1
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Hartsock MJ, Levy CT, Navarro MJ, Saddoris MP, Spencer RL. Circadian Rhythms in Conditioned Threat Extinction Reflect Time-of-Day Differences in Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Neural Processing. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e0878242024. [PMID: 39251355 PMCID: PMC11426375 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0878-24.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2024] [Revised: 07/25/2024] [Accepted: 08/20/2024] [Indexed: 09/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Circadian rhythms in conditioned threat extinction emerge from a tissue-level circadian timekeeper, or local clock, in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Yet it remains unclear how this local clock contributes to extinction-dependent adaptations. Here we used single-unit and local field potential analyses to interrogate neural activity in the male rat vmPFC during repeated extinction sessions at different times of day. In association with superior recall of a remote extinction memory during the circadian active phase, vmPFC putative principal neurons exhibited phasic firing that was amplified for cue presentations and diminished at transitions in freezing behavior. Coupling of vmPFC gamma amplitude to the phase of low-frequency oscillations was greater during freezing than mobility, and this difference was augmented during the active phase, highlighting a time-of-day dependence in the organization of freezing- versus mobility-associated cell assemblies. Additionally, a greater proportion of vmPFC neurons were phase-locked to low-frequency oscillations during the active phase, consistent with heightened neural excitability at this time of day. Our results suggest that daily fluctuations in vmPFC excitability precipitate enhanced neural recruitment into extinction-based cell assemblies during the active phase, providing a potential mechanism by which the vmPFC local clock modulates circuit and behavioral plasticity during conditioned threat extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Hartsock
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80301
| | - Catherine T Levy
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80301
| | - Maria J Navarro
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80301
| | - Michael P Saddoris
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80301
| | - Robert L Spencer
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80301
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2
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Feng J, Wang X, Pan M, Li CX, Zhang Z, Sun M, Liao T, Wang Z, Luo J, Shi L, Chen YJ, Li HF, Xu J. The Medial Prefrontal Cortex-Basolateral Amygdala Circuit Mediates Anxiety in Shank3 InsG3680 Knock-in Mice. Neurosci Bull 2024:10.1007/s12264-024-01280-5. [PMID: 39207622 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-024-01280-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Anxiety disorder is a major symptom of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with a comorbidity rate of ~40%. However, the neural mechanisms of the emergence of anxiety in ASD remain unclear. In our study, we found that hyperactivity of basolateral amygdala (BLA) pyramidal neurons (PNs) in Shank3 InsG3680 knock-in (InsG3680+/+) mice is involved in the development of anxiety. Electrophysiological results also showed increased excitatory input and decreased inhibitory input in BLA PNs. Chemogenetic inhibition of the excitability of PNs in the BLA rescued the anxiety phenotype of InsG3680+/+ mice. Further study found that the diminished control of the BLA by medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and optogenetic activation of the mPFC-BLA pathway also had a rescue effect, which increased the feedforward inhibition of the BLA. Taken together, our results suggest that hyperactivity of the BLA and alteration of the mPFC-BLA circuitry are involved in anxiety in InsG3680+/+ mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiabin Feng
- Department of Rehabilitation of Children's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, 310003, China
- Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 311121, China
- NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Xiaojun Wang
- Department of Rehabilitation of Children's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, 310003, China
- Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 311121, China
- NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Meidie Pan
- Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 311121, China
- NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Chen-Xi Li
- Department of Rehabilitation of Children's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, 310003, China
| | - Zhe Zhang
- Department of Rehabilitation of Children's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, 310003, China
- Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 311121, China
- NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Meng Sun
- Department of Rehabilitation of Children's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, 310003, China
- Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 311121, China
- NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Tailin Liao
- Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 311121, China
- NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Ziyi Wang
- Innovative Institute of Basic Medical Sciences of Zhejiang University (Yuhang), Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Jianhong Luo
- Department of Rehabilitation of Children's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, 310003, China
- Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 311121, China
- NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Lei Shi
- JNU-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Neuroscience and Innovative Drug Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China
| | - Yu-Jing Chen
- Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China.
| | - Hai-Feng Li
- Department of Rehabilitation of Children's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
| | - Junyu Xu
- Department of Rehabilitation of Children's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
- Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 311121, China.
- Pillar of STEM Education, College of Education Sciences, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511453, China.
