1
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Salinas-Hernández XI, Zafiri D, Sigurdsson T, Duvarci S. Functional architecture of dopamine neurons driving fear extinction learning. Neuron 2023; 111:3854-3870.e5. [PMID: 37741275 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.08.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/25/2023]
Abstract
The ability to extinguish fear responses to stimuli that no longer predict danger is critical for adaptive behavior and increases the likelihood of survival. During fear extinction, dopamine (DA) neurons signal the absence of the expected aversive outcome, and this extinction prediction error (EPE) signal is crucial for initiating and driving extinction learning. However, the neural circuits underlying the EPE signal have remained elusive. Here, we investigate the input-output circuitry of EPE-encoding DA neurons in male mice. By employing projection-specific fiber photometry and optogenetics, we demonstrate that these neurons project to a restricted subregion of the nucleus accumbens. Comprehensive anatomical analyses, as well as projection-specific chemogenetic manipulations combined with recordings of DA biosensors, further uncover the dorsal raphe as one key input structure critical for generating the EPE signal. Together, our results reveal for the first time the functional architecture of EPE-encoding DA neurons crucial for driving fear extinction learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ximena I Salinas-Hernández
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Neuroscience Center, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Daphne Zafiri
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Neuroscience Center, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Torfi Sigurdsson
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Neuroscience Center, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Sevil Duvarci
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Neuroscience Center, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany.
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2
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Latagliata EC, Orsini C, Cabib S, Biagioni F, Fornai F, Puglisi-Allegra S. Prefrontal Dopamine in Flexible Adaptation to Environmental Changes: A Game for Two Players. Biomedicines 2023; 11:3189. [PMID: 38137410 PMCID: PMC10740496 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11123189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Deficits in cognitive flexibility have been characterized in affective, anxiety, and neurodegenerative disorders. This paper reviews data, mainly from studies on animal models, that support the existence of a cortical-striatal brain circuit modulated by dopamine (DA), playing a major role in cognitive/behavioral flexibility. Moreover, we reviewed clinical findings supporting misfunctioning of this circuit in Parkinson's disease that could be responsible for some important non-motoric symptoms. The reviewed findings point to a role of catecholaminergic transmission in the medial prefrontal cortex (mpFC) in modulating DA's availability in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), as well as a role of NAc DA in modulating the motivational value of natural and conditioned stimuli. The review section is accompanied by a preliminary experiment aimed at testing weather the extinction of a simple Pavlovian association fosters increased DA transmission in the mpFC and inhibition of DA transmission in the NAc.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cristina Orsini
- I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00143 Rome, Italy; (C.O.); (S.C.)
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Simona Cabib
- I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00143 Rome, Italy; (C.O.); (S.C.)
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Biagioni
- I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed, Via Atinense 18, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy; (F.B.); (F.F.)
| | - Francesco Fornai
- I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed, Via Atinense 18, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy; (F.B.); (F.F.)
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies on Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
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3
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Gattuso JJ, Wilson C, Hannan AJ, Renoir T. Psilocybin as a lead candidate molecule in preclinical therapeutic studies of psychiatric disorders: A systematic review. J Neurochem 2023. [PMID: 38019032 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.16017] [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: 09/03/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023]
Abstract
Psilocybin is the main psychoactive compound found in hallucinogenic/magic mushrooms and can bind to both serotonergic and tropomyosin receptor kinase b (TrkB) receptors. Psilocybin has begun to show efficacy for a range of neuropsychiatric conditions, including treatment-resistant depression and anxiety disorders; however, neurobiological mechanisms are still being elucidated. Clinical research has found that psilocybin can alter functional connectivity patterns in human brains, which is often associated with therapeutic outcomes. However, preclinical research affords the opportunity to assess the potential cellular mechanisms by which psilocybin may exert its therapeutic effects. Preclinical rodent models can also facilitate a more tightly controlled experimental context and minimise placebo effects. Furthermore, where there is a rationale, preclinical researchers can investigate psilocybin administration in neuropsychiatric conditions that have not yet been researched clinically. As a result, we have systematically reviewed the knowledge base, identifying 82 preclinical studies which were screened based on specific criteria. This resulted in the exclusion of 44 articles, with 34 articles being included in the main review and another 2 articles included as Supporting Information materials. We found that psilocybin shows promise as a lead candidate molecule for treating a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions, albeit showing the most efficacy for depression. We discuss the experimental findings, and identify possible mechanisms whereby psilocybin could invoke therapeutic changes. Furthermore, we critically evaluate the between-study heterogeneity and possible future research avenues. Our review suggests that preclinical rodent models can provide valid and translatable tools for researching novel psilocybin-induced molecular and cellular mechanisms, and therapeutic outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- James J Gattuso
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Carey Wilson
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Anthony J Hannan
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Thibault Renoir
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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4
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Kampa M, Hermann A, Stark R, Klucken T. Neural correlates of immediate versus delayed extinction when simultaneously varying the time of the test in humans. Cereb Cortex 2023:bhad205. [PMID: 37317067 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Anxiety disorders are effectively treated with exposure therapy based on the extinction of Pavlovian fear conditioning. Animal research indicates that both the timing of extinction and test are important factors to reduce the return of fear. However, empirical evidence in humans is incomplete and inconsistent. In this neuroimaging study, we, therefore, tested 103 young, healthy participants in a 2-factorial between-subjects design with the factors extinction group (immediate, delayed) and test group (+1 day and +7 days). Immediate extinction led to greater retention of fear memory at the beginning of extinction training indicated by increased skin conductance responses. A return of fear was observed in both extinction groups, with a trend toward a greater return of fear in immediate extinction. The return of fear was generally higher in groups with an early test. Neuroimaging results show successful cross-group fear acquisition and retention, as well as activation of the left nucleus accumbens during extinction training. Importantly, the delayed extinction group showed a larger bilateral nucleus accumbens activation during test. This nucleus accumbens finding is discussed in terms of salience, contingency, relief, and prediction error processing. It may imply that the delayed extinction group benefits more from the test as a new learning opportunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Kampa
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Siegen 57072, Germany
- Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
| | - Andrea Hermann
- Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
- Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
| | - Rudolf Stark
- Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
- Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
| | - Tim Klucken
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Siegen 57072, Germany
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5
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Webler RD, Oathes DJ, van Rooij SJH, Gewirtz JC, Nahas Z, Lissek SM, Widge AS. Causally mapping human threat extinction relevant circuits with depolarizing brain stimulation methods. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 144:105005. [PMID: 36549377 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.105005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Revised: 11/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Laboratory threat extinction paradigms and exposure-based therapy both involve repeated, safe confrontation with stimuli previously experienced as threatening. This fundamental procedural overlap supports laboratory threat extinction as a compelling analogue of exposure-based therapy. Threat extinction impairments have been detected in clinical anxiety and may contribute to exposure-based therapy non-response and relapse. However, efforts to improve exposure outcomes using techniques that boost extinction - primarily rodent extinction - have largely failed to date, potentially due to fundamental differences between rodent and human neurobiology. In this review, we articulate a comprehensive pre-clinical human research agenda designed to overcome these failures. We describe how connectivity guided depolarizing brain stimulation methods (i.e., TMS and DBS) can be applied concurrently with threat extinction and dual threat reconsolidation-extinction paradigms to causally map human extinction relevant circuits and inform the optimal integration of these methods with exposure-based therapy. We highlight candidate targets including the amygdala, hippocampus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and mesolimbic structures, and propose hypotheses about how stimulation delivered at specific learning phases could strengthen threat extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan D Webler
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
| | - Desmond J Oathes
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Sanne J H van Rooij
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jonathan C Gewirtz
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA; Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, AZ, USA
| | - Ziad Nahas
- Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, AZ, USA
| | - Shmuel M Lissek
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Alik S Widge
- Department of Psychiatry and Medical Discovery Team on Addictions, University of Minnesota Medical School, MN, USA
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6
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Leng L, Beckers T, Vervliet B. No joy - why bother? Higher anhedonia relates to reduced pleasure from and motivation for threat avoidance. Behav Res Ther 2022; 159:104227. [PMID: 36423413 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2022.104227] [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: 07/15/2022] [Revised: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Anhedonia impairs various components of the pleasure cycle, including wanting, liking, and the learning of pleasure-related associations. While successfully controlling threats might be inherently pleasurable, it remains unclear whether anhedonia affects this form of pleasure as well. With aversive pictures as threats, we conducted an online study ( N = 200) to investigate the role of anhedonia during active avoidance learning process. Participants first learned cue-threat associations for different cues (threat vs. safety cues). In a subsequent avoidance learning phase, these cues signaled either avoidable, unavoidable, or no threat; participants could perform avoidance responses to prevent the upcoming threats during those cue presentations. Subjective relief pleasantness was measured after each threat omission. We found that higher trait anticipatory and consummatory anhedonia were both associated with lower relief pleasantness. Higher trait anticipatory anhedonia was also associated with fewer avoidance attempts. Since reduced threat-controlling behavior is reminiscent of a learned-helplessness state, the current results contribute to a better understanding of the connections between anhedonia and learned helplessness that have mostly been studied separately in the context of mood disturbance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lu Leng
- Center for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Tom Beckers
- Center for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bram Vervliet
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium
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7
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Laing PAF, Felmingham KL, Davey CG, Harrison BJ. The neurobiology of Pavlovian safety learning: Towards an acquisition-expression framework. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 142:104882. [PMID: 36150453 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Safety learning creates associations between conditional stimuli and the absence of threat. Studies of human fear conditioning have accumulated evidence for the neural signatures of safety over various paradigms, aligning on several common brain systems. While these systems are often interpreted as underlying safety learning in a generic sense, they may instead reflect the expression of learned safety, pertaining to processes of fear inhibition, positive affect, and memory. Animal models strongly suggest these can be separable from neural circuits implicated in the conditioning process itself (or safety acquisition). While acquisition-expression distinctions are ubiquitous in behavioural science, this lens has not been applied to safety learning, which remains a novel area in the field. In this mini-review, we overview findings from prevalent safety paradigms in humans, and synthesise these with insights from animal models to propose that the neurobiology of safety learning be conceptualised along an acquisition-expression model, with the aim of stimulating richer brain-based characterisations of this important process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick A F Laing
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
| | - Kim L Felmingham
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Australia
| | - Christopher G Davey
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Australia
| | - Ben J Harrison
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
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8
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Identification of ADP/ATP Translocase 1 as a Novel Glycoprotein and Its Association with Parkinson's Disease. Neurochem Res 2022; 47:3355-3368. [PMID: 35962937 DOI: 10.1007/s11064-022-03688-9] [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: 04/03/2022] [Revised: 07/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Protein glycosylation plays a crucial role in central nervous system, and abnormal glycosylation has major implications for human diseases. This study aims to evaluate an etiological implication of the variation in glycosylation for Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder. Based on a PD mouse model constructed by the intraperitoneal injection with 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine, glycosylation variation was accessed using biotinylated lectin of dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) specific for the exposed N-acetylgalactosamine linked to glycoprotein. Consequently, a glycoprotein with a significantly reduced N-acetylgalactosamination was identified as ADP/ATP translocase 1 (ANT1) by lectin affinity chromatography coupled with MALDI-TOF MS/MS (mass spectrometry), and confirmed by the analysis of dual co-immunofluorescence and Western blot. A tissue-specific distribution of de-N-acetylgalactosaminated ANT1 was found to be correlated with high risk of PD. At cellular level, an obvious co-aggregation between ANT1 and DBA was only found in the MPP+-induced PD-like cell model using dual co-immunofluorescence. Thus, we found that ANT1 was a potential glycoprotein with terminal N-acetylgalactosamine moiety, and the variation of glycosylation in ANT1 was associated with PD. This investigation provides an innovative insight in protein glycosylation with PD pathogenesis.
