale pruning. As corticostriatal synapse density increased over late postnatal ages, the strength of evoked PFC input onto dorsomedial striatal projection neurons also increased, but spontaneous glutamatergic synaptic activity was stable. Based on its pattern of expression, we asked whether the adhesion protein, Cdh8, influenced this progression. In mice lacking Cdh8 in PFC corticostriatal projection neurons, axon terminal fields in dorsal striatum shifted ventrally. Corticostriatal synaptogenesis was unimpeded, but spontaneous EPSC frequency declined and mice failed to learn to associate an action with an outcome. Collectively these findings show that corticostriatal axons grow to their target zone and are restrained from an early age, do not undergo postnatal synapse pruning as the most dominant models predict, and that a relatively modest shift in terminal arbor positioning and synapse function has an outsized, negative impact on corticostriatal-dependent behavior.
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KASAI H. Unraveling the mysteries of dendritic spine dynamics: Five key principles shaping memory and cognition. PROCEEDINGS OF THE JAPAN ACADEMY. SERIES B, PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 2023; 99:254-305. [PMID: 37821392 PMCID: PMC10749395 DOI: 10.2183/pjab.99.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
Recent research extends our understanding of brain processes beyond just action potentials and chemical transmissions within neural circuits, emphasizing the mechanical forces generated by excitatory synapses on dendritic spines to modulate presynaptic function. From in vivo and in vitro studies, we outline five central principles of synaptic mechanics in brain function: P1: Stability - Underpinning the integral relationship between the structure and function of the spine synapses. P2: Extrinsic dynamics - Highlighting synapse-selective structural plasticity which plays a crucial role in Hebbian associative learning, distinct from pathway-selective long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD). P3: Neuromodulation - Analyzing the role of G-protein-coupled receptors, particularly dopamine receptors, in time-sensitive modulation of associative learning frameworks such as Pavlovian classical conditioning and Thorndike's reinforcement learning (RL). P4: Instability - Addressing the intrinsic dynamics crucial to memory management during continual learning, spotlighting their role in "spine dysgenesis" associated with mental disorders. P5: Mechanics - Exploring how synaptic mechanics influence both sides of synapses to establish structural traces of short- and long-term memory, thereby aiding the integration of mental functions. We also delve into the historical background and foresee impending challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haruo KASAI
- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), UTIAS, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
- Laboratory of Structural Physiology, Center for Disease Biology and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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11
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Lin WC, Liu C, Kosillo P, Tai LH, Galarce E, Bateup HS, Lammel S, Wilbrecht L. Transient food insecurity during the juvenile-adolescent period affects adult weight, cognitive flexibility, and dopamine neurobiology. Curr Biol 2022; 32:3690-3703.e5. [PMID: 35863352 PMCID: PMC10519557 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Revised: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
A major challenge for neuroscience, public health, and evolutionary biology is to understand the effects of scarcity and uncertainty on the developing brain. Currently, a significant fraction of children and adolescents worldwide experience insecure access to food. The goal of our work was to test in mice whether the transient experience of insecure versus secure access to food during the juvenile-adolescent period produced lasting differences in learning, decision-making, and the dopamine system in adulthood. We manipulated feeding schedules in mice from postnatal day (P)21 to P40 as food insecure or ad libitum and found that when tested in adulthood (after P60), males with different developmental feeding history showed significant differences in multiple metrics of cognitive flexibility in learning and decision-making. Adult females with different developmental feeding history showed no differences in cognitive flexibility but did show significant differences in adult weight. We next applied reinforcement learning models to these behavioral data. The best fit models suggested that in males, developmental feeding history altered how mice updated their behavior after negative outcomes. This effect was sensitive to task context and reward contingencies. Consistent with these results, in males, we found that the two feeding history groups showed significant differences in the AMPAR/NMDAR ratio of excitatory synapses on nucleus-accumbens-projecting midbrain dopamine neurons and evoked dopamine release in dorsal striatal targets. Together, these data show in a rodent model that transient differences in feeding history in the juvenile-adolescent period can have significant impacts on adult weight, learning, decision-making, and dopamine neurobiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wan Chen Lin
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Christine Liu
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Polina Kosillo
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Lung-Hao Tai
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Ezequiel Galarce
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Helen S Bateup
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Stephan Lammel
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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12
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Delevich K, Hoshal B, Zhou LZ, Zhang Y, Vedula S, Lin WC, Chase J, Collins AGE, Wilbrecht L. Activation, but not inhibition, of the indirect pathway disrupts choice rejection in a freely moving, multiple-choice foraging task. Cell Rep 2022; 40:111129. [PMID: 35905722 PMCID: PMC10481643 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Revised: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The dorsomedial striatum (DMS) plays a key role in action selection, but less is known about how direct and indirect pathway spiny projection neurons (dSPNs and iSPNs, respectively) contribute to choice rejection in freely moving animals. Here, we use pathway-specific chemogenetic manipulation during a serial choice foraging task to test the role of dSPNs and iSPNs in learned choice rejection. We find that chemogenetic activation, but not inhibition, of iSPNs disrupts rejection of nonrewarded choices, contrary to predictions of a simple "select/suppress" heuristic. Our findings suggest that iSPNs' role in stopping and freezing does not extend in a simple fashion to choice rejection in an ethological, freely moving context. These data may provide insights critical for the successful design of interventions for addiction or other conditions in which it is desirable to strengthen choice rejection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen Delevich
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
| | - Benjamin Hoshal
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Lexi Z Zhou
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Yuting Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Satya Vedula
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Wan Chen Lin
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Juliana Chase
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Anne G E Collins
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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13
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Schreiner DC, Cazares C, Renteria R, Gremel CM. Information normally considered task-irrelevant drives decision-making and affects premotor circuit recruitment. Nat Commun 2022; 13:2134. [PMID: 35440120 PMCID: PMC9018678 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29807-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Decision-making is a continuous and dynamic process with prior experience reflected in and used by the brain to guide adaptive behavior. However, most neurobiological studies constrain behavior and/or analyses to task-related variables, not accounting for the continuous internal and temporal space in which they occur. We show mice rely on information learned through recent and longer-term experience beyond just prior actions and reward - including checking behavior and the passage of time - to guide self-initiated, self-paced, and self-generated actions. These experiences are represented in secondary motor cortex (M2) activity and its projections into dorsal medial striatum (DMS). M2 integrates this information to bias strategy-level decision-making, and DMS projections reflect specific aspects of this recent experience to guide actions. This suggests diverse aspects of experience drive decision-making and its neural representation, and shows premotor corticostriatal circuits are crucial for using selective aspects of experiential information to guide adaptive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Drew C Schreiner
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Christian Cazares
- The Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Rafael Renteria
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Christina M Gremel
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
- The Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
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14
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Melander JB, Nayebi A, Jongbloets BC, Fortin DA, Qin M, Ganguli S, Mao T, Zhong H. Distinct in vivo dynamics of excitatory synapses onto cortical pyramidal neurons and parvalbumin-positive interneurons. Cell Rep 2021; 37:109972. [PMID: 34758304 PMCID: PMC8631347 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2021] [Revised: 09/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Cortical function relies on the balanced activation of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. However, little is known about the organization and dynamics of shaft excitatory synapses onto cortical inhibitory interneurons. Here, we use the excitatory postsynaptic marker PSD-95, fluorescently labeled at endogenous levels, as a proxy for excitatory synapses onto layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons and parvalbumin-positive (PV+) interneurons in the barrel cortex of adult mice. Longitudinal in vivo imaging under baseline conditions reveals that, although synaptic weights in both neuronal types are log-normally distributed, synapses onto PV+ neurons are less heterogeneous and more stable. Markov model analyses suggest that the synaptic weight distribution is set intrinsically by ongoing cell-type-specific dynamics, and substantial changes are due to accumulated gradual changes. Synaptic weight dynamics are multiplicative, i.e., changes scale with weights, although PV+ synapses also exhibit an additive component. These results reveal that cell-type-specific processes govern cortical synaptic strengths and dynamics. Melander et al. use a genetic strategy to visualize excitatory neuronal connections that cannot be inferred from morphology, and they monitor how the connections change over weeks in mice. They find distinct characteristics between synapses onto cells that “suppress” brain activity and those onto cells that “excite” brain activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua B Melander
- Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Neurosciences PhD Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Aran Nayebi
- Neurosciences PhD Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Bart C Jongbloets
- Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Dale A Fortin
- Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Maozhen Qin
- Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Surya Ganguli
- Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | - Tianyi Mao
- Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
| | - Haining Zhong
- Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
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15
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Liu T, Lu J, Lukasiewicz K, Pan B, Zuo Y. Stress induces microglia-associated synaptic circuit alterations in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Neurobiol Stress 2021; 15:100342. [PMID: 34136592 PMCID: PMC8182072 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2021.100342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The mammalian dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) receives diverse inputs and plays important roles in adaptive behavior and cognitive flexibility. Stress, a major risk factor for many psychiatric disorders, compromises the structure and function of multiple brain regions and circuits. Here we show that 7-day restraint stress impairs reversal learning in the 4-choice odor discrimination test, a decision-making task requiring an intact dmPFC. In vivo two-photon imaging further reveals that stress increases dmPFC dendritic spine elimination, particularly those of the mushroom morphology, without affecting spine formation. In addition, stress alters dmPFC microglial branching complexity and elevates their terminal process dynamics. In stressed mice, dmPFC microglia contact dendrites more frequently, and dendritic spines with microglial contact are prone to elimination. In summary, our work suggests that stress-induced changes in glial-synapse interaction contributes to synaptic loss in dmPFC, resulting in neuronal circuit deficits and impaired cognitive flexibility. Restraint stress impairs cognitive flexibility in adolescent mice. Stress leads to synapse loss on pyramidal neurons in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Stress decreases microglial complexity but increases their terminal dynamics and contacts with dendritic spines. Dendritic spines contacted by microglial processes are more prone to elimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taohui Liu
- School of Life Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330031, China.,Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA
| | - Ju Lu
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA
| | - Kacper Lukasiewicz
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA
| | - Bingxing Pan
- School of Life Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330031, China
| | - Yi Zuo
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA
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16
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Corticostriatal Plasticity Established by Initial Learning Persists after Behavioral Reversal. eNeuro 2021; 8:ENEURO.0209-20.2021. [PMID: 33547044 PMCID: PMC7986528 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0209-20.2021] [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: 05/20/2020] [Revised: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 01/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The neural mechanisms that allow animals to adapt their previously learned associations in response to changes in the environment remain poorly understood. To probe the synaptic mechanisms that mediate such adaptive behavior, we trained mice on an auditory-motor reversal task, and tracked changes in the strength of corticostriatal synapses associated with the formation of learned associations. Using a ChR2-based electrophysiological assay in acute striatal slices, we measured the strength of these synapses after animals learned to pair auditory stimuli with specific actions. Here, we report that the pattern of synaptic strength initially established by learning remains unchanged even when the task contingencies are reversed. Our findings reveal that synaptic changes associated with the initial acquisition of this task are not erased or overwritten, and that behavioral reversal of learned associations may recruit a separate neural circuit. These results suggest a more complex role of the striatum in regulating flexible behaviors where activity of striatal neurons may vary given the behavioral contexts of specific stimulus-action associations.
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17
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Yamaguchi K, Otomo K, Kozawa Y, Tsutsumi M, Inose T, Hirai K, Sato S, Nemoto T, Uji-i H. Adaptive Optical Two-Photon Microscopy for Surface-Profiled Living Biological Specimens. ACS OMEGA 2021; 6:438-447. [PMID: 33458495 PMCID: PMC7807736 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c04888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
We developed adaptive optical (AO) two-photon excitation microscopy by introducing a spatial light modulator (SLM) in a commercially available microscopy system. For correcting optical aberrations caused by refractive index (RI) interfaces at a specimen's surface, spatial phase distributions of the incident excitation laser light were calculated using 3D coordination of the RI interface with a 3D ray-tracing method. Based on the calculation, we applied a 2D phase-shift distribution to a SLM and achieved the proper point spread function. AO two-photon microscopy improved the fluorescence image contrast in optical phantom mimicking biological specimens. Furthermore, it enhanced the fluorescence intensity from tubulin-labeling dyes in living multicellular tumor spheroids and allowed successful visualization of dendritic spines in the cortical layer V of living mouse brains in the secondary motor region with a curved surface. The AO approach is useful for observing dynamic physiological activities in deep regions of various living biological specimens with curved surfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazushi Yamaguchi
- Graduate
School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, 060-0814 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Research
Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido
University, 060-0814 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Division
of Biophotonics, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 444-8787 Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
| | - Kohei Otomo
- Graduate
School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, 060-0814 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Research
Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido
University, 060-0814 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Division
of Biophotonics, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 444-8787 Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
- Exploratory
Research Center on Life and Living Systems, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 444-8787 Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
- Department
of Physiological Sciences, The Graduate
School for Advanced Study, 240-0193 Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Yuichi Kozawa
- Institute
of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, 980-8577 Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Motosuke Tsutsumi
- Research
Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido
University, 060-0814 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Division
of Biophotonics, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 444-8787 Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
- Exploratory
Research Center on Life and Living Systems, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 444-8787 Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
| | - Tomoko Inose
- Graduate
School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, 060-0814 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Research
Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido
University, 060-0814 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
| | - Kenji Hirai
- Graduate
School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, 060-0814 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Research
Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido
University, 001-0020 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
| | - Shunichi Sato
- Institute
of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, 980-8577 Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Tomomi Nemoto
- Graduate
School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, 060-0814 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Research
Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido
University, 060-0814 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Division
of Biophotonics, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 444-8787 Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
- Exploratory
Research Center on Life and Living Systems, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 444-8787 Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
- Department
of Physiological Sciences, The Graduate
School for Advanced Study, 240-0193 Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Uji-i
- Graduate
School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, 060-0814 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- KU
Leuven, Department of Chemistry, Celestijinenlaan 200F, 3001 Heverlee, Leuven, Belgium
- Research
Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido
University, 001-0020 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
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18
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Divergent Strategies for Learning in Males and Females. Curr Biol 2021; 31:39-50.e4. [PMID: 33125868 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.09.075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Revised: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
A frequent assumption in value-based decision-making tasks is that agents make decisions based on the feature dimension that reward probabilities vary on. However, in complex, multidimensional environments, stimuli can vary on multiple dimensions at once, meaning that the feature deserving the most credit for outcomes is not always obvious. As a result, individuals may vary in the strategies used to sample stimuli across dimensions, and these strategies may have an unrecognized influence on decision-making. Sex is a proxy for multiple genetic and endocrine influences on behavior, including how environments are sampled. In this study, we examined the strategies adopted by female and male mice as they learned the value of stimuli that varied in both image and location in a visually cued two-armed bandit, allowing two possible dimensions to learn about. Female mice acquired the correct image-value associations more quickly than male mice, preferring a fundamentally different strategy. Female mice were more likely to constrain their decision-space early in learning by preferentially sampling one location over which images varied. Conversely, male mice were more likely to be inconsistent, changing their choice frequently and responding to the immediate experience of stochastic rewards. Individual strategies were related to sex-biased changes in neuronal activation in early learning. Together, we find that in mice, sex is associated with divergent strategies for sampling and learning about the world, revealing substantial unrecognized variability in the approaches implemented during value-based decision making.