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3
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Subramanian R, Bauman A, Carpenter O, Cho C, Coste G, Dam A, Drake K, Ehnstrom S, Fitzgerald N, Jenkins A, Koolpe H, Liu R, Paserman T, Petersen D, Chavez DS, Rozental S, Thompson H, Tsukuda T, Zweig S, Gall M, Zupan B, Bergstrom H. An Infralimbic Cortex Neuronal Ensemble Encoded During Learning Attenuates Fear Generalization Expression. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.08.18.608308. [PMID: 39229064 PMCID: PMC11370439 DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.18.608308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/05/2024]
Abstract
Generalization allows for experience to flexibly guide behavior when conditions change. A basic physical unit of memory storage and expression in the brain are sparse, distributed groups of neurons known as ensembles (i.e., the engram). The infralimbic (IL) subregion of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex plays a key role in modulating conditioned defensive responses. How IL neuronal ensembles established during learning contribute to generalized responses is unknown. In this set of experiments, generalization was tested in male and female mice by presenting a novel, ambiguous, tone generalization stimulus following Pavlovian defensive (fear) conditioning. The first experiment was designed to test a role for IL in generalization using chemogenetic manipulations. Results show IL bidirectionally regulates defensive behavior. IL silencing promotes a switch in defensive state from vigilant scanning to generalized freezing, while IL stimulation reduces freezing in favor of scanning. Leveraging activity-dependent tagging technology (ArcCreERT2 x eYFP system), a neuronal ensemble, preferentially located in IL superficial layer 2/3, was associated with the generalization stimulus. Remarkably, in the identical discrete location, fewer reactivated neurons were associated with the generalization stimulus at the remote timepoint (30 days) following learning. When an IL neuronal ensemble established during learning was selectively chemogenetically silenced, generalization increased. Conversely, IL neuronal ensemble stimulation reduced generalization. Overall, these data identify a crucial role for IL in suppressing generalized responses. Further, we uncover an IL neuronal ensemble, formed during learning, functions to later attenuate the expression of generalization in the presence of ambiguous threat stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajani Subramanian
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Avery Bauman
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Olivia Carpenter
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Chris Cho
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Gabrielle Coste
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Ahona Dam
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Kasey Drake
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Sara Ehnstrom
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Naomi Fitzgerald
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Abigail Jenkins
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Hannah Koolpe
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Runqi Liu
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Tamar Paserman
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - David Petersen
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Diego Scala Chavez
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Stefano Rozental
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Hannah Thompson
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Tyler Tsukuda
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Sasha Zweig
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Megan Gall
- Department of Biology, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Bojana Zupan
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
| | - Hadley Bergstrom
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12603 USA
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4
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Bayer H, Hassell JE, Oleksiak CR, Garcia GM, Vaughan HL, Juliano VAL, Maren S. Pharmacological stimulation of infralimbic cortex after fear conditioning facilitates subsequent fear extinction. Neuropsychopharmacology 2024:10.1038/s41386-024-01961-9. [PMID: 39138373 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-024-01961-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2024] [Revised: 07/29/2024] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/15/2024]
Abstract
The infralimbic (IL) division of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is a crucial site for the extinction of conditioned fear memories in rodents. Recent work suggests that neuronal plasticity in the IL that occurs during (or soon after) fear conditioning enables subsequent IL-dependent extinction learning. We therefore hypothesized that pharmacological activation of the IL after fear conditioning would promote the extinction of conditioned fear. To test this hypothesis, we characterized the effects of post-conditioning infusions of the GABAA receptor antagonist, picrotoxin, into the IL on the extinction of auditory conditioned freezing in male and female rats. In four experiments, we found that picrotoxin injections performed immediately, 24 h, or 13 days after fear conditioning reduced conditioned freezing to the auditory conditioned stimulus (CS) during both extinction training and extinction retrieval; this effect was observed up to two weeks after picrotoxin infusions. Interestingly, inhibiting protein synthesis inhibition in the IL immediately after fear conditioning prevented the inhibition of freezing by picrotoxin injected 24 h later. Our data suggest that the IL encodes an inhibitory memory during the consolidation of fear conditioning that is necessary for future fear suppression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Bayer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
| | - James E Hassell
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
| | - Cecily R Oleksiak
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
| | - Gabriela M Garcia
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
| | - Hollis L Vaughan
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
| | - Vitor A L Juliano
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, São Paulo University, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA.
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5
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Cho S, Han HB, Jung D, Kim J, Choi JH. Mouse Escape Behaviors and mPFC-BLA Activity Dataset: Understanding Flexible Defensive Strategies Under Threat. Sci Data 2024; 11:861. [PMID: 39127738 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-024-03688-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 07/26/2024] [Indexed: 08/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Responding to threats in the real world demands a sophisticated orchestration of freeze and flight behaviors dynamically modulated by the neural activity. While the medial prefrontal cortex-basolateral amygdala (mPFC-BLA) network is known to play a pivotal role in coordinating these responses, the mechanisms underlying its population dynamics remain vague. As traditional Pavlovian fear conditioning models fall short in encapsulating the breadth of natural escape behaviors, we introduce a novel dataset to bridge this gap, capturing the defensive strategies of mice against a spider robot in a natural-like environment. The adaptive escape behaviors and concurrent mPFC-BLA activity in eight mice were monitored using wireless local field potential (LFP) and video recordings, both individually and in groups. Our data offers a unique avenue to explore the neural dynamics that govern fear- and vigilance-induced threat responses in isolated and social contexts. Supplemented by detailed methodologies and validation, the dataset allows for the analysis of the transient neural oscillatory dynamics, with prospective implications for the fields of neuroscience, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
- SungJun Cho
- Computational Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK
| | - Hio-Been Han
- Computational Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea
- The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
- School of Convergence, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul, 01811, Republic of Korea
| | - DaYoung Jung
- Computational Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea
- Department of Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea
| | - Jisoo Kim
- Computational Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EG, UK
| | - Jee Hyun Choi
- Computational Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea.