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9
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Keller NE, Hennings AC, Leiker EK, Lewis-Peacock JA, Dunsmoor JE. Rewarded Extinction Increases Amygdalar Connectivity and Stabilizes Long-Term Memory Traces in the vmPFC. J Neurosci 2022; 42:5717-5729. [PMID: 35680411 PMCID: PMC9302464 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0075-22.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurobiological evidence in rodents indicates that threat extinction incorporates reward neurocircuitry. Consequently, incorporating reward associations with an extinction memory may be an effective strategy to persistently attenuate threat responses. Moreover, while there is considerable research on the short-term effects of extinction strategies in humans, the long-term effects of extinction are rarely considered. In a within-subjects fMRI study with both female and male participants, we compared counterconditioning (CC; a form of rewarded-extinction) to standard extinction at recent (24 h) and remote (approximately one month) retrieval tests. Relative to standard extinction, rewarded extinction diminished 24-h relapse of arousal and threat expectancy, and reduced activity in brain regions associated with the appraisal and expression of threat (e.g., thalamus, insula, periaqueductal gray). The retrieval of reward-associated extinction memory was accompanied by functional connectivity between the amygdala and the ventral striatum, whereas the retrieval of standard-extinction memories was associated with connectivity between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). One month later, the retrieval of both standard-extinction and rewarded-extinction was associated with amygdala-vmPFC connectivity. However, only rewarded extinction created a stable memory trace in the vmPFC, identified through overlapping multivariate patterns of fMRI activity from extinction to 24-h and one-month retrieval. These findings provide new evidence that reward may generate a more stable and enduring memory trace of attenuated threat in humans.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Prevalent treatments for pathologic fear and anxiety are based on the principles of Pavlovian extinction. Unfortunately, extinction forms weak memories that only temporarily inhibit the retrieval of threat associations. Thus, to increase the translational relevance of extinction research, it is critical to investigate whether extinction can be augmented to form a more enduring memory, especially after long intervals. Here, we used a multiday fMRI paradigm in humans to compare the short-term and long-term neurobehavioral effects of aversive-to-appetitive counterconditioning (CC), a form of augmented extinction. Our results provide novel evidence that including an appetitive stimulus during extinction can reduce short-term threat relapse and stabilize the memory trace of extinction in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), for at least one month after learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole E Keller
- Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
| | - Augustin C Hennings
- Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
| | - Emily K Leiker
- Department of Psychiatry School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
| | - Jarrod A Lewis-Peacock
- Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
- Center for Learning and Memory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
- Department of Psychiatry, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
| | - Joseph E Dunsmoor
- Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
- Center for Learning and Memory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
- Department of Psychiatry, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
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10
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Jepma M, Roy M, Ramlakhan K, van Velzen M, Dahan A. Different brain systems support learning from received and avoided pain during human pain-avoidance learning. eLife 2022; 11:74149. [PMID: 35731646 PMCID: PMC9217130 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Both unexpected pain and unexpected pain absence can drive avoidance learning, but whether they do so via shared or separate neural and neurochemical systems is largely unknown. To address this issue, we combined an instrumental pain-avoidance learning task with computational modeling, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and pharmacological manipulations of the dopaminergic (100 mg levodopa) and opioidergic (50 mg naltrexone) systems (N = 83). Computational modeling provided evidence that untreated participants learned more from received than avoided pain. Our dopamine and opioid manipulations negated this learning asymmetry by selectively increasing learning rates for avoided pain. Furthermore, our fMRI analyses revealed that pain prediction errors were encoded in subcortical and limbic brain regions, whereas no-pain prediction errors were encoded in frontal and parietal cortical regions. However, we found no effects of our pharmacological manipulations on the neural encoding of prediction errors. Together, our results suggest that human pain-avoidance learning is supported by separate threat- and safety-learning systems, and that dopamine and endogenous opioids specifically regulate learning from successfully avoided pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marieke Jepma
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.,Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Mathieu Roy
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.,Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Kiran Ramlakhan
- Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.,Department of Research and Statistics, Municipality of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Monique van Velzen
- Department of Anesthesiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Albert Dahan
- Department of Anesthesiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
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11
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Laing PAF, Steward T, Davey CG, Felmingham KL, Fullana MA, Vervliet B, Greaves MD, Moffat B, Glarin RK, Harrison BJ. Cortico-Striatal Activity Characterizes Human Safety Learning via Pavlovian Conditioned Inhibition. J Neurosci 2022; 42:5047-5057. [PMID: 35577553 PMCID: PMC9233447 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2181-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Safety learning generates associative links between neutral stimuli and the absence of threat, promoting the inhibition of fear and security-seeking behaviors. Precisely how safety learning is mediated at the level of underlying brain systems, particularly in humans, remains unclear. Here, we integrated a novel Pavlovian conditioned inhibition task with ultra-high field (7 Tesla) fMRI to examine the neural basis of safety learning in 49 healthy participants. In our task, participants were conditioned to two safety signals: a conditioned inhibitor that predicted threat omission when paired with a known threat signal (A+/AX-), and a standard safety signal that generally predicted threat omission (BC-). Both safety signals evoked equivalent autonomic and subjective learning responses but diverged strongly in terms of underlying brain activation (PFDR whole-brain corrected). The conditioned inhibitor was characterized by more prominent activation of the dorsal striatum, anterior insular, and dorsolateral PFC compared with the standard safety signal, whereas the latter evoked greater activation of the ventromedial PFC, posterior cingulate, and hippocampus, among other regions. Further analyses of the conditioned inhibitor indicated that its initial learning was characterized by consistent engagement of dorsal striatal, midbrain, thalamic, premotor, and prefrontal subregions. These findings suggest that safety learning via conditioned inhibition involves a distributed cortico-striatal circuitry, separable from broader cortical regions involved with processing standard safety signals (e.g., CS-). This cortico-striatal system could represent a novel neural substrate of safety learning, underlying the initial generation of "stimulus-safety" associations, distinct from wider cortical correlates of safety processing, which facilitate the behavioral outcomes of learning.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Identifying safety is critical for maintaining adaptive levels of anxiety, but the neural mechanisms of human safety learning remain unclear. Using 7 Tesla fMRI, we compared learning-related brain activity for a conditioned inhibitor, which actively predicted threat omission, and a standard safety signal (CS-), which was passively unpaired with threat. The inhibitor engaged an extended circuitry primarily featuring the dorsal striatum, along with thalamic, midbrain, and premotor/PFC regions. The CS- exclusively involved cortical safety-related regions observed in basic safety conditioning, such as the vmPFC. These findings extend current models to include learning-specific mechanisms for encoding stimulus-safety associations, which might be distinguished from expression-related cortical mechanisms. These insights may suggest novel avenues for targeting dysfunctional safety learning in psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick A F Laing
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3053, Australia
| | - Trevor Steward
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3053, Australia
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Christopher G Davey
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3053, Australia
| | - Kim L Felmingham
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Miguel Angel Fullana
- Adult Psychiatry and Psychology Department, Institute of Neurosciences, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona 08001, Spain
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Centro de Investigación Biomédia en Red de Salud Mental, Barcelona 08036, Spain
| | - Bram Vervliet
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven 3000, Belgium
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Matthew D Greaves
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3053, Australia
| | - Bradford Moffat
- The Melbourne Brain Centre Imaging Unit, Department of Radiology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Rebecca K Glarin
- The Melbourne Brain Centre Imaging Unit, Department of Radiology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Ben J Harrison
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3053, Australia
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12
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Frydecka D, Misiak B, Piotrowski P, Bielawski T, Pawlak E, Kłosińska E, Krefft M, Al Noaimy K, Rymaszewska J, Moustafa AA, Drapała J. The Role of Dopaminergic Genes in Probabilistic Reinforcement Learning in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders. Brain Sci 2021; 12:brainsci12010007. [PMID: 35053751 PMCID: PMC8774082 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12010007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SZ) are characterized by impairments in probabilistic reinforcement learning (RL), which is associated with dopaminergic circuitry encompassing the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia. However, there are no studies examining dopaminergic genes with respect to probabilistic RL in SZ. Thus, the aim of our study was to examine the impact of dopaminergic genes on performance assessed by the Probabilistic Selection Task (PST) in patients with SZ in comparison to healthy control (HC) subjects. In our study, we included 138 SZ patients and 188 HC participants. Genetic analysis was performed with respect to the following genetic polymorphisms: rs4680 in COMT, rs907094 in DARP-32, rs2734839, rs936461, rs1800497, and rs6277 in DRD2, rs747302 and rs1800955 in DRD4 and rs28363170 and rs2975226 in DAT1 genes. The probabilistic RL task was completed by 59 SZ patients and 95 HC subjects. SZ patients performed significantly worse in acquiring reinforcement contingencies during the task in comparison to HCs. We found no significant association between genetic polymorphisms and RL among SZ patients; however, among HC participants with respect to the DAT1 rs28363170 polymorphism, individuals with 10-allele repeat genotypes performed better in comparison to 9-allele repeat carriers. The present study indicates the relevance of the DAT1 rs28363170 polymorphism in RL in HC participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorota Frydecka
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (T.B.); (M.K.); (K.A.N.); (J.R.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Błażej Misiak
- Department of Psychiatry, Division of Consultation Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (B.M.); (P.P.)