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19
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Lu J, Tjia M, Mullen B, Cao B, Lukasiewicz K, Shah-Morales S, Weiser S, Cameron LP, Olson DE, Chen L, Zuo Y. An analog of psychedelics restores functional neural circuits disrupted by unpredictable stress. Mol Psychiatry 2021; 26:6237-6252. [PMID: 34035476 PMCID: PMC8613316 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-021-01159-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2021] [Revised: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Psychological stress affects a wide spectrum of brain functions and poses risks for many mental disorders. However, effective therapeutics to alleviate or revert its deleterious effects are lacking. A recently synthesized psychedelic analog tabernanthalog (TBG) has demonstrated anti-addictive and antidepressant potential. Whether TBG can rescue stress-induced affective, sensory, and cognitive deficits, and how it may achieve such effects by modulating neural circuits, remain unknown. Here we show that in mice exposed to unpredictable mild stress (UMS), administration of a single dose of TBG decreases their anxiety level and rescues deficits in sensory processing as well as in cognitive flexibility. Post-stress TBG treatment promotes the regrowth of excitatory neuron dendritic spines lost during UMS, decreases the baseline neuronal activity, and enhances whisking-modulation of neuronal activity in the somatosensory cortex. Moreover, calcium imaging in head-fixed mice performing a whisker-dependent texture discrimination task shows that novel textures elicit responses from a greater proportion of neurons in the somatosensory cortex than do familiar textures. Such differential response is diminished by UMS and is restored by TBG. Together, our study reveals the effects of UMS on cortical neuronal circuit activity patterns and demonstrate that TBG combats the detrimental effects of stress by modulating basal and stimulus-dependent neural activity in cortical networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ju Lu
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
| | - Michelle Tjia
- grid.205975.c0000 0001 0740 6917Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA USA
| | - Brian Mullen
- grid.205975.c0000 0001 0740 6917Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA USA
| | - Bing Cao
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Departments of Neurosurgery, Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Neuroscience Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA USA
| | - Kacper Lukasiewicz
- grid.205975.c0000 0001 0740 6917Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA USA
| | - Sajita Shah-Morales
- grid.205975.c0000 0001 0740 6917Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA USA
| | - Sydney Weiser
- grid.205975.c0000 0001 0740 6917Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA USA
| | - Lindsay P. Cameron
- grid.27860.3b0000 0004 1936 9684Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA USA
| | - David E. Olson
- grid.27860.3b0000 0004 1936 9684Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA USA ,grid.27860.3b0000 0004 1936 9684Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA USA ,grid.27860.3b0000 0004 1936 9684Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA USA
| | - Lu Chen
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Departments of Neurosurgery, Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Neuroscience Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA USA
| | - Yi Zuo
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
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20
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Yang JH, Kwan AC. Secondary motor cortex: Broadcasting and biasing animal's decisions through long-range circuits. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY 2020; 158:443-470. [PMID: 33785155 PMCID: PMC8190828 DOI: 10.1016/bs.irn.2020.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Medial secondary motor cortex (MOs or M2) constitutes the dorsal aspect of the rodent medial frontal cortex. We previously proposed that the function of MOs is to link antecedent conditions, including sensory stimuli and prior choices, to impending actions. In this review, we focus on the long-range pathways between MOs and other cortical and subcortical regions. We highlight three circuits: (1) connections with visual and auditory cortices that are essential for predictive coding of perceptual inputs; (2) connections with motor cortex and brainstem that are responsible for top-down, context-dependent modulation of movements; (3) connections with retrosplenial cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and basal ganglia that facilitate reward-based learning. Together, these long-range circuits allow MOs to broadcast choice signals for feedback and to bias decision-making processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jen-Hau Yang
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Alex C Kwan
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States.
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21
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León-Domínguez U, Solís-Marcos I, López-Delgado CA, Martín JMBY, León-Carrión J. A Frontal Neuropsychological Profile in Fitness to Drive. ACCIDENT; ANALYSIS AND PREVENTION 2020; 148:105807. [PMID: 33069156 DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2020.105807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Revised: 07/24/2020] [Accepted: 09/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Traffic accidents are a global concern due to the elevated mortality rates of both drivers and pedestrians. The World Health Organization declared 2011-2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety, endorsing initiatives to reduce traffic-related deaths. Yet, despite these incentives, fatal accidents still occur. Different studies have linked deficits in executive functions to risky driving attitudes and crashes. The present study focuses on demographic, cognitive and personality factors, related to the prefrontal cortex, that are characteristic of drivers prone to risky behavior behind the wheel. The penalty Points System was used to classify drivers as "safe", with no point loss over a two-year period, or "risky", with full point loss during the same interval. A neuropsychological assessment of prefrontal cognitive functions was carried out on each group to identify variables associated with safe and risky behavior. Neuropsychological indexes were obtained from a continuous performance task without cue (Simple Attention), a continuous performance task with cue (Conditioned Attention), the Tower of Hanoi test and the Neurologically-related Changes in Personality Inventory (NECHAPI). A Discriminant Analysis (DA) found that education level, reaction times in Simple and Conditioned Attention, learning errors in the Tower of Hanoi and vulnerability in the personality test, best predicted whether drivers were likely to be in the safe or risky group. Finally, a cross-validation analysis performed on the same sample correctly classified 87.5% of the drivers. These data suggest that prefrontal dysfunction contributes to risky behavior behind the wheel. The inclusion of cognitive programs to identify and train drivers with this propensity could reduce risky driving, and consequently, save lives on the road.