- Division of Bio-Medical Science & Technology, Korea University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea.
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6
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Werle I, Nascimento LMM, Dos Santos ALA, Soares LA, Dos Santos RG, Hallak JEC, Bertoglio LJ. Ayahuasca-enhanced extinction of fear behaviour: Role of infralimbic cortex 5-HT 2A and 5-HT 1A receptors. Br J Pharmacol 2024; 181:1671-1689. [PMID: 38320596 DOI: 10.1111/bph.16315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/08/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Ayahuasca (AYA) is a botanical psychedelic with promising results in observational and small clinical trials for depression, trauma and drug use disorders. Its psychoactive effects primarily stem from N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT). However, there is a lack of research on how and where AYA acts in the brain. This study addressed these questions by examining the extinction of aversive memories in AYA-treated rats. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH We focused on the 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptors, as DMT exhibits a high affinity for both of them, along with the infralimbic cortex in which activity and plasticity play crucial roles in regulating the mnemonic process under analysis. KEY RESULTS A single oral treatment with AYA containing 0.3 mg·kg-1 of DMT increased the within-session extinction of contextual freezing behaviour without affecting its recall. This protocol, when repeated twice on consecutive days, enhanced extinction recall. These effects were consistent for both 1- and 21-day-old memories in males and females. AYA effects on fear extinction were independent of changes in anxiety and general exploratory activity: AYA- and vehicle-treated animals showed no differences when tested in the elevated plus-maze. The 5-HT2A receptor antagonist MDL-11,939 and the 5-HT1A receptor antagonist WAY-100635 infused into the infralimbic cortex respectively blocked within- and between-session fear extinction effects resulting from repeated oral administration of AYA. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS Our findings highlight complementary mechanisms by which AYA facilitates the behavioural suppression of aversive memories in the rat infralimbic cortex. These results suggest potential beneficial effects of AYA or DMT in stress-related disorders.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Fear/drug effects
- Fear/physiology
- Male
- Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1A/metabolism
- Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1A/drug effects
- Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A/metabolism
- Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A/drug effects
- Extinction, Psychological/drug effects
- Rats
- Banisteriopsis/chemistry
- Hallucinogens/pharmacology
- Hallucinogens/administration & dosage
- Rats, Sprague-Dawley
- Behavior, Animal/drug effects
- Pyridines/pharmacology
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Werle
- Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Laura M M Nascimento
- Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Aymee L A Dos Santos
- Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Luciane A Soares
- Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Rafael G Dos Santos
- Departamento de Neurociências e Comportamento, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
- National Institute of Science and Technology-Translational Medicine, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Jaime E C Hallak
- Departamento de Neurociências e Comportamento, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
- National Institute of Science and Technology-Translational Medicine, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Leandro J Bertoglio
- Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
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7
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Liu Y, Ye S, Li XN, Li WG. Memory Trace for Fear Extinction: Fragile yet Reinforceable. Neurosci Bull 2024; 40:777-794. [PMID: 37812300 PMCID: PMC11178705 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-023-01129-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Fear extinction is a biological process in which learned fear behavior diminishes without anticipated reinforcement, allowing the organism to re-adapt to ever-changing situations. Based on the behavioral hypothesis that extinction is new learning and forms an extinction memory, this new memory is more readily forgettable than the original fear memory. The brain's cellular and synaptic traces underpinning this inherently fragile yet reinforceable extinction memory remain unclear. Intriguing questions are about the whereabouts of the engram neurons that emerged during extinction learning and how they constitute a dynamically evolving functional construct that works in concert to store and express the extinction memory. In this review, we discuss recent advances in the engram circuits and their neural connectivity plasticity for fear extinction, aiming to establish a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamic competition between fear and extinction memories in adaptive control of conditioned fear responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Liu
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Shuai Ye
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Xin-Ni Li
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Wei-Guang Li
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
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8
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Mather M. The emotion paradox in the aging body and brain. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2024; 1536:13-41. [PMID: 38676452 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/29/2024]
Abstract
With age, parasympathetic activity decreases, while sympathetic activity increases. Thus, the typical older adult has low heart rate variability (HRV) and high noradrenaline levels. Younger adults with this physiological profile tend to be unhappy and stressed. Yet, with age, emotional experience tends to improve. Why does older adults' emotional well-being not suffer as their HRV decreases? To address this apparent paradox, I present the autonomic compensation model. In this model, failing organs, the initial phases of Alzheimer's pathology, and other age-related diseases trigger noradrenergic hyperactivity. To compensate, older brains increase autonomic regulatory activity in the pregenual prefrontal cortex (PFC). Age-related declines in nerve conduction reduce the ability of the pregenual PFC to reduce hyperactive noradrenergic activity and increase peripheral HRV. But these pregenual PFC autonomic compensation efforts have a significant impact in the brain, where they bias processing in favor of stimuli that tend to increase parasympathetic activity (e.g., stimuli that increase feelings of safety) and against stimuli that tend to increase sympathetic activity (e.g., threatening stimuli). In summary, the autonomic compensation model posits that age-related chronic sympathetic/noradrenergic hyperactivity stimulates regulatory attempts that have the side effect of enhancing emotional well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mara Mather