| | - Patryk Piotrowski
- Department of Psychiatry, Division of Consultation Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (B.M.); (P.P.)
| | - Tomasz Bielawski
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (T.B.); (M.K.); (K.A.N.); (J.R.)
| | - Edyta Pawlak
- Department of Experimental Therapy, Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Weigel Street 12, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland;
| | - Ewa Kłosińska
- Day-Care Psychiatric Unit, University Clinical Hospital, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland;
| | - Maja Krefft
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (T.B.); (M.K.); (K.A.N.); (J.R.)
| | - Kamila Al Noaimy
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (T.B.); (M.K.); (K.A.N.); (J.R.)
| | - Joanna Rymaszewska
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (T.B.); (M.K.); (K.A.N.); (J.R.)
| | - Ahmed A. Moustafa
- School of Psychology, Marcs Institute for Brain and Behaviour, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia;
- Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, The Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
| | - Jarosław Drapała
- Department of Computer Science and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego Street 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland;
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13
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Esser R, Korn CW, Ganzer F, Haaker J. L-DOPA modulates activity in the vmPFC, nucleus accumbens, and VTA during threat extinction learning in humans. eLife 2021; 10:65280. [PMID: 34473055 PMCID: PMC8443250 DOI: 10.7554/elife.65280] [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: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning to be safe is central for adaptive behaviour when threats are no longer present. Detecting the absence of an expected threat is key for threat extinction learning and an essential process for the behavioural treatment of anxiety-related disorders. One possible mechanism underlying extinction learning is a dopaminergic mismatch signal that encodes the absence of an expected threat. Here we show that such a dopamine-related pathway underlies extinction learning in humans. Dopaminergic enhancement via administration of L-DOPA (vs. Placebo) was associated with reduced retention of differential psychophysiological threat responses at later test, which was mediated by activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex that was specific to extinction learning. L-DOPA administration enhanced signals at the time-point of an expected, but omitted threat in extinction learning within the nucleus accumbens, which were functionally coupled with the ventral tegmental area and the amygdala. Computational modelling of threat expectancies further revealed prediction error encoding in nucleus accumbens that was reduced when L-DOPA was administered. Our results thereby provide evidence that extinction learning is influenced by L-DOPA and provide a mechanistic perspective to augment extinction learning by dopaminergic enhancement in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roland Esser
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christoph W Korn
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,Section Social Neuroscience, Department of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Florian Ganzer
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Addiction Research in Childhood and Adolescence, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jan Haaker
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
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14
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Bengoetxea X, Goedecke L, Remmes J, Blaesse P, Grosch T, Lesting J, Pape HC, Jüngling K. Human-Specific Neuropeptide S Receptor Variants Regulate Fear Extinction in the Basal Amygdala of Male and Female Mice Depending on Threat Salience. Biol Psychiatry 2021; 90:145-155. [PMID: 33902914 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.02.967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Revised: 01/31/2021] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphism in the neuropeptide S receptor 1 (NPSR1) gene (rs324981) results in isoleucine-to-asparagine substitution at amino acid 107. In humans, the ancestral variant (NPSR1 I107) is associated with increased anxiety sensitivity and risk of panic disorder, while the human-specific variant (NPSR1 N107) is considered protective against excessive anxiety. In rodents, neurobiological constituents of the NPS system have been analyzed in detail and their anxiolytic-like effects have been endorsed. However, their implication for anxiety and related disorders in humans remains unclear, as rodents carry only the ancestral NPSR1 I107 variant. METHODS We hypothesized that phenotypic correlates of NPSR1 variants manifest in fear-related circuits in the amygdala. We used CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas9)-mediated gene editing to generate a "humanized" mouse strain, in which individuals express either NPSR1 I107 or NPSR1 N107. RESULTS Stimulation of NPSR1 evoked excitatory responses in principal neurons of the anterior basal amygdala with significant differences in magnitude between genotypes, resulting in synaptic disinhibition of putative extinction neurons in the posterior basal amygdala in mice expressing the human-specific hypofunctional N107 but not the ancestral I107 variant. N107 mice displayed improved extinction of conditioned fear, which was phenocopied after pharmacological antagonism of NPSR1 in the anterior basal amygdala of I107 mice. Differences in fear extinction between male and female mice were related to an interaction of Npsr1 genotype and salience of fear training. CONCLUSIONS The NPS system regulates extinction circuits in the amygdala depending on the Npsr1 genotype, contributing to sex-specific differences in fear extinction and high anxiety sensitivity of individuals bearing the ancestral NPSR1 I107 variant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xabier Bengoetxea
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany
| | - Lena Goedecke
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany
| | - Jasmin Remmes
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany
| | - Peter Blaesse
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany
| | - Thomas Grosch
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany
| | - Jörg Lesting
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany
| | - Hans-Christian Pape
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany
| | - Kay Jüngling
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany.