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Affiliation(s)
- Umberto León-Domínguez
- Human Cognition and Brain Research lab, School of Psychology, University of Monterrey, San Pedro Garza, García, Mexico.
| | - Ignacio Solís-Marcos
- The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) Linköping, Sweden
| | | | | | - José León-Carrión
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain; Center for Brain Injury Rehabilitation (CRECER), Seville, Spain
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22
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Lin WC, Delevich K, Wilbrecht L. A role for adaptive developmental plasticity in learning and decision making. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2020; 36:48-54. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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23
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Hasegawa R, Ebina T, Tanaka YR, Kobayashi K, Matsuzaki M. Structural dynamics and stability of corticocortical and thalamocortical axon terminals during motor learning. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0234930. [PMID: 32559228 PMCID: PMC7304593 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2020] [Accepted: 06/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Synaptic plasticity is the cellular basis of learning and memory. When animals learn a novel motor skill, synaptic modifications are induced in the primary motor cortex (M1), and new postsynaptic dendritic spines relevant to motor memory are formed in the early stage of learning. However, it is poorly understood how presynaptic axonal boutons are formed, eliminated, and maintained during motor learning, and whether long-range corticocortical and thalamocortical axonal boutons show distinct structural changes during learning. In this study, we conducted two-photon imaging of presynaptic boutons of long-range axons in layer 1 (L1) of the mouse M1 during the 7-day learning of an accelerating rotarod task. The training-period-averaged rate of formation of boutons on axons projecting from the secondary motor cortical area increased, while the average rate of elimination of those from the motor thalamus (thalamic boutons) decreased. In particular, the elimination rate of thalamic boutons during days 4-7 was lower than that in untrained mice, and the fraction of pre-existing thalamic boutons that survived until day 7 was higher than that in untrained mice. Our results suggest that the late stabilization of thalamic boutons in M1 contributes to motor skill learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryota Hasegawa
- Division of Brain Circuits, National Institute for Basic Biology, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Japan
- Division of Behavioral Neurobiology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Japan
- Department of Basic Biology, SOKENDAI (Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Okazaki, Japan
- Department of Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Teppei Ebina
- Division of Brain Circuits, National Institute for Basic Biology, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Japan
- Department of Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro R. Tanaka
- Division of Brain Circuits, National Institute for Basic Biology, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Japan
- Department of Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kenta Kobayashi
- Section of Viral Vector Development, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
| | - Masanori Matsuzaki
- Division of Brain Circuits, National Institute for Basic Biology, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Japan
- Department of Basic Biology, SOKENDAI (Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Okazaki, Japan
- Department of Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Brain Functional Dynamics Collaboration Laboratory, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study, Tokyo, Japan
- * E-mail:
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24
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Sallet J, Noonan MP, Thomas A, O’Reilly JX, Anderson J, Papageorgiou GK, Neubert FX, Ahmed B, Smith J, Bell AH, Buckley MJ, Roumazeilles L, Cuell S, Walton ME, Krug K, Mars RB, Rushworth MFS. Behavioral flexibility is associated with changes in structure and function distributed across a frontal cortical network in macaques. PLoS Biol 2020; 18:e3000605. [PMID: 32453728 PMCID: PMC7274449 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Revised: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 04/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
One of the most influential accounts of central orbitofrontal cortex-that it mediates behavioral flexibility-has been challenged by the finding that discrimination reversal in macaques, the classic test of behavioral flexibility, is unaffected when lesions are made by excitotoxin injection rather than aspiration. This suggests that the critical brain circuit mediating behavioral flexibility in reversal tasks lies beyond the central orbitofrontal cortex. To determine its identity, a group of nine macaques were taught discrimination reversal learning tasks, and its impact on gray matter was measured. Magnetic resonance imaging scans were taken before and after learning and compared with scans from two control groups, each comprising 10 animals. One control group learned discrimination tasks that were similar but lacked any reversal component, and the other control group engaged in no learning. Gray matter changes were prominent in posterior orbitofrontal cortex/anterior insula but were also found in three other frontal cortical regions: lateral orbitofrontal cortex (orbital part of area 12 [12o]), cingulate cortex, and lateral prefrontal cortex. In a second analysis, neural activity in posterior orbitofrontal cortex/anterior insula was measured at rest, and its pattern of coupling with the other frontal cortical regions was assessed. Activity coupling increased significantly in the reversal learning group in comparison with controls. In a final set of experiments, we used similar structural imaging procedures and analyses to demonstrate that aspiration lesion of central orbitofrontal cortex, of the type known to affect discrimination learning, affected structure and activity in the same frontal cortical circuit. The results identify a distributed frontal cortical circuit associated with behavioral flexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérôme Sallet
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, Bron, France
| | - MaryAnn P. Noonan
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Adam Thomas
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
- National Institute of Mental Health, Magnuson Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Jill X. O’Reilly
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Jesper Anderson
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Georgios K. Papageorgiou
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Franz X. Neubert
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Bashir Ahmed
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Jackson Smith
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew H. Bell
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Mark J. Buckley
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Léa Roumazeilles
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Steven Cuell
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Mark E. Walton
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Kristine Krug
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Otto-von-Guericke-Universität, Magdeburg, Germany
- Leibniz-Institut für Neurobiologie, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Rogier B. Mars
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Matthew F. S. Rushworth
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
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25
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Thomas AW, Delevich K, Chang I, Wilbrecht L. Variation in early life maternal care predicts later long range frontal cortex synapse development in mice. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 41:100737. [PMID: 31786477 PMCID: PMC6994474 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2019] [Revised: 11/03/2019] [Accepted: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Empirical and theoretical work suggests that early postnatal experience may inform later developing synaptic connectivity to adapt the brain to its environment. We hypothesized that early maternal experience may program the development of synaptic density on long range frontal cortex projections. To test this idea, we used maternal separation (MS) to generate environmental variability and examined how MS affected 1) maternal care and 2) synapse density on virally-labeled long range axons of offspring reared in MS or control conditions. We found that MS and variation in maternal care predicted bouton density on dorsal frontal cortex axons that terminated in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and dorsomedial striatum (DMS) with more, fragmented care associated with higher density. The effects of maternal care on these distinct axonal projections of the frontal cortex were manifest at different ages. Maternal care measures were correlated with frontal cortex → BLA bouton density at mid-adolescence postnatal (P) day 35 and frontal cortex → DMS bouton density in adulthood (P85). Meanwhile, we found no evidence that MS or maternal care affected bouton density on ascending orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) or BLA axons that terminated in the dorsal frontal cortices. Our data show that variation in early experience can alter development in a circuit-specific and age-dependent manner that may be relevant to understanding the effects of early life adversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Wren Thomas
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Kristen Delevich
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720 USA
| | - Irene Chang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720 USA.