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Department of Psychology, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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9
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Hong J, Choi K, Fuccillo MV, Chung S, Weber F. Infralimbic activity during REM sleep facilitates fear extinction memory. Curr Biol 2024; 34:2247-2255.e5. [PMID: 38714199 PMCID: PMC11111341 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.04.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2024] [Revised: 04/03/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Abstract
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is known to facilitate fear extinction and play a protective role against fearful memories.1,2 Consequently, disruption of REM sleep after a traumatic event may increase the risk for developing PTSD.3,4 However, the underlying mechanisms by which REM sleep promotes extinction of aversive memories remain largely unknown. The infralimbic cortex (IL) is a key brain structure for the consolidation of extinction memory.5 Using calcium imaging, we found in mice that most IL pyramidal neurons are intensively activated during REM sleep. Optogenetically suppressing the IL specifically during REM sleep within a 4-h window after auditory-cued fear conditioning impaired extinction memory consolidation. In contrast, REM-specific IL inhibition after extinction learning did not affect the extinction memory. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings demonstrated that inactivating IL neurons during REM sleep depresses their excitability. Together, our findings suggest that REM sleep after fear conditioning facilitates fear extinction by enhancing IL excitability and highlight the importance of REM sleep in the aftermath of traumatic events for protecting against traumatic memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiso Hong
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Chronobiology and Sleep Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Kyuhyun Choi
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Marc V Fuccillo
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Shinjae Chung
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Chronobiology and Sleep Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Franz Weber
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Chronobiology and Sleep Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
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10
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Premachandran H, Wilkin J, Arruda-Carvalho M. Minimizing Variability in Developmental Fear Studies in Mice: Toward Improved Replicability in the Field. Curr Protoc 2024; 4:e1040. [PMID: 38713136 DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.1040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
In rodents, the first weeks of postnatal life feature remarkable changes in fear memory acquisition, retention, extinction, and discrimination. Early development is also marked by profound changes in brain circuits underlying fear memory processing, with heightened sensitivity to environmental influences and stress, providing a powerful model to study the intersection between brain structure, function, and the impacts of stress. Nevertheless, difficulties related to breeding and housing young rodents, preweaning manipulations, and potential increased variability within that population pose considerable challenges to developmental fear research. Here we discuss several factors that may promote variability in studies examining fear conditioning in young rodents and provide recommendations to increase replicability. We focus primarily on experimental conditions, design, and analysis of rodent fear data, with an emphasis on mouse studies. The convergence of anatomical, synaptic, physiological, and behavioral changes during early life may increase variability, but careful practice and transparency in reporting may improve rigor and consensus in the field. © 2024 The Authors. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanista Premachandran
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- These authors contributed equally to this work
| | - Jennifer Wilkin
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- These authors contributed equally to this work
| | - Maithe Arruda-Carvalho
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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11
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Bayer H, Hassell JE, Oleksiak CR, Garcia GM, Vaughan HL, Juliano VAL, Maren S. Pharmacological stimulation of infralimbic cortex after fear conditioning facilitates subsequent fear extinction. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.23.586410. [PMID: 38585934 PMCID: PMC10996553 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.23.586410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
The infralimbic (IL) division of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is a crucial site for extinction of conditioned fear memories in rodents. Recent work suggests that neuronal plasticity in the IL that occurs during (or soon after) fear conditioning enables subsequent IL-dependent extinction learning. We therefore hypothesized that pharmacological activation of the IL after fear conditioning would promote the extinction of conditioned fear. To test this hypothesis, we characterized the effects of post-conditioning infusions of the GABAA receptor antagonist, picrotoxin, into the IL on extinction of auditory conditioned freezing in male and female rats. In four experiments, we found that picrotoxin injections performed immediately, 24 hours, or 13 days after fear conditioning reduced conditioned freezing to the auditory conditioned stimulus (CS) during both extinction training and extinction retrieval; this effect was observed up to two weeks after picrotoxin infusions. Interestingly, inhibiting protein synthesis inhibition in the IL immediately after fear conditioning prevented the inhibition of freezing by picrotoxin injected 24 hours later. Our data suggest that the IL encodes an inhibitory memory during the consolidation of fear conditioning that is necessary for future fear suppression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Bayer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station