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15
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Rashid H, Ahmed T. Gender dimorphic effect of dopamine D2 and muscarinic cholinergic receptors on memory retrieval. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2021; 238:2225-2234. [PMID: 33891128 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-05847-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Episodic memory retrieval is fundamental for daily activities of humans and animals. Muscarinic cholinergic signaling is important for memory functioning and shows gender-dependent response in episodic memory retrieval. Dopamine D2 receptors influence memory formation and retrieval by influencing cholinergic signaling in the brain. This study aimed to determine the gender-dependent effects of D2 and muscarinic activity on memory retrieval. Male and female mice were trained for Morris water maze test and contextual fear conditioning. Memory retrieval was assessed following sub-chronic treatment (for 5 days) with D2 antagonist (risperidone 2.5 mg/kg) alone or in combination with scopolamine (1 mg/kg) or donepezil (1 mg/kg). Open field test was performed prior to the retrieval test to evaluate effects of risperidone treatment on locomotor activity and exploratory behavior. Risperidone co-treatment with donepezil impaired spatial memory retrieval in males only. Muscarinic and D2 simultaneous antagonism tend to impair fear retrieval in males but significantly enhanced retrieval of fear memories in female mice. These results suggest that D2 signaling influence muscarinic receptor activity during memory retrieval in gender-dependent manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Habiba Rashid
- Neurobiology Laboratory, Department of Healthcare Biotechnology, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
- Department of Anatomy, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan
| | - Touqeer Ahmed
- Neurobiology Laboratory, Department of Healthcare Biotechnology, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
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16
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Laing PAF, Harrison BJ. Safety learning and the Pavlovian conditioned inhibition of fear in humans: Current state and future directions. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 127:659-674. [PMID: 34023357 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2021] [Revised: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Safety learning occurs when an otherwise neutral stimulus comes to signal the absence of threat, allowing organisms to use safety information to inhibit fear and anxiety in nonthreatening environments. Although it continues to emerge as a topic of relevance in biological and clinical psychology, safety learning remains inconsistently defined and under-researched. Here, we analyse the Pavlovian conditioned inhibition paradigm and its application to the study of safety learning in humans. We discuss existing studies; address outstanding theoretical considerations; and identify prospects for its further application. Though Pavlovian conditioned inhibition presents a theoretically sound model of safety learning, it has been investigated infrequently, with decade-long interims between some studies, and notable methodological variability. Consequently, we argue that the full potential of conditioned inhibition as a model for human safety learning remains untapped, and propose that it could be revisited as a framework for addressing timely questions in the behavioural and clinical sciences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick A F Laing
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Ben J Harrison
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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17
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Salinas-Hernández XI, Duvarci S. Dopamine in Fear Extinction. Front Synaptic Neurosci 2021; 13:635879. [PMID: 33732133 PMCID: PMC7956961 DOI: 10.3389/fnsyn.2021.635879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to extinguish fear memories when threats are no longer present is critical for adaptive behavior. Fear extinction represents a new learning process that eventually leads to the formation of extinction memories. Understanding the neural basis of fear extinction has considerable clinical significance as deficits in extinction learning are the hallmark of human anxiety disorders. In recent years, the dopamine (DA) system has emerged as one of the key regulators of fear extinction. In this review article, we highlight recent advances that have demonstrated the crucial role DA plays in mediating different phases of fear extinction. Emerging concepts and outstanding questions for future research are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sevil Duvarci
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Neuroscience Center, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
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18
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Hsieh S, Yao ZF, Yang MH. Multimodal Imaging Analysis Reveals Frontal-Associated Networks in Relation to Individual Resilience Strength. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:1123. [PMID: 33513995 PMCID: PMC7908187 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18031123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Revised: 01/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Psychological resilience is regarded as a critical protective factor for preventing the development of mental illness from experienced adverse events. Personal strength is one key element of resilience that reflects an individual's reactions to negative life events and is crucial for successful adaptation. Previous studies have linked unimodal imaging measures with resilience. However, applying multimodal imaging measures could provide comprehensive organization information at the system level to examine whether an individual's resilience strength is reflected in the brain's structural and functional network. In this study, MRI was used to acquire multimodal imaging properties and subscales of personal strength in terms of resilience from 109 participants (48 females and 61 males). We employed a method of fusion independent component analysis to link the association between multimodal imaging components and personal strength of psychological resilience. The results reveal that a fusion component involving multimodal frontal networks in connecting with the parietal, occipital, and temporal regions is associated with the resilience score for personal strength. A multiple regression model further explains the predictive role of frontal-associated regions that cover a visual-related network regulating cognition and emotion to discern the perceived adverse experience. Overall, this study suggests that frontal-associated regions are related to individual resilience strength.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shulan Hsieh
- CASE Lab, Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University, No.1, University Road, Tainan 701, Taiwan;
- Institute of Allied Health Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
- Department and Institute of Public Health, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
| | - Zai-Fu Yao
- Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1001 NK Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
| | - Meng-Heng Yang
- CASE Lab, Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University, No.1, University Road, Tainan 701, Taiwan;
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19
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A ventral striatal prediction error signal in human fear extinction learning. Neuroimage 2021; 229:117709. [PMID: 33460800 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal studies have shown that the prediction error (PE) signal that drives fear extinction learning is encoded by phasic activity of midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons. Thus, the extinction PE resembles the appetitive PE that drives reward learning. In humans, fear extinction learning is less well understood. Using computational neuroimaging, a previous study from our group reported hemodynamic activity in the left ventral putamen, a subregion of the ventral striatum (VS), to correlate with a PE function derived from a formal associative learning model. The activity was modulated by genetic variation in a DA-related gene. To conceptually replicate and extend this finding, we here asked whether an extinction PE (EPE) signal in the left ventral putamen can also be observed when genotype information is not taken into account. Using an optimized experimental design for model estimation, we again observed EPE-related activity in the same striatal region, indicating that activation of this region is a feature of human extinction learning. We further observed significant EPE signals across wider parts of the VS as well as in frontal cortical areas. These results may suggest that the prediction errors during extinction learning are available to larger parts of the brain, as has also been observed in human neuroimaging studies of reward PE signaling. Conclusive evidence that the human EPE signal is of DAergic nature is still outstanding.
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Frydecka D, Kotowicz K, Gawęda Ł, Prochwicz K, Kłosowska J, Rymaszewska J, Samochowiec A, Samochowiec J, Podwalski P, Pawlak-Adamska E, Szmida E, Cechnicki A, Misiak B. Effects of interactions between variation in dopaminergic genes, traumatic life events, and anomalous self-experiences on psychosis proneness: Results from a cross-sectional study in a nonclinical sample. Eur Psychiatry 2020; 63:e104. [PMID: 33213551 PMCID: PMC8057383 DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2020.103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background There is a growing number of studies showing interactions between genetic polymorphisms associated with dopaminergic neurotransmission and traumatic life events (TLEs) on a risk of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). Anomalous self-experiences (ASEs) have been associated both with TLEs as well as with PLEs. However, it remains unknown what is the role of ASEs in the complexity of gene–environment interactions on the emergence of PLEs. Patients and methods We included 445 young adults—university students from three big cities in Poland. We used the Traumatic Events Checklist to assess TLEs, the Inventory of Psychotic-Like anomalous self-experiences in order to measure ASEs, and the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ16) to record the level of PLEs. The following gene polymorphisms, related to dopaminergic neurotransmission, were determined: the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 polymorphism, the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) rs6277 polymorphism, and the dopamine transporter 1 (DAT1) rs28363170 polymorphism. Results There was a significant effect of the interaction between the DAT1 polymorphism, a severity of ASEs, and a history of TLEs on the level of PLEs. Among the DAT1 10R/10R homozygotes with low level of ASEs, a severity of PLEs was significantly higher in individuals with a history of any TLEs. Higher scores of the PQ16 were associated with a greater severity of ASEs both in the DAT1 9R allele carriers and the DAT1 10R/10R homozygotes. Conclusion Our findings imply that genetic liability related to aberrant dopamine transport might impact the association between TLEs and PLEs in subjects with high levels of ASEs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorota Frydecka
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-367Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Kamila Kotowicz
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-367Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Łukasz Gawęda
- Experimental Psychopathology Lab, Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Joanna Kłosowska
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, 30-060Krakow, Poland
| | - Joanna Rymaszewska
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-367Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Samochowiec
- Institute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Szczecin, 71-017Szczecin, Poland
| | - Jerzy Samochowiec
- Department of Psychiatry, Pomeranian Medical University, 71-460Szczecin, Poland
| | - Piotr Podwalski
- Department of Psychiatry, Pomeranian Medical University, 71-460Szczecin, Poland
| | - Edyta Pawlak-Adamska
- Department of Experimental Therapy, Laboratory of Immunopathology, Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 51-114Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Elżbieta Szmida
- Department of Genetics, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-368Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Andrzej Cechnicki
- Department of Community Psychiatry, Chair of Psychiatry, Medical College Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Błażej Misiak
- Department of Genetics, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-368Wroclaw, Poland
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Leukel C, Schümann D, Kalisch R, Sommer T, Bunzeck N. Dopamine Related Genes Differentially Affect Declarative Long-Term Memory in Healthy Humans. Front Behav Neurosci 2020; 14:539725. [PMID: 33328916 PMCID: PMC7673390 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.539725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In humans, monetary reward can promote behavioral performance including response times, accuracy, and subsequent recognition memory. Recent studies have shown that the dopaminergic system plays an essential role here, but the link to interindividual differences remains unclear. To further investigate this issue, we focused on previously described polymorphisms of genes affecting dopaminergic neurotransmission: DAT1 40 base pair (bp), DAT1 30 bp, DRD4 48 bp, and cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CNR1). Specifically, 669 healthy humans participated in a delayed recognition memory paradigm on two consecutive days. On the first day, male vs. female faces served as cues predicting an immediate monetary reward upon correct button presses. Subsequently, participants performed a remember/know recognition memory task on the same day and 1 day later. As predicted, reward increased accuracy and accelerated response times, which were modulated by DAT 30 bp. However, reward did not promote subsequent recognition memory performance and there was no interaction with any genotype tested here. Importantly, there were differential effects of genotype on declarative long-term memory independent of reward: (a) DAT1 40 bp was linked to the quality of memory with a more pronounced difference between recollection and familiarity in the heterozygous and homozygous 10-R as compared to homozygous 9-R; (b) DAT1 30 bp was linked to memory decay, which was most pronounced in homozygous 4-R; (c) DRD4 48 bp was linked to overall recognition memory with higher performance in the short allele group; and (d) CNR1 was linked to overall memory with reduced performance in the homozygous short group. These findings give new insights into how polymorphisms, which are related to dopaminergic neuromodulation, differentially affect long-term recognition memory performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla Leukel
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Dirk Schümann
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Raffael Kalisch
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,Neuroimaging Center (NIC), Focus Program Translational Neuroscience, Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany.,Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR), Mainz, Germany
| | - Tobias Sommer
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nico Bunzeck
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.,Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
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22
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Papalini S, Beckers T, Vervliet B. Dopamine: from prediction error to psychotherapy. Transl Psychiatry 2020; 10:164. [PMID: 32451377 PMCID: PMC7248121 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-020-0814-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2019] [Revised: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Dopamine, one of the main neurotransmitters in the mammalian brain, has been implicated in the coding of prediction errors that govern reward learning as well as fear extinction learning. Psychotherapy too can be viewed as a form of error-based learning, because it challenges erroneous beliefs and behavioral patterns in order to induce long-term changes in emotions, cognitions, and behaviors. Exposure therapy, for example, relies in part on fear extinction principles to violate erroneous expectancies of danger and induce novel safety learning that inhibits and therefore reduces fear in the long term. As most forms of psychotherapy, however, exposure therapy suffers from non-response, dropout, and relapse. This narrative review focuses on the role of midbrain and prefrontal dopamine in novel safety learning and investigates possible pathways through which dopamine-based interventions could be used as an adjunct to improve both the response and the long-term effects of the therapy. Convincing evidence exists for an involvement of the midbrain dopamine system in the acquisition of new, safe memories. Additionally, prefrontal dopamine is emerging as a key ingredient for the consolidation of fear extinction. We propose that applying a dopamine prediction error perspective to psychotherapy can inspire both pharmacological and non-pharmacological studies aimed at discovering innovative ways to enhance the acquisition of safety memories. Additionally, we call for further empirical investigations on dopamine-oriented drugs that might be able to maximize consolidation of successful fear extinction and its long-term retention after therapy, and we propose to also include investigations on non-pharmacological interventions with putative prefrontal dopaminergic effects, like working memory training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Papalini
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology (LBP), Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. .,Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Tom Beckers
- grid.5596.f0000 0001 0668 7884Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium ,grid.5596.f0000 0001 0668 7884Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology (CLEP), Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bram Vervliet
- grid.5596.f0000 0001 0668 7884Laboratory of Biological Psychology (LBP), Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium ,grid.5596.f0000 0001 0668 7884Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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23
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Amygdala Reward Neurons Form and Store Fear Extinction Memory. Neuron 2020; 105:1077-1093.e7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.12.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Revised: 08/29/2019] [Accepted: 12/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Abstract
Animal studies have demonstrated that catecholamines regulate several aspects of fear conditioning. In humans, however, pharmacological manipulations of the catecholaminergic system have been scarce, and their primary focus has been to interfering with catecholaminergic activity after fear acquisition or expression had taken place, using L-Dopa, primarily, as catecholaminergic precursor. Here, we sought to determine if putative increases in presynaptic dopamine and norepinephrine by tyrosine administered before conditioning could affect fear expression. Electrodermal activity (EDA) of 46 healthy participants (24 placebo, 22 tyrosine) was measured in an instructed fear task. Results showed that tyrosine abolished fear expression compared to placebo. Importantly, tyrosine did not affect EDA responses to the aversive stimulus (UCS) or alter participants’ mood. Therefore, the effect of tyrosine on fear expression cannot be attributed to these factors. Taken together, these findings provide evidence that the catecholaminergic system influences fear expression in humans.