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26
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Delevich K, Hall CD, Piekarski D, Zhang Y, Wilbrecht L. Prepubertal gonadectomy reveals sex differences in approach-avoidance behavior in adult mice. Horm Behav 2020; 118:104641. [PMID: 31778717 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2019] [Revised: 11/15/2019] [Accepted: 11/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Adolescence is a developmental period that is associated with physical, cognitive, and affective maturation and a time when sex biases in multiple psychiatric diseases emerge. While puberty onset marks the initiation of adolescence, it is unclear whether the pubertal rise in gonadal hormones generates sex differences in approach-avoidance behaviors that may impact psychiatric vulnerability. To examine the influence of pubertal development on adult behavior, we removed the gonads or performed sham surgery in male and female mice just prior to puberty onset and assessed performance in an odor-guided foraging task and anxiety-related behaviors in adulthood. We observed no significant sex differences in foraging or anxiety-related behaviors between intact adult male and female mice but found significant differences between adult male and female mice that had been gonadectomized (GDX) prior to puberty onset. GDX males failed to acquire the odor-guided foraging task, showed reduced locomotion, and exhibited increased anxiety-like behavior, while GDX females showed the opposite pattern of behavior. These data suggest that puberty may minimize rather than drive differences in approach-avoidance phenotypes in male and female mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen Delevich
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Christopher D Hall
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - David Piekarski
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Yuting Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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27
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Lees RM, Johnson JD, Ashby MC. Presynaptic Boutons That Contain Mitochondria Are More Stable. Front Synaptic Neurosci 2020; 11:37. [PMID: 31998110 PMCID: PMC6966497 DOI: 10.3389/fnsyn.2019.00037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2019] [Accepted: 12/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The addition and removal of presynaptic terminals reconfigures neuronal circuits of the mammalian neocortex, but little is known about how this presynaptic structural plasticity is controlled. Since mitochondria can regulate presynaptic function, we investigated whether the presence of axonal mitochondria relates to the structural plasticity of presynaptic boutons in mouse neocortex. We found that the overall density of axonal mitochondria did not appear to influence the loss and gain of boutons. However, positioning of mitochondria at individual presynaptic sites did relate to increased stability of those boutons. In line with this, synaptic localization of mitochondria increased as boutons aged and showed differing patterns of localization at en passant and terminaux boutons. These results suggest that mitochondria accumulate locally at boutons over time to increase bouton stability.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Michael C. Ashby
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
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28
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Kosillo P, Doig NM, Ahmed KM, Agopyan-Miu AHCW, Wong CD, Conyers L, Threlfell S, Magill PJ, Bateup HS. Tsc1-mTORC1 signaling controls striatal dopamine release and cognitive flexibility. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5426. [PMID: 31780742 PMCID: PMC6882901 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13396-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2018] [Accepted: 11/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in TSC1 or TSC2, which encode proteins that negatively regulate mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1). TSC is associated with significant cognitive, psychiatric, and behavioral problems, collectively termed TSC-Associated Neuropsychiatric Disorders (TAND), and the cell types responsible for these manifestations are largely unknown. Here we use cell type-specific Tsc1 deletion to test whether dopamine neurons, which modulate cognitive, motivational, and affective behaviors, are involved in TAND. We show that loss of Tsc1 and constitutive activation of mTORC1 in dopamine neurons causes somatodendritic hypertrophy, reduces intrinsic excitability, alters axon terminal structure, and impairs striatal dopamine release. These perturbations lead to a selective deficit in cognitive flexibility, preventable by genetic reduction of the mTOR-binding protein Raptor. Our results establish a critical role for Tsc1-mTORC1 signaling in setting the functional properties of dopamine neurons, and indicate that dopaminergic dysfunction may contribute to cognitive inflexibility in TSC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Polina Kosillo
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Natalie M Doig
- Medical Research Council Brain Network Dynamics Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3TH, UK
| | - Kamran M Ahmed
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | | | - Corinna D Wong
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Lisa Conyers
- Medical Research Council Brain Network Dynamics Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3TH, UK
| | - Sarah Threlfell
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PT, UK
- Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QX, UK
| | - Peter J Magill
- Medical Research Council Brain Network Dynamics Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3TH, UK
- Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QX, UK
| | - Helen S Bateup
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
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29
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Hattori R, Danskin B, Babic Z, Mlynaryk N, Komiyama T. Area-Specificity and Plasticity of History-Dependent Value Coding During Learning. Cell 2019; 177:1858-1872.e15. [PMID: 31080067 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.04.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2018] [Revised: 03/03/2019] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Decision making is often driven by the subjective value of available options, a value which is formed through experience. To support this fundamental behavior, the brain must encode and maintain the subjective value. To investigate the area specificity and plasticity of value coding, we trained mice in a value-based decision task and imaged neural activity in 6 cortical areas with cellular resolution. History- and value-related signals were widespread across areas, but their strength and temporal patterns differed. In expert mice, the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) uniquely encoded history- and value-related signals with persistent population activity patterns across trials. This unique encoding of RSC emerged during task learning with a strong increase in more distant history signals. Acute inactivation of RSC selectively impaired the reward-history-based behavioral strategy. Our results indicate that RSC flexibly changes its history coding and persistently encodes value-related signals to support adaptive behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryoma Hattori
- Neurobiology Section, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Neurosciences, and Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
| | - Bethanny Danskin
- Neurobiology Section, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Neurosciences, and Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Zeljana Babic
- Neurobiology Section, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Neurosciences, and Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Nicole Mlynaryk
- Neurobiology Section, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Neurosciences, and Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Takaki Komiyama
- Neurobiology Section, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Neurosciences, and Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
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30
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Delevich K, Thomas AW, Wilbrecht L. Adolescence and "Late Blooming" Synapses of the Prefrontal Cortex. COLD SPRING HARBOR SYMPOSIA ON QUANTITATIVE BIOLOGY 2019; 83:37-43. [PMID: 30674651 DOI: 10.1101/sqb.2018.83.037507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The maturation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during adolescence is thought to be important for cognitive and affective development and mental health risk. Whereas many summaries of adolescent development have focused on dendritic spine pruning and gray matter thinning in the PFC during adolescence, we highlight recent rodent data from our laboratory and others to call attention to continued synapse formation and plasticity in the adolescent period in specific cell types and circuits. In particular, we highlight changes in inhibitory neurotransmission onto intratelencephalic (IT-type) projecting cortical neurons and late expansion of connectivity between the amygdala and PFC and the ventral tegmental area and PFC. Continued work on these "late blooming" synapses in specific cell types and circuits, and their interrelationships, will illuminate new opportunities for understanding and shaping the biology of adolescent development. We also address which aspects of adolescent PFC development are dependent on pubertal processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen Delevich
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
| | - A Wren Thomas
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.,Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.,Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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31
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Increased Axonal Bouton Stability during Learning in the Mouse Model of MECP2 Duplication Syndrome. eNeuro 2018; 5:eN-NWR-0056-17. [PMID: 30105297 PMCID: PMC6086213 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0056-17.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2017] [Revised: 02/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
MECP2 duplication syndrome is an X-linked form of syndromic autism caused by genomic duplication of the region encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2). Mice overexpressing MECP2 demonstrate social impairment, behavioral inflexibility, and altered patterns of learning and memory. Previous work showed abnormally increased stability of dendritic spines formed during motor training in the apical tuft of primary motor cortex (area M1) corticospinal neurons in the MECP2 duplication mouse model. In the current study, we measure the structural plasticity of axonal boutons in layer 5 pyramidal neuron projections to layer 1 of area M1 during motor training. In wild-type littermate control mice, we find that during rotarod training the bouton formation rate changes minimally, if at all, while the bouton elimination rate more than doubles. Notably, the observed upregulation in bouton elimination with training is absent in MECP2 duplication mice. This result provides further evidence of an imbalance between structural stability and plasticity in this form of syndromic autism. Furthermore, the observation that axonal bouton elimination more than doubles with motor training in wild-type animals contrasts with the increase of dendritic spine consolidation observed in corticospinal neurons at the same layer. This dissociation suggests that different area M1 microcircuits may manifest different patterns of structural synaptic plasticity during motor training.