| | - James E. Hassell
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station
| | - Cecily R. Oleksiak
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station
| | - Gabriela M. Garcia
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station
| | - Hollis L. Vaughan
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station
| | - Vitor A. L. Juliano
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station
- Department of Pharmacology, São Paulo University, São Paulo
| | - Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station
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12
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Plas SL, Tuna T, Bayer H, Juliano VAL, Sweck SO, Arellano Perez AD, Hassell JE, Maren S. Neural circuits for the adaptive regulation of fear and extinction memory. Front Behav Neurosci 2024; 18:1352797. [PMID: 38370858 PMCID: PMC10869525 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1352797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024] Open
Abstract
The regulation of fear memories is critical for adaptive behaviors and dysregulation of these processes is implicated in trauma- and stress-related disorders. Treatments for these disorders include pharmacological interventions as well as exposure-based therapies, which rely upon extinction learning. Considerable attention has been directed toward elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying fear and extinction learning. In this review, we will discuss historic discoveries and emerging evidence on the neural mechanisms of the adaptive regulation of fear and extinction memories. We will focus on neural circuits regulating the acquisition and extinction of Pavlovian fear conditioning in rodent models, particularly the role of the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in the contextual control of extinguished fear memories. We will also consider new work revealing an important role for the thalamic nucleus reuniens in the modulation of prefrontal-hippocampal interactions in extinction learning and memory. Finally, we will explore the effects of stress on this circuit and the clinical implications of these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha L. Plas
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Tuğçe Tuna
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Hugo Bayer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Vitor A. L. Juliano
- Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Samantha O. Sweck
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Angel D. Arellano Perez
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - James E. Hassell
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
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13
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Sartori SB, Keil TMV, Kummer KK, Murphy CP, Gunduz-Cinar O, Kress M, Ebner K, Holmes A, Singewald N. Fear extinction rescuing effects of dopamine and L-DOPA in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:11. [PMID: 38191458 PMCID: PMC10774374 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02708-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC; rodent infralimbic cortex (IL)), is posited to be an important locus of fear extinction-facilitating effects of the dopamine (DA) bio-precursor, L-DOPA, but this hypothesis remains to be formally tested. Here, in a model of impaired fear extinction (the 129S1/SvImJ inbred mouse strain; S1), we monitored extracellular DA dynamics via in vivo microdialysis in IL during fear extinction and following L-DOPA administration. Systemic L-DOPA caused sustained elevation of extracellular DA levels in IL and increased neuronal activation in a subpopulation of IL neurons. Systemic L-DOPA enabled extinction learning and promoted extinction retention at one but not ten days after training. Conversely, direct microinfusion of DA into IL produced long-term fear extinction (an effect that was insensitive to ɑ-/ß-adrenoreceptor antagonism). However, intra-IL delivery of a D1-like or D2 receptor agonist did not facilitate extinction. Using ex vivo multi-electrode array IL neuronal recordings, along with ex vivo quantification of immediate early genes and DA receptor signalling markers in mPFC, we found evidence of reduced DA-evoked mPFC network responses in S1 as compared with extinction-competent C57BL/6J mice that were partially driven by D1 receptor activation. Together, our data demonstrate that locally increasing DA in IL is sufficient to produce lasting rescue of impaired extinction. The finding that systemic L-DOPA increased IL DA levels, but had only transient effects on extinction, suggests L-DOPA failed to reach a threshold level of IL DA or produced opposing behavioural effects in other brain regions. Collectively, our findings provide further insight into the neural basis of the extinction-promoting effects of DA and L-DOPA in a clinically relevant animal model, with possible implications for therapeutically targeting the DA system in anxiety and trauma-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone B Sartori
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Pharmacy and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Thomas M V Keil
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Pharmacy and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Kai K Kummer
- Institute of Physiology, Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Conor P Murphy
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Pharmacy and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Ozge Gunduz-Cinar
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, NIH/NIAAA, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Michaela Kress
- Institute of Physiology, Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Karl Ebner
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Pharmacy and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Andrew Holmes
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, NIH/NIAAA, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Nicolas Singewald
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Pharmacy and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
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14