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Uniyal A, Singh R, Akhtar A, Bansal Y, Kuhad A, Sah SP. Co-treatment of piracetam with risperidone rescued extinction deficits in experimental paradigms of post-traumatic stress disorder by restoring the physiological alterations in cortex and hippocampus. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2019; 185:172763. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2019.172763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2019] [Revised: 08/20/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Kalisch R, Gerlicher AMV, Duvarci S. A Dopaminergic Basis for Fear Extinction. Trends Cogn Sci 2019; 23:274-277. [PMID: 30803871 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2019.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Revised: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
It is a joyous relief when an event we dread fails to materialize. In fear extinction, the appetitive nature of an omitted aversive event is not a mere epiphenomenon but drives the reduction of fear responses and the formation of long-term extinction memories. Dopamine emerges as key neurobiological mediator of these related processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raffael Kalisch
- Deutsches Resilienz Zentrum (DRZ), Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany; Neuroimaging Center (NIC), Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany.
| | - Anna M V Gerlicher
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Sevil Duvarci
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Neuroscience Center, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
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Konova AB, Goldstein RZ. The emerging neuroscience of appetitive and drug cue extinction in humans. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2019; 236:407-414. [PMID: 30402733 PMCID: PMC6374196 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-018-5098-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Fear extinction has been extensively studied in both humans and non-human animals, and this work has contributed greatly to our understanding and treatment of anxiety disorders. Yet other psychopathologies like addiction might be associated with impairments selectively in extinction of non-fear based, appetitive and drug cue associations, and these processes have been underexplored in clinical translational neuroscience. Important questions regarding similarities and differences in the neurobiological mechanisms underlying aversive and appetitive extinction remain unanswered, particularly those pertaining to cross-species evidence for the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and, to some extent, the striatum. Here, we aim to draw attention to the paucity of studies investigating non-fear based extinction in humans, summarize emerging findings from the available literature, and highlight important directions for future research. We argue that closing these gaps in our understanding could help inform the development of more targeted, and perhaps more durable, forms of extinction-based treatments for addiction and related psychopathologies characterized by abnormally persistent appetitive and drug cue associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna B Konova
- Department of Psychiatry and University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC), Rutgers University-New Brunswick, 671 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA.
| | - Rita Z Goldstein
- Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, The Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine, 1470 Madison Ave., New York, NY, 10029, USA.
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Salinas-Hernández XI, Vogel P, Betz S, Kalisch R, Sigurdsson T, Duvarci S. Dopamine neurons drive fear extinction learning by signaling the omission of expected aversive outcomes. eLife 2018; 7:38818. [PMID: 30421719 PMCID: PMC6257816 DOI: 10.7554/elife.38818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2018] [Accepted: 11/08/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Extinction of fear responses is critical for adaptive behavior and deficits in this form of safety learning are hallmark of anxiety disorders. However, the neuronal mechanisms that initiate extinction learning are largely unknown. Here we show, using single-unit electrophysiology and cell-type specific fiber photometry, that dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are activated by the omission of the aversive unconditioned stimulus (US) during fear extinction. This dopamine signal occurred specifically during the beginning of extinction when the US omission is unexpected, and correlated strongly with extinction learning. Furthermore, temporally-specific optogenetic inhibition or excitation of dopamine neurons at the time of the US omission revealed that this dopamine signal is both necessary for, and sufficient to accelerate, normal fear extinction learning. These results identify a prediction error-like neuronal signal that is necessary to initiate fear extinction and reveal a crucial role of DA neurons in this form of safety learning. To survive, animals must identify and react to stimuli in their environment that signal danger. But they must also adapt their behavior when those stimuli no longer signal danger – hiding whenever you hear a loud noise might keep you safe, but it also prevents you from searching for food. In the laboratory, we can study this form of learning using procedures called fear conditioning and extinction. During fear conditioning, animals learn that a stimulus, such as a tone, signals that an unpleasant event is about to occur. That event might involve receiving a mild shock to the foot, for example. After experiencing the tone and shock paired together multiple times, animals will initially show signs of fear – such as freezing – when they hear the tone. But if later the tone occurs without being followed by the shock, these fear responses fade. This fading process is called extinction. Extinction does not involve erasing the old memory about the tone-shock relationship. That is, it is not a form of forgetting. Instead, the animals learn that the tone no longer signals an impending shock. By monitoring brain activity in mice trained to associate a shock with a tone, Salinas-Hernández et al. reveal how the brain begins to learn that the shock no longer follows the tone. When the mice do not receive the anticipated shock to the foot, a group of brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine increase their activity. These neurons also fire whenever animals receive a reward, particularly one that exceeds their expectations. The more the dopamine neurons fire, the faster the mice reduce their fear responses to the tone. Preventing the neurons from increasing their activity prevents the mice from extinguishing their fear memory. By contrast, activating the neurons speeds up the extinction process. Understanding how the brain extinguishes learned fear responses has therapeutic implications. Many anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, involve impaired fear extinction learning. Indeed, exposure therapy – used to treat anxiety disorders such as phobias – is a form of fear extinction. Manipulating the activity of dopamine neurons during extinction could therefore help to treat anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pascal Vogel
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Neuroscience Center, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Sebastian Betz
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Neuroscience Center, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Raffael Kalisch
- Deutsches Resilienz Zentrum, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.,Neuroimaging Center, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Torfi Sigurdsson
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Neuroscience Center, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Sevil Duvarci
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Neuroscience Center, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
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Sevenster D, Visser RM, D'Hooge R. A translational perspective on neural circuits of fear extinction: Current promises and challenges. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2018; 155:113-126. [PMID: 29981423 PMCID: PMC6805216 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2018.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2017] [Revised: 06/20/2018] [Accepted: 07/03/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Fear extinction is the well-known process of fear reduction through repeated re-exposure to a feared stimulus without the aversive outcome. The last two decades have witnessed a surge of interest in extinction learning. First, extinction learning is observed across species, and especially research on rodents has made great strides in characterising the physical substrate underlying extinction learning. Second, extinction learning is considered of great clinical significance since it constitutes a crucial component of exposure treatment. While effective in reducing fear responding in the short term, extinction learning can lose its grip, resulting in a return of fear (i.e., laboratory model for relapse of anxiety symptoms in patients). Optimization of extinction learning is, therefore, the subject of intense investigation. It is thought that the success of extinction learning is, at least partly, determined by the mismatch between what is expected and what actually happens (prediction error). However, while much of our knowledge about the neural circuitry of extinction learning and factors that contribute to successful extinction learning comes from animal models, translating these findings to humans has been challenging for a number of reasons. Here, we present an overview of what is known about the animal circuitry underlying extinction of fear, and the role of prediction error. In addition, we conducted a systematic literature search to evaluate the degree to which state-of-the-art neuroimaging methods have contributed to translating these findings to humans. Results show substantial overlap between networks in animals and humans at a macroscale, but current imaging techniques preclude comparisons at a smaller scale, especially in sub-cortical areas that are functionally heterogeneous. Moreover, human neuroimaging shows the involvement of numerous areas that are not typically studied in animals. Results obtained in research aimed to map the extinction circuit are largely dependent on the methods employed, not only across species, but also across human neuroimaging studies. Directions for future research are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dieuwke Sevenster
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Department of Psychology, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium; Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Renée M Visser
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, United Kingdom
