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Nippert KE, Rowland CP, Vazey EM, Moorman DE. Alcohol, flexible behavior, and the prefrontal cortex: Functional changes underlying impaired cognitive flexibility. Neuropharmacology 2024; 260:110114. [PMID: 39134298 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2024.110114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2024] [Revised: 08/08/2024] [Accepted: 08/09/2024] [Indexed: 08/22/2024]
Abstract
Cognitive flexibility enables individuals to alter their behavior in response to changing environmental demands, facilitating optimal behavior in a dynamic world. The inability to do this, called behavioral inflexibility, is a pervasive behavioral phenotype in alcohol use disorder (AUD), driven by disruptions in cognitive flexibility. Research has repeatedly shown that behavioral inflexibility not only results from alcohol exposure across species but can itself be predictive of future drinking. Like many high-level executive functions, flexible behavior requires healthy functioning of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The scope of this review addresses two primary themes: first, we outline tasks that have been used to investigate flexibility in the context of AUD or AUD models. We characterize these based on the task features and underlying cognitive processes that differentiate them from one another. We highlight the neural basis of flexibility measures, focusing on the PFC, and how acute or chronic alcohol in humans and non-human animal models impacts flexibility. Second, we consolidate findings on the molecular, physiological and functional changes in the PFC elicited by alcohol, that may contribute to cognitive flexibility deficits seen in AUD. Collectively, this approach identifies several key avenues for future research that will facilitate effective treatments to promote flexible behavior in the context of AUD, to reduce the risk of alcohol related harm, and to improve outcomes following AUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn E Nippert
- Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
| | - Courtney P Rowland
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
| | - Elena M Vazey
- Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA; Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA.
| | - David E Moorman
- Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA.
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2
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Lee SH, Shnitko TA, Hsu LM, Broadwater MA, Sardinas M, Wang TWW, Robinson DL, Vetreno RP, Crews FT, Shih YYI. Acute alcohol induces greater dose-dependent increase in the lateral cortical network functional connectivity in adult than adolescent rats. ADDICTION NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 7:100105. [PMID: 37576436 PMCID: PMC10421607 DOI: 10.1016/j.addicn.2023.100105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Alcohol misuse and, particularly adolescent drinking, is a major public health concern. While evidence suggests that adolescent alcohol use affects frontal brain regions that are important for cognitive control over behavior little is known about how acute alcohol exposure alters large-scale brain networks and how sex and age may moderate such effects. Here, we employ a recently developed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) protocol to acquire rat brain functional connectivity data and use an established analytical pipeline to examine the effect of sex, age, and alcohol dose on connectivity within and between three major rodent brain networks: defaul mode, salience, and lateral cortical network. We identify the intra- and inter-network connectivity differences and establish moderation models to reveal significant influences of age on acute alcohol-induced lateral cortical network connectivity. Through this work, we make brain-wide isotropic fMRI data with acute alcohol challenge publicly available, with the hope to facilitate future discovery of brain regions/circuits that are causally relevant to the impact of acute alcohol use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung-Ho Lee
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Tatiana A. Shnitko
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Li-Ming Hsu
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Margaret A. Broadwater
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Mabelle Sardinas
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Tzu-Wen Winnie Wang
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Donita L. Robinson
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Ryan P. Vetreno
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Fulton T. Crews
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Yen-Yu Ian Shih
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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Ausderau KK, Colman RJ, Kabakov S, Schultz-Darken N, Emborg ME. Evaluating depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in non-human primates. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 16:1006065. [PMID: 36744101 PMCID: PMC9892652 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1006065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Depression and anxiety are some of the most prevalent and debilitating mental health conditions in humans. They can present on their own or as co-morbidities with other disorders. Like humans, non-human primates (NHPs) can develop depression- and anxiety-like signs. Here, we first define human depression and anxiety, examine equivalent species-specific behaviors in NHPs, and consider models and current methods to identify and evaluate these behaviors. We also discuss knowledge gaps, as well as the importance of evaluating the co-occurrence of depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in animal models of human disease. Lastly, we consider ethical challenges in depression and anxiety research on NHPs in order to ultimately advance the understanding and the personalized treatment of these disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karla K. Ausderau
- Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, United States
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, United States
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Ricki J. Colman
- Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, United States
- Department of Cell and Regenerative Biology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Sabrina Kabakov
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Nancy Schultz-Darken
- Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Marina E. Emborg
- Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, United States
- Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, United States
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Samandra R, Haque ZZ, Rosa MGP, Mansouri FA. The marmoset as a model for investigating the neural basis of social cognition in health and disease. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 138:104692. [PMID: 35569579 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Social-cognitive processes facilitate the use of environmental cues to understand others, and to be understood by others. Animal models provide vital insights into the neural underpinning of social behaviours. To understand social cognition at even deeper behavioural, cognitive, neural, and molecular levels, we need to develop more representative study models, which allow testing of novel hypotheses using human-relevant cognitive tasks. Due to their cooperative breeding system and relatively small size, common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) offer a promising translational model for such endeavours. In addition to having social behavioural patterns and group dynamics analogous to those of humans, marmosets have cortical brain areas relevant for the mechanistic analysis of human social cognition, albeit in simplified form. Thus, they are likely suitable animal models for deciphering the physiological processes, connectivity and molecular mechanisms supporting advanced cognitive functions. Here, we review findings emerging from marmoset social and behavioural studies, which have already provided significant insights into executive, motivational, social, and emotional dysfunction associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ranshikha Samandra
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Zakia Z Haque
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Marcello G P Rosa
- Department of Physiology and Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia; ARC Centre for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University, Australia.