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Shen XY, Zhang J, Huang HZ, Li SD, Zhou L, Wu SP, Tang C, Huang X, Liu ZQ, Guo ZY, Li X, Man HY, Lu YM, Zhu LQ, Liu D. The interaction of Synapsin 2a and Synaptogyrin-3 regulates fear extinction in mice. J Clin Invest 2024; 134:e172802. [PMID: 38175724 PMCID: PMC10866652 DOI: 10.1172/jci172802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
The mechanisms behind a lack of efficient fear extinction in some individuals are unclear. Here, by employing a principal components analysis-based approach, we differentiated the mice into extinction-resistant and susceptible groups. We determined that elevated synapsin 2a (Syn2a) in the infralimbic cortex (IL) to basolateral amygdala (BLA) circuit disrupted presynaptic orchestration, leading to an excitatory/inhibitory imbalance in the BLA region and causing extinction resistance. Overexpression or silencing of Syn2a levels in IL neurons replicated or alleviated behavioral, electrophysiological, and biochemical phenotypes in resistant mice. We further identified that the proline-rich domain H in the C-terminus of Syn2a was indispensable for the interaction with synaptogyrin-3 (Syngr3) and demonstrated that disrupting this interaction restored extinction impairments. Molecular docking revealed that ritonavir, an FDA-approved HIV drug, could disrupt Syn2a-Syngr3 binding and rescue fear extinction behavior in Syn2a-elevated mice. In summary, the aberrant elevation of Syn2a expression and its interaction with Syngr3 at the presynaptic site were crucial in fear extinction resistance, suggesting a potential therapeutic avenue for related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi-Ya Shen
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Juan Zhang
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - He-Zhou Huang
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Shao-Dan Li
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Ling Zhou
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Shi-Ping Wu
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Cheng Tang
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Xian Huang
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Zhi-Qiang Liu
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Zi-Yuan Guo
- Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Medicine (CuSTOM), Division of Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Xiang Li
- Department of Neurosurgery and
- Brain Research Center, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
- Medical Research Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Heng-Ye Man
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - You-Ming Lu
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Ling-Qiang Zhu
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Dan Liu
- Department of Medical Genetics, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
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15
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Borkar CD, Stelly CE, Fu X, Dorofeikova M, Le QSE, Vutukuri R, Vo C, Walker A, Basavanhalli S, Duong A, Bean E, Resendez A, Parker JG, Tasker JG, Fadok JP. Top-down control of flight by a non-canonical cortico-amygdala pathway. Nature 2024; 625:743-749. [PMID: 38233522 PMCID: PMC10878556 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06912-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Survival requires the selection of appropriate behaviour in response to threats, and dysregulated defensive reactions are associated with psychiatric illnesses such as post-traumatic stress and panic disorder1. Threat-induced behaviours, including freezing and flight, are controlled by neuronal circuits in the central amygdala (CeA)2; however, the source of neuronal excitation of the CeA that contributes to high-intensity defensive responses is unknown. Here we used a combination of neuroanatomical mapping, in vivo calcium imaging, functional manipulations and electrophysiology to characterize a previously unknown projection from the dorsal peduncular (DP) prefrontal cortex to the CeA. DP-to-CeA neurons are glutamatergic and specifically target the medial CeA, the main amygdalar output nucleus mediating conditioned responses to threat. Using a behavioural paradigm that elicits both conditioned freezing and flight, we found that CeA-projecting DP neurons are activated by high-intensity threats in a context-dependent manner. Functional manipulations revealed that the DP-to-CeA pathway is necessary and sufficient for both avoidance behaviour and flight. Furthermore, we found that DP neurons synapse onto neurons within the medial CeA that project to midbrain flight centres. These results elucidate a non-canonical top-down pathway regulating defensive responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chandrashekhar D Borkar
- Department of Psychology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Claire E Stelly
- Department of Psychology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Loyola University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Xin Fu
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Neuroscience Program, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Maria Dorofeikova
- Department of Psychology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Quan-Son Eric Le
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Neuroscience Program, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Rithvik Vutukuri
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Neuroscience Program, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Catherine Vo
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Neuroscience Program, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Alex Walker
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Neuroscience Program, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Samhita Basavanhalli
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Neuroscience Program, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Anh Duong
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Neuroscience Program, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Erin Bean
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Neuroscience Program, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Alexis Resendez
- Department of Psychology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Jones G Parker
- Department of Neuroscience, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jeffrey G Tasker
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Jonathan P Fadok
- Department of Psychology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA.
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA.