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32
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Schreiner DC, Gremel CM. Orbital Frontal Cortex Projections to Secondary Motor Cortex Mediate Exploitation of Learned Rules. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10979. [PMID: 30030509 PMCID: PMC6054681 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-29285-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2018] [Accepted: 06/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals face the dilemma between exploiting known opportunities and exploring new ones, a decision-making process supported by cortical circuits. While different types of learning may bias exploration, the circumstances and the degree to which bias occurs is unclear. We used an instrumental lever press task in mice to examine whether learned rules generalize to exploratory situations and the cortical circuits involved. We first trained mice to press one lever for food and subsequently assessed how that learning influenced pressing of a second novel lever. Using outcome devaluation procedures we found that novel lever exploration was not dependent on the food value associated with the trained lever. Further, changes in the temporal uncertainty of when a lever press would produce food did not affect exploration. Instead, accrued experience with the instrumental contingency was strongly predictive of test lever pressing with a positive correlation between experience and trained lever exploitation, but not novel lever exploration. Chemogenetic attenuation of orbital frontal cortex (OFC) projection into secondary motor cortex (M2) biased novel lever exploration, suggesting that experience increases OFC-M2 dependent exploitation of learned associations but leaves exploration constant. Our data suggests exploitation and exploration are parallel decision-making systems that do not necessarily compete.
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Affiliation(s)
- Drew C Schreiner
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA
| | - Christina M Gremel
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA. .,The Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA.
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33
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Stolyarova A. Solving the Credit Assignment Problem With the Prefrontal Cortex. Front Neurosci 2018; 12:182. [PMID: 29636659 PMCID: PMC5881225 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Accepted: 03/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In naturalistic multi-cue and multi-step learning tasks, where outcomes of behavior are delayed in time, discovering which choices are responsible for rewards can present a challenge, known as the credit assignment problem. In this review, I summarize recent work that highlighted a critical role for the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in assigning credit where it is due in tasks where only a few of the multitude of cues or choices are relevant to the final outcome of behavior. Collectively, these investigations have provided compelling support for specialized roles of the orbitofrontal (OFC), anterior cingulate (ACC), and dorsolateral prefrontal (dlPFC) cortices in contingent learning. However, recent work has similarly revealed shared contributions and emphasized rich and heterogeneous response properties of neurons in these brain regions. Such functional overlap is not surprising given the complexity of reciprocal projections spanning the PFC. In the concluding section, I overview the evidence suggesting that the OFC, ACC and dlPFC communicate extensively, sharing the information about presented options, executed decisions and received rewards, which enables them to assign credit for outcomes to choices on which they are contingent. This account suggests that lesion or inactivation/inhibition experiments targeting a localized PFC subregion will be insufficient to gain a fine-grained understanding of credit assignment during learning and instead poses refined questions for future research, shifting the focus from focal manipulations to experimental techniques targeting cortico-cortical projections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Stolyarova
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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34
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Boivin JR, Piekarski DJ, Thomas AW, Wilbrecht L. Adolescent pruning and stabilization of dendritic spines on cortical layer 5 pyramidal neurons do not depend on gonadal hormones. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2018; 30:100-107. [PMID: 29413532 PMCID: PMC6294327 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2017] [Revised: 01/12/2018] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Pyramidal neurons in the neocortex receive a majority of their synapses on dendritic spines, whose growth, gain, and loss regulate the strength and identity of neural connections. Juvenile brains typically show higher spine density and turnover compared to adult brains, potentially enabling greater capacity for experience-dependent circuit 'rewiring'. Although spine pruning and stabilization in frontal cortex overlap with pubertal milestones, it is unclear if gonadal hormones drive these processes. To address this question, we used hormone manipulations and in vivo 2-photon microscopy to test for a causal relationship between pubertal hormones and spine pruning and stabilization in layer 5 neurons in the frontal cortex of female mice. We found that spine density, gains, and losses decreased from P27 to P60 and that these measures were not affected by pre-pubertal hormone injections or ovariectomy. Further analyses of spine morphology after manipulation of gonadal hormones suggest that gonadal hormones may play a role in morphological maturation and dynamics. Our data help to segregate hormone-sensitive and hormone-insensitive maturational processes that occur simultaneously in dorsomedial frontal cortex. These data provide more specific insight into adolescent development and may have implications for understanding the neurodevelopmental effects of changes in pubertal timing in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josiah R Boivin
- UC San Francisco, Neuroscience Graduate Program, 1550 4th St., San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - David J Piekarski
- UC Berkeley, Department of Psychology, 16 Barker Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - A Wren Thomas
- UC Berkeley, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, 16 Barker Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- UC Berkeley, Department of Psychology, 16 Barker Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; UC Berkeley, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, 16 Barker Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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35
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Abstract
In this paper, we argue that prefrontal cortex ontogenetic functional development is best understood through an ecological lens. We first begin by reviewing evidence supporting the existing consensus that PFC structural and functional development is protracted based on maturational constraints. We then examine recent findings from neuroimaging studies in infants, early life stress research, and connectomics that support the novel hypothesis that PFC functional development is driven by reciprocal processes of neural adaptation and niche construction. We discuss implications and predictions of this model for redefining the construct of executive functions and for informing typical and atypical child development. This ecological account of PFC functional development moves beyond descriptions of development that are characteristic of existing frameworks, and provides novel insights into the mechanisms of developmental change, including its catalysts and influences. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise M Werchan
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University
| | - Dima Amso
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University
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36
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Gala R, Lebrecht D, Sahlender DA, Jorstad A, Knott G, Holtmaat A, Stepanyants A. Computer assisted detection of axonal bouton structural plasticity in in vivo time-lapse images. eLife 2017; 6:e29315. [PMID: 29058678 PMCID: PMC5675596 DOI: 10.7554/elife.29315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2017] [Accepted: 10/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to measure minute structural changes in neural circuits is essential for long-term in vivo imaging studies. Here, we propose a methodology for detection and measurement of structural changes in axonal boutons imaged with time-lapse two-photon laser scanning microscopy (2PLSM). Correlative 2PLSM and 3D electron microscopy (EM) analysis, performed in mouse barrel cortex, showed that the proposed method has low fractions of false positive/negative bouton detections (2/0 out of 18), and that 2PLSM-based bouton weights are correlated with their volumes measured in EM (r = 0.93). Next, the method was applied to a set of axons imaged in quick succession to characterize measurement uncertainty. The results were used to construct a statistical model in which bouton addition, elimination, and size changes are described probabilistically, rather than being treated as deterministic events. Finally, we demonstrate that the model can be used to quantify significant structural changes in boutons in long-term imaging experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rohan Gala