| | - Rudi D'Hooge
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Department of Psychology, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
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Panitz C, Sperl MF, Hennig J, Klucken T, Hermann C, Mueller EM. Fearfulness, neuroticism/anxiety, and COMT Val158Met in long-term fear conditioning and extinction. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2018; 155:7-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2018.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2017] [Revised: 05/16/2018] [Accepted: 06/04/2018] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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Bahi A, Dreyer JL. Dopamine transporter (DAT) knockdown in the nucleus accumbens improves anxiety- and depression-related behaviors in adult mice. Behav Brain Res 2018; 359:104-115. [PMID: 30367968 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.10.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Revised: 10/18/2018] [Accepted: 10/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Many epidemiological and clinical studies have demonstrated a strong comorbidity between anxiety and depression, and a number of experimental studies indicates that the dopamine transporter (DAT) is involved in the pathophysiology of anxiety and depression. However, studies using laboratory animals have yielded inconclusive results. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of DAT manipulation on anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in mice. For this purpose, animals were stereotaxically injected with DAT siRNA-expressing lentiviral vectors (siDAT) in the caudate putamen (CPu) or in the nucleus accumbens (Nacc) and the behavioral outcomes were assessed using the open-field (OF), elevated-plus maze (EPM), light-dark box (LDB), sucrose preference (SPT), novelty suppressed feeding (NSF), and forced-swim (FST) tests. The results showed that in the Nacc, but not in the CPu, siDAT increased the time spent at the center of the arena and decreased the number of fecal boli in the OF test. In the EPM and LDB tests, Nacc siDAT injection increased the entries and time spent on open arms, and increased the time spent in the light side of the box, respectively, suggesting an anxiolytic-like activity. In addition, siDAT, in the Nacc, induced significant antidepressant-like effects, evidenced by increased sucrose preference, shorter latency to feed in the NSF test, and decreased immobility time in the FST. Most importantly, Pearson's test clearly showed significant correlations between DAT mRNA in the Nacc with anxiety and depression parameters. Overall, these results suggest that low DAT levels, in the Nacc, might act as protective factors against anxiety and depression. Therefore, targeting DAT activity might be a very attractive approach to tackle affective disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amine Bahi
- Department of Anatomy, Tawam Medical Campus, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Jean-Luc Dreyer
- Division of Biochemistry, Department of Medicine, University of Fribourg, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
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Gonzalez-Escamilla G, Chirumamilla VC, Meyer B, Bonertz T, von Grotthus S, Vogt J, Stroh A, Horstmann JP, Tüscher O, Kalisch R, Muthuraman M, Groppa S. Excitability regulation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex during sustained instructed fear responses: a TMS-EEG study. Sci Rep 2018; 8:14506. [PMID: 30267020 PMCID: PMC6162240 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-32781-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2018] [Accepted: 09/11/2018] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Threat detection is essential for protecting individuals from adverse situations, in which a network of amygdala, limbic regions and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) regions are involved in fear processing. Excitability regulation in the dmPFC might be crucial for fear processing, while abnormal patterns could lead to mental illness. Notwithstanding, non-invasive paradigms to measure excitability regulation during fear processing in humans are missing. To address this challenge we adapted an approach for excitability characterization, combining electroencephalography (EEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the dmPFC during an instructed fear paradigm, to dynamically dissect its role in fear processing. Event-related (ERP) and TMS-evoked potentials (TEP) were analyzed to trace dmPFC excitability. We further linked the excitability regulation patterns to individual MRI-derived gray matter structural integrity of the fear network. Increased cortical excitability was demonstrated to threat (T) processing in comparison to no-threat (NT), reflected by increased amplitude of evoked potentials. Furthermore, TMS at dmPFC enhanced the evoked responses during T processing, while the structural integrity of the dmPFC and amygdala predicted the excitability regulation patterns to fear processing. The dmPFC takes a special role during fear processing by dynamically regulating excitability. The applied paradigm can be used to non-invasively track response abnormalities to threat stimuli in healthy subjects or patients with mental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Gonzalez-Escamilla
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Venkata C Chirumamilla
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Benjamin Meyer
- Neuroimaging Center Mainz, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Tamara Bonertz
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Sarah von Grotthus
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Johannes Vogt
- Institute for Microscopic Anatomy and Neurobiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Albrecht Stroh
- Focus Program Translational Neurosciences, Institute for Microscopic Anatomy and Neurobiology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Johann-Philipp Horstmann
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Oliver Tüscher
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Raffael Kalisch
- Neuroimaging Center Mainz, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Muthuraman Muthuraman
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Sergiu Groppa
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
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Cao Y, Lin X, Chen L, Ji L, Zhang W. The Catechol-O-Methyltransferase and Dopamine Transporter Genes Moderated the Impact of Peer Relationships on Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: A Gene-Gene-Environment Study. J Youth Adolesc 2018; 47:2468-2480. [PMID: 30242586 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-018-0925-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2018] [Accepted: 09/01/2018] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Behavioral genetics studies and new empirical evidence suggest that depression cannot simply be explained by the influence of single genes but that gene-gene-environment interactions are important to better understanding the etiology of depression. The present study investigated the main and interactive effects of COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism, DAT1 gene rs27072 polymorphism, and peer relationships (i.e., peer acceptance and rejection) on adolescent depressive symptoms. In a sample of 1045 Chinese Han adolescents (Mage = 12.34 ± 0.47 years, 50.1% girls), saliva samples, self-reported depressive symptoms and within-classroom peer nominations were collected. After controlling for gender, age, and SES, the three-way interaction of COMT, DAT1, and peer acceptance significantly concurrently predicted adolescent depressive symptoms. Adolescents with ValVal genotype of COMT and CC genotype of DAT1 were more sensitive to acceptance, compared to their counterparts carrying other combined genotypes. However, a similar three-way interaction was not significant in the case of peer rejection. Additionally, the split-half validation generally replicated these findings. More importantly, this study underscores complex polygenic underpinnings of depression and lends support for the gene-gene-environment interactions implicated in the etiology of depressive symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanmiao Cao
- Department of psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
| | - Xiaonan Lin
- Department of psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
| | - Liang Chen
- Department of psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
| | - Linqin Ji
- Department of psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
| | - Wenxin Zhang
- Department of psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China.
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Psychological Processes in Chronic Pain: Influences of Reward and Fear Learning as Key Mechanisms – Behavioral Evidence, Neural Circuits, and Maladaptive Changes. Neuroscience 2018; 387:72-84. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.08.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2017] [Revised: 08/22/2017] [Accepted: 08/29/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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Polymorphisms that affect GABA neurotransmission predict processing of aversive prediction errors in humans. Neuroimage 2018; 176:179-192. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.04.058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2017] [Revised: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 04/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
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Abstract
Overcoming aversive emotional memories requires neural systems that detect when fear responses are no longer appropriate so that they can be extinguished. The midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine system has been implicated in reward and more broadly in signaling when a better-than-expected outcome has occurred. This suggests that it may be important in guiding fear to safety transitions. We report that when an expected aversive outcome does not occur, activity in midbrain dopamine neurons is necessary to extinguish behavioral fear responses and engage molecular signaling events in extinction learning circuits. Furthermore, a specific dopamine projection to the nucleus accumbens medial shell is partially responsible for this effect. In contrast, a separate dopamine projection to the medial prefrontal cortex opposes extinction learning. This demonstrates a novel function for the canonical VTA-dopamine reward system and reveals opposing behavioral roles for different dopamine neuron projections in fear extinction learning. Fear memories are overcome only when it is ascertained that fearful responses are not appropriate. Here the authors demonstrate that activity in dopamine neurons is necessary to extinguish fear responses and two distinct dopamine neuron projections exert opposing effects on extinction learning.