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16
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Ng K, Pollock M, Escobedo A, Bachman B, Miyazaki N, Bartlett EL, Sangha S. Suppressing fear in the presence of a safety cue requires infralimbic cortical signaling to central amygdala. Neuropsychopharmacology 2024; 49:359-367. [PMID: 37188848 PMCID: PMC10724163 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-023-01598-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 04/23/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Stressful events can have lasting and impactful effects on behavior, especially by disrupting normal regulation of fear and reward processing. Accurate discrimination among environmental cues predicting threat, safety or reward adaptively guides behavior. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) represents a condition in which maladaptive fear persists in response to explicit safety-predictive cues that coincide with previously learned threat cues, but without threat being present. Since both the infralimbic cortex (IL) and amygdala have each been shown to be important for fear regulation to safety cues, we tested the necessity of specific IL projections to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) or central amygdala (CeA) during safety recall. Male Long Evans rats were used since prior work showed female Long Evans rats did not acquire the safety discrimination task used in this study. Here, we show the infralimbic projection to the central amygdala was necessary for suppressing fear cue-induced freezing in the presence of a learned safety cue, and the projection to the basolateral amygdala was not. The loss of discriminative fear regulation seen specifically during IL->CeA inhibition is similar to the behavioral disruption seen in PTSD individuals that fail to regulate fear in the presence of a safety cue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka Ng
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Michael Pollock
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Abraham Escobedo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Brent Bachman
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Nanami Miyazaki
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Edward L Bartlett
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
- Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Susan Sangha
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA.
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17
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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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18
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Iqbal J, Huang GD, Xue YX, Yang M, Jia XJ. The neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying fear dysregulation in posttraumatic stress disorder. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1281401. [PMID: 38116070 PMCID: PMC10728304 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1281401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a stress-associated complex and debilitating psychiatric disorder due to an imbalance of neurotransmitters in response to traumatic events or fear. PTSD is characterized by re-experiencing, avoidance behavior, hyperarousal, negative emotions, insomnia, personality changes, and memory problems following exposure to severe trauma. However, the biological mechanisms and symptomatology underlying this disorder are still largely unknown or poorly understood. Considerable evidence shows that PTSD results from a dysfunction in highly conserved brain systems involved in regulating stress, anxiety, fear, and reward circuitry. This review provides a contemporary update about PTSD, including new data from the clinical and preclinical literature on stress, PTSD, and fear memory consolidation and extinction processes. First, we present an overview of well-established laboratory models of PTSD and discuss their clinical translational value for finding various treatments for PTSD. We then highlight the research progress on the neural circuits of fear and extinction-related behavior, including the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. We further describe different molecular mechanisms, including GABAergic, glutamatergic, cholinergic, and neurotropic signaling, responsible for the structural and functional changes during fear acquisition and fear extinction processes in PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javed Iqbal
- Shenzhen Graduate School, Peking University Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
- Department of Addiction Medicine, Shenzhen Engineering Research Center for Precision Psychiatric Technology, Shenzhen Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital and Shenzhen Mental Health Center; Clinical College of Mental Health, Shenzhen University Health Science Center; Affiliated Mental Health Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Geng-Di Huang
- Shenzhen Graduate School, Peking University Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
- Department of Addiction Medicine, Shenzhen Engineering Research Center for Precision Psychiatric Technology, Shenzhen Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital and Shenzhen Mental Health Center; Clinical College of Mental Health, Shenzhen University Health Science Center; Affiliated Mental Health Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Yan-Xue Xue
- National Institute on Drug Dependence and Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Mei Yang
- Department of Addiction Medicine, Shenzhen Engineering Research Center for Precision Psychiatric Technology, Shenzhen Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital and Shenzhen Mental Health Center; Clinical College of Mental Health, Shenzhen University Health Science Center; Affiliated Mental Health Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiao-Jian Jia
- Department of Addiction Medicine, Shenzhen Engineering Research Center for Precision Psychiatric Technology, Shenzhen Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital and Shenzhen Mental Health Center; Clinical College of Mental Health, Shenzhen University Health Science Center; Affiliated Mental Health Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
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19
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Brockway ET, Simon S, Drew MR. Ventral hippocampal projections to infralimbic cortex and basolateral amygdala are differentially activated by contextual fear and extinction recall. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2023; 205:107832. [PMID: 37757953 PMCID: PMC10919432 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2023.107832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 09/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