| | - Farshad Alizadeh Mansouri
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia; ARC Centre for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University, Australia.
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Rothwell ES, Workman KP, Wang D, Lacreuse A. Sex differences in cognitive aging: a 4-year longitudinal study in marmosets. Neurobiol Aging 2022; 109:88-99. [PMID: 34700200 PMCID: PMC8841951 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Longitudinal studies are essential to understand healthy and pathological neurocognitive aging such as Alzheimer's Disease, but longitudinal designs are rare in both humans and non-human primate models of aging because of the difficulty of tracking cognitive change in long-lived primates. Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) are uniquely suited for aging studies due to their naturally short lifespan (10-12 years), sophisticated cognitive and social abilities and Alzheimer Disease-like neuropathology. We report the first longitudinal study of cognitive aging in marmosets (N = 28) as they transitioned from middle- (∼5 years) to old age (∼9 years). We characterized aging trajectories using reversal learning with different stimuli each year. Marmosets initially improved on cognitive performance due to practice, but worsened in the final year, suggesting the onset of age-related decline. Cognitive impairment emerged earlier in females than males and was more prominent for discrimination than for reversal learning. Sex differences in cognitive aging could not be explained by differences in motivation or motor abilities, which improved or remained stable across aging. Likewise, males and females did not differ in aging trajectories of overall behavior or reactivity to a social stressor, with the exception of a progressive decline in the initiation of social behavior in females. Patterns of cognitive aging were highly variable across marmosets of both sexes, suggesting the potential for pathological aging for some individuals. Future work will link individual cognitive trajectories to neuropathology in order to better understand the relationships between neuropathologic burden and vulnerability to age-related cognitive decline in each sex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily S Rothwell
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA.
| | - Kathryn P Workman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Dongwei Wang
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Agnès Lacreuse
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA; Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
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Differential Ageing of the Brain Hemispheres: Evidence from a Longitudinal Study of Hand Preferences in Common Marmosets. Symmetry (Basel) 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/sym13122349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper is concerned with decreasing asymmetry of motor control in ageing. It discusses age-related changes in humans and reports a longitudinal study of hand preferences in common marmosets. An annual assessment of hand preference for holding food was recorded throughout the lifespan of 19 marmosets that lived for at least 9 years, and half of those lived for at least 11 years. Those with a left-hand preference showed a gradual reduction in the strength of their hand preference throughout adult life. No significant change in the strength of hand preference was found in right-handed marmosets. Hence, ageing has a specific effect on motor control by the right hemisphere.
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Rothwell ES, Freire-Cobo C, Varghese M, Edwards M, Janssen WGM, Hof PR, Lacreuse A. The marmoset as an important primate model for longitudinal studies of neurocognitive aging. Am J Primatol 2021; 83:e23271. [PMID: 34018622 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Revised: 04/18/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Age-related cognitive decline has been extensively studied in humans, but the majority of research designs are cross-sectional and compare across younger and older adults. Longitudinal studies are necessary to capture variability in cognitive aging trajectories but are difficult to carry out in humans and long-lived nonhuman primates. Marmosets are an ideal primate model for neurocognitive aging as their naturally short lifespan facilitates longitudinal designs. In a longitudinal study of marmosets tested on reversal learning starting in middle-age, we found that, on average, the group of marmosets declined in cognitive performance around 8 years of age. However, we found highly variable patterns of cognitive aging trajectories across individuals. Preliminary analyses of brain tissues from this cohort also show highly variable degrees of neuropathology. Future work will tie together behavioral trajectories with brain pathology and provide a window into the factors that predict age-related cognitive decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily S Rothwell
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Carmen Freire-Cobo
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Merina Varghese
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Mélise Edwards
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
| | - William G M Janssen
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Patrick R Hof
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.,Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Agnès Lacreuse
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
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