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Nees F, Witt SH, Flor H. Neurogenetic Approaches to Stress and Fear in Humans as Pathophysiological Mechanisms for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Biol Psychiatry 2018; 83:810-820. [PMID: 29454655 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2017] [Revised: 12/19/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In this review article, genetic variation associated with brain responses related to acute and chronic stress reactivity and fear learning in humans is presented as an important mechanism underlying posttraumatic stress disorder. We report that genes related to the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, as well as genes that modulate serotonergic, dopaminergic, and neuropeptidergic functions or plasticity, play a role in this context. The strong overlap of the genetic targets involved in stress and fear learning suggests that a dimensional and mechanistic model of the development of posttraumatic stress disorder based on these constructs is promising. Genome-wide genetic analyses on fear and stress mechanisms are scarce. So far, reliable replication is still lacking for most of the molecular genetic findings, and the proportion of explained variance is rather small. Further analysis of neurogenetic stress and fear learning needs to integrate data from animal and human studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frauke Nees
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Stephanie H Witt
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Herta Flor
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
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Dittert N, Hüttner S, Polak T, Herrmann MJ. Augmentation of Fear Extinction by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). Front Behav Neurosci 2018; 12:76. [PMID: 29922133 PMCID: PMC5996916 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2018] [Accepted: 04/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; DSM-V 309.82) and anxiety disorders (DSM-V 300.xx) are widely spread mental disorders, the effectiveness of their therapy is still unsatisfying. Non-invasive brain-stimulation techniques like transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) might be an option to improve extinction learning, which is a main functional factor of exposure-based therapy for anxiety disorders. To examine this hypothesis, we used a fear conditioning paradigm with female faces as conditioned stimuli (CS) and a 95-dB female scream as unconditioned stimulus (UCS). We aimed to perform a tDCS of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which is mainly involved in the control of extinction-processes. Therefore, we applied two 4 × 4 cm electrodes approximately at the EEG-positions F7 and F8 and used a direct current of 1.5 mA. The 20-min stimulation was started during a 10-min break between acquisition and extinction and went on overall extinction-trials. The healthy participants were randomly assigned in two double-blinded process into two sham stimulation and two verum stimulation groups with opposite current flow directions. To measure the fear reactions, we used skin conductance responses (SCR) and subjective ratings. We performed a generalized estimating equations model for the SCR to assess the impact of tDCS and current flow direction on extinction processes for all subjects that showed a successful conditioning (N = 84). The results indicate that tDCS accelerates early extinction processes with a significantly faster loss of CS+/CS– discrimination. The discrimination loss was driven by a significant decrease in reaction toward the CS+ as well as an increase in reaction toward the CS– in the tDCS verum groups, whereas the sham groups showed no significant reaction changes during this period. Therefore, we assume that tDCS of the vmPFC can be used to enhance early extinction processes successfully. But before it should be tested in a clinical context further investigation is needed to assess the reason for the reaction increase on CS–. If this negative side effect can be avoided, tDCS may be a tool to improve exposure-based anxiety therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Dittert
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Center of Mental Health, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Sandrina Hüttner
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Center of Mental Health, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Polak
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Center of Mental Health, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Martin J Herrmann
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Center of Mental Health, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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Craske MG, Hermans D, Vervliet B. State-of-the-art and future directions for extinction as a translational model for fear and anxiety. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:20170025. [PMID: 29352025 PMCID: PMC5790824 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/18/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Through advances in both basic and clinical scientific research, Pavlovian fear conditioning and extinction have become an exemplary translational model for understanding and treating anxiety disorders. Discoveries in associative and neurobiological mechanisms underlying extinction have informed techniques for optimizing exposure therapy that enhance the formation of inhibitory associations and their consolidation and retrieval over time and context. Strategies that enhance formation include maximizing prediction-error correction by violating expectancies, deepened extinction, occasional reinforced extinction, attentional control and removal of safety signals/behaviours. Strategies that enhance consolidation include pharmacological agonists of NMDA (i.e. d-cycloserine) and mental rehearsal. Strategies that enhance retrieval include multiple contexts, retrieval cues, and pharmacological blockade of contextual encoding. Stimulus variability and positive affect are posited to influence the formation and the retrieval of inhibitory associations. Inhibitory regulation through affect labelling is considered a complement to extinction. The translational value of extinction will be increased by more investigation of elements central to extinction itself, such as extinction generalization, and interactions with other learning processes, such as instrumental avoidance reward learning, and with other clinically relevant cognitive-emotional processes, such as self-efficacy, threat appraisal and emotion regulation, will add translational value. Moreover, framing fear extinction and related processes within a developmental context will increase their clinical relevance.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Of mice and mental health: facilitating dialogue between basic and clinical neuroscientists'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle G Craske
- Department of Psychology, University of California, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Dirk Hermans
- Center for Excellence on Generalization, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bram Vervliet
- Center for Excellence on Generalization, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Fullana MA, Albajes-Eizagirre A, Soriano-Mas C, Vervliet B, Cardoner N, Benet O, Radua J, Harrison BJ. Fear extinction in the human brain: A meta-analysis of fMRI studies in healthy participants. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018. [PMID: 29530516 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 170] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The study of fear extinction represents an important example of translational neuroscience in psychiatry and promises to improve the understanding and treatment of anxiety and fear-related disorders. We present the results of a set of meta-analyses of human fear extinction studies in healthy participants, conducted with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and reporting whole-brain results. Meta-analyses of fear extinction learning primarily implicate consistent activation of brain regions linked to threat appraisal and experience, including the dorsal anterior cingulate and anterior insular cortices. An overlapping anatomical result was obtained from the meta-analysis of extinction recall studies, except when studies directly compared an extinguished threat stimulus to an unextinguished threat stimulus (instead of a safety stimulus). In this latter instance, more consistent activation was observed in dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex regions, together with other areas including the hippocampus. While our results partially support the notion of a shared neuroanatomy between human and rodent models of extinction processes, they also encourage an expanded account of the neural basis of human fear extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miquel A Fullana
- FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries, CIBERSAM, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychiatry, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
| | | | - Carles Soriano-Mas
- Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Health Sciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
| | - Bram Vervliet
- Center for Excellence on Generalization in Health and Psychopathology, University of KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA
| | - Narcís Cardoner
- Department of Psychiatry, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Depression and Anxiety Unit, Mental Health Department, CIBERSAM, Parc Taulí Sabadell University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Joaquim Radua
- FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries, CIBERSAM, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK; Centre for Psychiatric Research and Education, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ben J Harrison
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Level 3, 161 Barry Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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Stout DM, Acheson DT, Moore TM, Gur RC, Baker DG, Geyer MA, Risbrough VB. Individual variation in working memory is associated with fear extinction performance. Behav Res Ther 2018; 102:52-59. [PMID: 29331727 PMCID: PMC6182776 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2018.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2017] [Revised: 12/08/2017] [Accepted: 01/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
PTSD has been associated consistently with abnormalities in fear acquisition and extinction learning and retention. Fear acquisition refers to learning to discriminate between threat and safety cues. Extinction learning reflects the formation of a new inhibitory-memory that competes with a previously learned threat-related memory. Adjudicating the competition between threat memory and the new inhibitory memory during extinction may rely, in part, on cognitive processes such as working memory (WM). Despite significant shared neural circuits and signaling pathways the relationship between WM, fear acquisition, and extinction is poorly understood. Here, we analyzed data from a large sample of healthy Marines who underwent an assessment battery including tests of fear acquisition, extinction learning, and WM (N-back). Fear potentiated startle (FPS), fear expectancy ratings, and self-reported anxiety served as the primary dependent variables. High WM ability (N = 192) was associated with greater CS + fear inhibition during the late block of extinction and greater US expectancy change during extinction learning compared to individuals with low WM ability (N = 204). WM ability was not associated with magnitude of fear conditioning/expression. Attention ability was unrelated to fear acquisition or extinction supporting specificity of WM associations with extinction. These results support the conclusion that individual differences in WM may contribute to regulating fear responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel M Stout
- Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
| | - Dean T Acheson
- Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
| | - Tyler M Moore
- Brain Behavior Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Ruben C Gur
- Brain Behavior Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Dewleen G Baker
- Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
| | - Mark A Geyer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA; Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare system, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| | - Victoria B Risbrough
- Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.
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Klein M, van Donkelaar M, Verhoef E, Franke B. Imaging genetics in neurodevelopmental psychopathology. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 2017; 174:485-537. [PMID: 29984470 PMCID: PMC7170264 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2016] [Revised: 02/02/2017] [Accepted: 03/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Neurodevelopmental disorders are defined by highly heritable problems during development and brain growth. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), and intellectual disability (ID) are frequent neurodevelopmental disorders, with common comorbidity among them. Imaging genetics studies on the role of disease-linked genetic variants on brain structure and function have been performed to unravel the etiology of these disorders. Here, we reviewed imaging genetics literature on these disorders attempting to understand the mechanisms of individual disorders and their clinical overlap. For ADHD and ASD, we selected replicated candidate genes implicated through common genetic variants. For ID, which is mainly caused by rare variants, we included genes for relatively frequent forms of ID occurring comorbid with ADHD or ASD. We reviewed case-control studies and studies of risk variants in healthy individuals. Imaging genetics studies for ADHD were retrieved for SLC6A3/DAT1, DRD2, DRD4, NOS1, and SLC6A4/5HTT. For ASD, studies on CNTNAP2, MET, OXTR, and SLC6A4/5HTT were found. For ID, we reviewed the genes FMR1, TSC1 and TSC2, NF1, and MECP2. Alterations in brain volume, activity, and connectivity were observed. Several findings were consistent across studies, implicating, for example, SLC6A4/5HTT in brain activation and functional connectivity related to emotion regulation. However, many studies had small sample sizes, and hypothesis-based, brain region-specific studies were common. Results from available studies confirm that imaging genetics can provide insight into the link between genes, disease-related behavior, and the brain. However, the field is still in its early stages, and conclusions about shared mechanisms cannot yet be drawn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marieke Klein
- Department of Human Genetics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Marjolein van Donkelaar
- Department of Human Genetics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Ellen Verhoef
- Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Barbara Franke
- Department of Human Genetics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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COMT Val 158Met polymorphism is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and functional outcome following mild traumatic brain injury. J Clin Neurosci 2016; 35:109-116. [PMID: 27769642 DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2016.09.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2016] [Accepted: 09/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) results in variable clinical trajectories and outcomes. The source of variability remains unclear, but may involve genetic variations, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A SNP in catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) is suggested to influence development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but its role in TBI remains unclear. Here, we utilize the Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain Injury Pilot (TRACK-TBI Pilot) study to investigate whether the COMT Val158Met polymorphism is associated with PTSD and global functional outcome as measured by the PTSD Checklist - Civilian Version and Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE), respectively. Results in 93 predominately Caucasian subjects with mTBI show that the COMT Met158 allele is associated with lower incidence of PTSD (univariate odds ratio (OR) of 0.25, 95% CI [0.09-0.69]) and higher GOSE scores (univariate OR 2.87, 95% CI [1.20-6.86]) 6-months following injury. The COMT Val158Met genotype and PTSD association persists after controlling for race (multivariable OR of 0.29, 95% CI [0.10-0.83]) and pre-existing psychiatric disorders/substance abuse (multivariable OR of 0.32, 95% CI [0.11-0.97]). PTSD emerged as a strong predictor of poorer outcome on GOSE (multivariable OR 0.09, 95% CI [0.03-0.26]), which persists after controlling for age, GCS, and race. When accounting for PTSD in multivariable analysis, the association of COMT genotype and GOSE did not remain significant (multivariable OR 1.73, 95% CI [0.69-4.35]). Whether COMT genotype indirectly influences global functional outcome through PTSD remains to be determined and larger studies in more diverse populations are needed to confirm these findings.