- Department of Physics and Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Complex SystemsNortheastern UniversityBostonUnited States
| | - Daniel Lebrecht
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of GenevaGenevaSwitzerland
- Lemanic Neuroscience Doctoral SchoolSwitzerland
| | - Daniela A Sahlender
- Biological Electron Microscopy Facility, Centre of Electron MicroscopyÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
| | - Anne Jorstad
- Biological Electron Microscopy Facility, Centre of Electron MicroscopyÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
| | - Graham Knott
- Biological Electron Microscopy Facility, Centre of Electron MicroscopyÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
| | - Anthony Holtmaat
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of GenevaGenevaSwitzerland
| | - Armen Stepanyants
- Department of Physics and Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Complex SystemsNortheastern UniversityBostonUnited States
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37
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Dos Santos M, Cahill EN, Bo GD, Vanhoutte P, Caboche J, Giros B, Heck N. Cocaine increases dopaminergic connectivity in the nucleus accumbens. Brain Struct Funct 2017; 223:913-923. [PMID: 29027032 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-017-1532-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Accepted: 09/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The development of addictive behavior is associated with functional and structural plasticity in the mesocorticolimbic pathway. Increased connectivity upon cocaine administration has been inferred from increases in dendritic spine density, but without observations of presynaptic elements. Recently, we established a method that enables analyses of both dendritic spines and glutamatergic boutons and presented evidence that cocaine induces changes in striatal connectivity. As the pharmacological and behavioral effects of cocaine directly implicate dopaminergic neurons and their afferents, a remaining question is whether dopaminergic striatal innervations also undergo structural plasticity. To address this issue, we generated transgenic mice in which the fluorophore tdTomato is expressed under the promoter of the dopamine transporter gene. In these mice, specific labeling of dopaminergic boutons was observed in the striatum. Of note, the accordance of our results for control mice with previous electron microscopy studies confirms that our method can be used to decipher the spatial organization of boutons in relation to dendritic elements. Following repeated cocaine administration that led to behavioral locomotor sensitization, an increased density of dopaminergic boutons was observed 1 day later in the nucleus accumbens shell specifically, and not in other striatal regions. Combined labeling of dopaminergic boutons and striatal dendrites showed that cocaine significantly increased the percentage of dendritic spines associated with a dopaminergic bouton. Our results show that chronic cocaine administration induces structural plasticity of dopaminergic boutons that could participate in dopamine-dependent neuronal adaptations in the striatum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Dos Santos
- Sorbonne Université, UPMC Univ Paris 06, INSERM, CNRS, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (NPS, IBPS), 75005, Paris, France
| | - Emma N Cahill
- Sorbonne Université, UPMC Univ Paris 06, INSERM, CNRS, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (NPS, IBPS), 75005, Paris, France.,Department of Psychology, Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Gregory Dal Bo
- Department of Psychiatry, Douglas Mental Health Research Center, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Département de Toxicologie et risque chimiques, IRBA, Brétigny sur Orge, France
| | - Peter Vanhoutte
- Sorbonne Université, UPMC Univ Paris 06, INSERM, CNRS, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (NPS, IBPS), 75005, Paris, France
| | - Jocelyne Caboche
- Sorbonne Université, UPMC Univ Paris 06, INSERM, CNRS, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (NPS, IBPS), 75005, Paris, France
| | - Bruno Giros
- Sorbonne Université, UPMC Univ Paris 06, INSERM, CNRS, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (NPS, IBPS), 75005, Paris, France.,Department of Psychiatry, Douglas Mental Health Research Center, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Nicolas Heck
- Sorbonne Université, UPMC Univ Paris 06, INSERM, CNRS, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (NPS, IBPS), 75005, Paris, France.
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38
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Selective Modulation of Orbitofrontal Network Activity during Negative Occasion Setting. J Neurosci 2017; 37:9415-9423. [PMID: 28847808 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0572-17.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2017] [Revised: 07/18/2017] [Accepted: 07/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Discrete cues can gain powerful control over behavior to help an animal anticipate and cope with upcoming events. This is important in conditions where understanding the relationship between complex stimuli provides a means to resolving situational ambiguity. However, it is unclear how cortical circuits generate and maintain these signals that conditionally regulate behavior. To address this, we established a Pavlovian serial feature-negative conditioning paradigm, where male mice are trained on a trial in which a conditioned stimulus (CS) is presented alone and followed by reward, or a feature-negative trial in which the CS is preceded by a feature cue indicating there is no reward. Mice learn to respond with anticipatory licking to a solitary CS, but significantly suppress their responding to the same cue during feature-negative trials. We show that the feature cue forms a selective association with its paired CS, because the ability of the feature to transfer its suppressive properties to a separately rewarded cue is limited. Next, to examine the underlying neural dynamics, we conduct recordings in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). We find that the feature cue significantly and selectively inhibits CS-evoked activity. Finally, we find that the feature triggers a distinct OFC network state during the delay period between the feature and CS, establishing a potential link between the feature and future events. Together, our findings suggest that OFC dynamics are modulated by the feature cue and its associated conditioned stimulus in a manner consistent with an occasion setting model.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The ability of patterned cues to form an inhibitory relationship with ambiguously rewarded outcomes has been appreciated since early studies on learning and memory. However, it was often assumed that these cues, despite their hierarchical nature, still made direct associative links with neural rewarding events. This model was significantly challenged, largely by the work of Holland and colleagues, who demonstrated that under certain conditions cues can inherit occasion setting properties whereby they modulate the ability of a paired cue to elicit its conditioned response. Here we provide some of the first evidence that the activity of a cortical circuit is selectively modulated by such cues, thereby providing insight into the mechanisms of higher order learning.
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39
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Smolyakov G, Dague E, Roux C, Seguelas MH, Galés C, Senard JM, Arvanitis DN. Nanoscale structural mapping as a measure of maturation in the murine frontal cortex. Brain Struct Funct 2017; 223:255-265. [PMID: 28779306 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-017-1486-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2017] [Accepted: 07/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is emerging as an innovative tool to phenotype the brain. This study demonstrates the utility of AFM to determine nanomechanical and nanostructural features of the murine dorsolateral frontal cortex from weaning to adulthood. We found an increase in tissue stiffness of the primary somatosensory cortex with age, along with an increased cortical mechanical heterogeneity. To characterize the features potentially responsible for this heterogeneity, we applied AFM scan mode to directly image the topography of thin sections of the primary somatosensory cortical layers II/III, IV and V/VI. Topographical mapping of the cortical layers at successive ages showed progressive smoothing of the surface. Topographical images were also compared with histochemically derived morphological information, which demonstrated the deposition of perineuronal nets, important extracellular components and markers of maturity. Our work demonstrates that high-resolution AFM images can be used to determine the nanostructural properties of cortical maturation, well beyond embryonic and postnatal development. Furthermore, it may offer a new method for brain phenotyping and screening to uncover topographical changes in early stages of neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Smolyakov
- LAAS-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
- ITAV-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
| | - E Dague
- LAAS-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France.