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Correia SS, McGrath AG, Lee A, Graybiel AM, Goosens KA. Amygdala-ventral striatum circuit activation decreases long-term fear. eLife 2016; 5:e12669. [PMID: 27671733 PMCID: PMC5039029 DOI: 10.7554/elife.12669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [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: 10/29/2015] [Accepted: 08/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In humans, activation of the ventral striatum, a region associated with reward processing, is associated with the extinction of fear, a goal in the treatment of fear-related disorders. This evidence suggests that extinction of aversive memories engages reward-related circuits, but a causal relationship between activity in a reward circuit and fear extinction has not been demonstrated. Here, we identify a basolateral amygdala (BLA)-ventral striatum (NAc) pathway that is activated by extinction training. Enhanced recruitment of this circuit during extinction learning, either by pairing reward with fear extinction training or by optogenetic stimulation of this circuit during fear extinction, reduces the return of fear that normally follows extinction training. Our findings thus identify a specific BLA-NAc reward circuit that can regulate the persistence of fear extinction and point toward a potential therapeutic target for disorders in which the return of fear following extinction therapy is an obstacle to treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susana S Correia
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
| | - Anna G McGrath
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
| | - Allison Lee
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
| | - Ann M Graybiel
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
| | - Ki A Goosens
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
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Activation of D1/5 Dopamine Receptors: A Common Mechanism for Enhancing Extinction of Fear and Reward-Seeking Behaviors. Neuropsychopharmacology 2016; 41:2072-81. [PMID: 26763483 PMCID: PMC4908654 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2016.5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2015] [Revised: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 01/07/2016] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Dopamine is critical for many processes that drive learning and memory, including motivation, prediction error, incentive salience, memory consolidation, and response output. Theories of dopamine's function in these processes have, for the most part, been developed from behavioral approaches that examine learning mechanisms in appetitive tasks. A parallel and growing literature indicates that dopamine signaling is involved in consolidation of memories into stable representations in aversive tasks such as fear conditioning. Relatively little is known about how dopamine may modulate memories that form during extinction, when organisms learn that the relation between previously associated events is severed. We investigated whether fear and reward extinction share common mechanisms that could be enhanced with dopamine D1/5 receptor activation. Pharmacological activation of dopamine D1/5 receptors (with SKF 81297) enhanced extinction of both cued and contextual fear. These effects also occurred in the extinction of cocaine-induced conditioned place preference, suggesting that the observed effects on extinction were not specific to a particular type of procedure (aversive or appetitive). A cAMP/PKA biased D1 agonist (SKF 83959) did not affect fear extinction, whereas a broadly efficacious D1 agonist (SKF 83822) promoted fear extinction. Together, these findings show that dopamine D1/5 receptor activation is a target for the enhancement of fear or reward extinction.
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46
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Sumner JA, Powers A, Jovanovic T, Koenen KC. Genetic influences on the neural and physiological bases of acute threat: A research domain criteria (RDoC) perspective. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 2016; 171B:44-64. [PMID: 26377804 PMCID: PMC4715467 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2015] [Accepted: 09/01/2015] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative aims to describe key dimensional constructs underlying mental function across multiple units of analysis-from genes to observable behaviors-in order to better understand psychopathology. The acute threat ("fear") construct of the RDoC Negative Valence System has been studied extensively from a translational perspective, and is highly pertinent to numerous psychiatric conditions, including anxiety and trauma-related disorders. We examined genetic contributions to the construct of acute threat at two units of analysis within the RDoC framework: (1) neural circuits and (2) physiology. Specifically, we focused on genetic influences on activation patterns of frontolimbic neural circuitry and on startle, skin conductance, and heart rate responses. Research on the heritability of activation in threat-related frontolimbic neural circuitry is lacking, but physiological indicators of acute threat have been found to be moderately heritable (35-50%). Genetic studies of the neural circuitry and physiology of acute threat have almost exclusively relied on the candidate gene method and, as in the broader psychiatric genetics literature, most findings have failed to replicate. The most robust support has been demonstrated for associations between variation in the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genes with threat-related neural activation and physiological responses. However, unbiased genome-wide approaches using very large samples are needed for gene discovery, and these can be accomplished with collaborative consortium-based research efforts, such as those of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) and Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer A Sumner
- Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Abigail Powers
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Karestan C Koenen
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit and Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
- The Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts
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47
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Greco JA, Liberzon I. Neuroimaging of Fear-Associated Learning. Neuropsychopharmacology 2016; 41:320-34. [PMID: 26294108 PMCID: PMC4677141 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2015.255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2015] [Revised: 08/14/2015] [Accepted: 08/16/2015] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Fear conditioning has been commonly used as a model of emotional learning in animals and, with the introduction of functional neuroimaging techniques, has proven useful in establishing the neurocircuitry of emotional learning in humans. Studies of fear acquisition suggest that regions such as amygdala, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and hippocampus play an important role in acquisition of fear, whereas studies of fear extinction suggest that the amygdala is also crucial for safety learning. Extinction retention testing points to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex as an essential region in the recall of the safety trace, and explicit learning of fear and safety associations recruits additional cortical and subcortical regions. Importantly, many of these findings have implications in our understanding of the pathophysiology of psychiatric disease. Recent studies using clinical populations have lent insight into the changes in regional activity in specific disorders, and treatment studies have shown how pharmaceutical and other therapeutic interventions modulate brain activation during emotional learning. Finally, research investigating individual differences in neurotransmitter receptor genotypes has highlighted the contribution of these systems in fear-associated learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- John A Greco
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Israel Liberzon
- VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Baetu I, Burns NR, Urry K, Barbante GG, Pitcher JB. Commonly-occurring polymorphisms in the COMT, DRD1 and DRD2 genes influence different aspects of motor sequence learning in humans. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2015; 125:176-88. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2015.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2015] [Revised: 09/15/2015] [Accepted: 09/18/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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49
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André MAE, Güntürkün O, Manahan-Vaughan D. The metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGlu5, is required for extinction learning that occurs in the absence of a context change. Hippocampus 2015; 25:149-58. [PMID: 25160592 PMCID: PMC4322473 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.22359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/25/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors and, in particular, mGlu5 are crucially involved in multiple forms of synaptic plasticity that are believed to underlie explicit memory. MGlu5 is also required for information transfer through neuronal oscillations and for spatial memory. Furthermore, mGlu5 is involved in extinction of implicit forms of learning. This places this receptor in a unique position with regard to information encoding. Here, we explored the role of this receptor in context-dependent extinction learning under constant, or changed, contextual conditions. Animals were trained over 3 days to take a left turn under 25% reward probability in a T-maze with a distinct floor pattern (Context A). On Day 4, they experienced either a floor pattern change (Context B) or the same floor pattern (Context A) in the absence of reward. After acquisition of the task, the animals were returned to the maze once more on Day 5 (Context A, no reward). Treatment with the mGlu5 antagonist, 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl) pyridine, before maze exposure on Day 4 completely inhibited extinction learning in the AAA paradigm but had no effect in the ABA paradigm. A subsequent return to the original context (A, on Day 5) revealed successful extinction in the AAA paradigm, but impairment of extinction in the ABA paradigm. These data support that although extinction learning in a new context is unaffected by mGlu5 antagonism, extinction of the consolidated context is impaired. This suggests that mGlu5 is intrinsically involved in enabling learning that once-relevant information is no longer valid.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion Agnes Emma André
- International Graduate School for Neuroscience, Ruhr University BochumBochum, Germany
- Department of Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University BochumBochum, Germany
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- International Graduate School for Neuroscience, Ruhr University BochumBochum, Germany
- Department of Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University BochumBochum, Germany
| | - Denise Manahan-Vaughan
- International Graduate School for Neuroscience, Ruhr University BochumBochum, Germany
- Department of Neurophysiology, Medical Faculty, Ruhr University BochumBochum, Germany
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50
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VanElzakker MB, Dahlgren MK, Davis FC, Dubois S, Shin LM. From Pavlov to PTSD: the extinction of conditioned fear in rodents, humans, and anxiety disorders. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2014; 113:3-18. [PMID: 24321650 PMCID: PMC4156287 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2013.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 305] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2013] [Revised: 10/31/2013] [Accepted: 11/24/2013] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Nearly 100 years ago, Ivan Pavlov demonstrated that dogs could learn to use a neutral cue to predict a biologically relevant event: after repeated predictive pairings, Pavlov's dogs were conditioned to anticipate food at the sound of a bell, which caused them to salivate. Like sustenance, danger is biologically relevant, and neutral cues can take on great salience when they predict a threat to survival. In anxiety disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this type of conditioned fear fails to extinguish, and reminders of traumatic events can cause pathological conditioned fear responses for decades after danger has passed. In this review, we use fear conditioning and extinction studies to draw a direct line from Pavlov to PTSD and other anxiety disorders. We explain how rodent studies have informed neuroimaging studies of healthy humans and humans with PTSD. We describe several genes that have been linked to both PTSD and fear conditioning and extinction and explain how abnormalities in fear conditioning or extinction may reflect a general biomarker of anxiety disorders. Finally, we explore drug and neuromodulation treatments that may enhance therapeutic extinction in anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael B VanElzakker
- Tufts University Psychology, 490 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry, 149 Thirteenth Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
| | - M Kathryn Dahlgren
- Tufts University Psychology, 490 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry, 149 Thirteenth Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - F Caroline Davis
- Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry, 149 Thirteenth Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Stacey Dubois
- Tufts University Psychology, 490 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Lisa M Shin
- Tufts University Psychology, 490 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry, 149 Thirteenth Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
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