- ITAV-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France.
| | - C Roux
- LAAS-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
- ITAV-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
- Laboratoire Des IMRCP, Université de Toulouse, CNRS UMR 5623, Université de Toulouse, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
- Institut Des Maladies Métaboliques Et Cardiovasculaires, INSERM, UMR1048, Université de Toulouse, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - M H Seguelas
- Institut Des Maladies Métaboliques Et Cardiovasculaires, INSERM, UMR1048, Université de Toulouse, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - C Galés
- ITAV-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
- Institut Des Maladies Métaboliques Et Cardiovasculaires, INSERM, UMR1048, Université de Toulouse, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - J M Senard
- Institut Des Maladies Métaboliques Et Cardiovasculaires, INSERM, UMR1048, Université de Toulouse, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - D N Arvanitis
- Institut Des Maladies Métaboliques Et Cardiovasculaires, INSERM, UMR1048, Université de Toulouse, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse Cedex 9, France.
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40
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Makino H, Hwang EJ, Hedrick NG, Komiyama T. Circuit Mechanisms of Sensorimotor Learning. Neuron 2017; 92:705-721. [PMID: 27883902 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2016] [Revised: 10/13/2016] [Accepted: 10/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The relationship between the brain and the environment is flexible, forming the foundation for our ability to learn. Here we review the current state of our understanding of the modifications in the sensorimotor pathway related to sensorimotor learning. We divide the process into three hierarchical levels with distinct goals: (1) sensory perceptual learning, (2) sensorimotor associative learning, and (3) motor skill learning. Perceptual learning optimizes the representations of important sensory stimuli. Associative learning and the initial phase of motor skill learning are ensured by feedback-based mechanisms that permit trial-and-error learning. The later phase of motor skill learning may primarily involve feedback-independent mechanisms operating under the classic Hebbian rule. With these changes under distinct constraints and mechanisms, sensorimotor learning establishes dedicated circuitry for the reproduction of stereotyped neural activity patterns and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroshi Makino
- Neurobiology Section, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Eun Jung Hwang
- Neurobiology Section, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Nathan G Hedrick
- Neurobiology Section, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Takaki Komiyama
- Neurobiology Section, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
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41
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Barthas F, Kwan AC. Secondary Motor Cortex: Where 'Sensory' Meets 'Motor' in the Rodent Frontal Cortex. Trends Neurosci 2017; 40:181-193. [PMID: 28012708 PMCID: PMC5339050 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2016.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 143] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2016] [Revised: 11/28/2016] [Accepted: 11/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
In rodents, the medial aspect of the secondary motor cortex (M2) is known by other names, including medial agranular cortex (AGm), medial precentral cortex (PrCm), and frontal orienting field (FOF). As a subdivision of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), M2 can be defined by a distinct set of afferent and efferent connections, microstimulation responses, and lesion outcomes. However, the behavioral role of M2 remains mysterious. Here, we focus on evidence from rodent studies, highlighting recent findings of early and context-dependent choice-related activity in M2 during voluntary behavior. Based on the current understanding, we suggest that a major function for M2 is to flexibly map antecedent signals such as sensory cues to motor actions, thereby enabling adaptive choice behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florent Barthas
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Alex C Kwan
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
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42
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Piekarski DJ, Johnson CM, Boivin JR, Thomas AW, Lin WC, Delevich K, M Galarce E, Wilbrecht L. Does puberty mark a transition in sensitive periods for plasticity in the associative neocortex? Brain Res 2017; 1654:123-144. [PMID: 27590721 PMCID: PMC5283387 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2016.08.042] [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: 02/18/2016] [Revised: 08/17/2016] [Accepted: 08/29/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Postnatal brain development is studded with sensitive periods during which experience dependent plasticity is enhanced. This enables rapid learning from environmental inputs and reorganization of cortical circuits that matches behavior with environmental contingencies. Significant headway has been achieved in characterizing and understanding sensitive period biology in primary sensory cortices, but relatively little is known about sensitive period biology in associative neocortex. One possible mediator is the onset of puberty, which marks the transition to adolescence, when animals shift their behavior toward gaining independence and exploring their social world. Puberty onset correlates with reduced behavioral plasticity in some domains and enhanced plasticity in others, and therefore may drive the transition from juvenile to adolescent brain function. Pubertal onset is also occurring earlier in developed nations, particularly in unserved populations, and earlier puberty is associated with vulnerability for substance use, depression and anxiety. In the present article we review the evidence that supports a causal role for puberty in developmental changes in the function and neurobiology of the associative neocortex. We also propose a model for how pubertal hormones may regulate sensitive period plasticity in associative neocortex. We conclude that the evidence suggests puberty onset may play a causal role in some aspects of associative neocortical development, but that further research that manipulates puberty and measures gonadal hormones is required. We argue that further work of this kind is urgently needed to determine how earlier puberty may negatively impact human health and learning potential. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Adolescent plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Piekarski
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Carolyn M Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Josiah R Boivin
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco CA 94158, USA
| | - A Wren Thomas
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Wan Chen Lin
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Kristen Delevich
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Ezequiel M Galarce
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA.
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43
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Johnson CM, Loucks FA, Peckler H, Thomas AW, Janak PH, Wilbrecht L. Long-range orbitofrontal and amygdala axons show divergent patterns of maturation in the frontal cortex across adolescence. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2016; 18:113-120. [PMID: 26896859 PMCID: PMC5283395 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2016.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2015] [Revised: 01/26/2016] [Accepted: 01/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The adolescent transition from juvenile to adult is marked by anatomical and functional remodeling of brain networks. Currently, the cellular and synaptic level changes underlying the adolescent transition are only coarsely understood. Here, we use two-photon imaging to make time-lapse observations of long-range axons that innervate the frontal cortex in the living brain. We labeled cells in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) and imaged their axonal afferents to the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). We also imaged the apical dendrites of dmPFC pyramidal neurons. Images were taken daily in separate cohorts of juvenile (P24–P28) and young adult mice (P64–P68), ages where we have previously discovered differences in dmPFC dependent decision-making. Dendritic spines were pruned across this peri-adolescent period, while BLA and OFC afferents followed alternate developmental trajectories. OFC boutons showed no decrease in density, but did show a decrease in daily bouton gain and loss with age. BLA axons showed an increase in both bouton density and daily bouton gain at the later age, suggesting a delayed window of enhanced plasticity. Our findings reveal projection specific maturation of synaptic structures within a single frontal region and suggest that stabilization is a more general characteristic of maturation than pruning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn M Johnson
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, United States; Psychology Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
| | - F Alexandra Loucks
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, United States
| | - Hannah Peckler
- Psychology Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
| | - A Wren Thomas
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
| | - Patricia H Janak
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- Psychology Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States.
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