Fear and extinction learning are thought to generate distinct and competing memory representations in the hippocampus. How these memory representations modulate the expression of appropriate behavioral responses remains unclear. To investigate this question, we used cholera toxin B subunit to retrolabel ventral hippocampal (vHPC) neurons projecting to the infralimbic cortex (IL) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) and then quantified c-Fos immediate early gene activity within these populations following expression of either contextual fear recall or contextual fear extinction recall. Fear recall was associated with increased c-Fos expression in vHPC projections to the BLA, whereas extinction recall was associated with increased activity in vHPC projections to IL. A control experiment was performed to confirm that the apparent shift in projection neuron activity was associated with extinction learning rather than mere context exposure. Overall, results indicate that hippocampal contextual fear and extinction memory representations differentially activate vHPC projections to IL and BLA. These findings suggest that hippocampal memory representations orchestrate appropriate behavioral responses through selective activation of projection pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma T Brockway
- Center for Learning and Memory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Sarah Simon
- Center for Learning and Memory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Michael R Drew
- Center for Learning and Memory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
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20
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Totty MS, Tuna T, Ramanathan KR, Jin J, Peters SE, Maren S. Thalamic nucleus reuniens coordinates prefrontal-hippocampal synchrony to suppress extinguished fear. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6565. [PMID: 37848425 PMCID: PMC10582091 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42315-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Traumatic events result in vivid and enduring fear memories. Suppressing the retrieval of these memories is central to behavioral therapies for pathological fear. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus (HPC) have been implicated in retrieval suppression, but how mPFC-HPC activity is coordinated during extinction retrieval is unclear. Here we show that after extinction training, coherent theta oscillations (6-9 Hz) in the HPC and mPFC are correlated with the suppression of conditioned freezing in male and female rats. Inactivation of the nucleus reuniens (RE), a thalamic hub interconnecting the mPFC and HPC, reduces extinction-related Fos expression in both the mPFC and HPC, dampens mPFC-HPC theta coherence, and impairs extinction retrieval. Conversely, theta-paced optogenetic stimulation of RE augments fear suppression and reduces relapse of extinguished fear. Collectively, these results demonstrate a role for RE in coordinating mPFC-HPC interactions to suppress fear memories after extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S Totty
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Tuğçe Tuna
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Karthik R Ramanathan
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Jingji Jin
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Shaun E Peters
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
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21
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Gunduz-Cinar O, Castillo LI, Xia M, Van Leer E, Brockway ET, Pollack GA, Yasmin F, Bukalo O, Limoges A, Oreizi-Esfahani S, Kondev V, Báldi R, Dong A, Harvey-White J, Cinar R, Kunos G, Li Y, Zweifel LS, Patel S, Holmes A. A cortico-amygdala neural substrate for endocannabinoid modulation of fear extinction. Neuron 2023; 111:3053-3067.e10. [PMID: 37480845 PMCID: PMC10592324 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.06.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Revised: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/24/2023]
Abstract
Preclinical and clinical studies implicate endocannabinoids (eCBs) in fear extinction, but the underlying neural circuit basis of these actions is unclear. Here, we employed in vivo optogenetics, eCB biosensor imaging, ex vivo electrophysiology, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in mice to examine whether basolateral amygdala (BLA)-projecting medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurons represent a neural substrate for the effects of eCBs on extinction. We found that photoexcitation of mPFC axons in BLA during extinction mobilizes BLA eCBs. eCB biosensor imaging showed that eCBs exhibit a dynamic stimulus-specific pattern of activity at mPFC→BLA neurons that tracks extinction learning. Furthermore, using CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene editing, we demonstrated that extinction memory formation involves eCB activity at cannabinoid CB1 receptors expressed at vmPFC→BLA synapses. Our findings reveal the temporal characteristics and a neural circuit basis of eCBs' effects on fear extinction and inform efforts to target the eCB system as a therapeutic approach in extinction-deficient neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ozge Gunduz-Cinar
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Laura I Castillo
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Maya Xia
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Elise Van Leer
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Emma T Brockway
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Gabrielle A Pollack
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Farhana Yasmin
- Northwestern Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Olena Bukalo
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Aaron Limoges
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Sarvar Oreizi-Esfahani
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Veronika Kondev
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Rita Báldi
- Northwestern Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Ao Dong
- Peking University School of Life Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Judy Harvey-White
- Laboratory of Physiologic Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Resat Cinar
- Laboratory of Physiologic Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; Section on Fibrotic Disorders, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - George Kunos
- Laboratory of Physiologic Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Yulong Li
- Peking University School of Life Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Larry S Zweifel
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Sachin Patel
- Northwestern Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Andrew Holmes
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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22
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Adhikari A. Endocannabinoids modulate fear extinction controlled by a cortical-amygdala projection. Neuron 2023; 111:2948-2950. [PMID: 37797579 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
The projection from the medial prefrontal cortex to the amygdala is a key node in fear extinction. In this issue of Neuron, Gunduz-Cinar et al.1 show that extinction induction by this projection requires recruitment of endocannabinoids (eCBs) in the amygdala.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avishek Adhikari
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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23
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Peng X, Mao Y, Tai Y, Luo B, Dai Q, Wang X, Wang H, Liang Y, Guan R, Liu C, Guo Y, Chen L, Zhang Z, Wang H. Characterization of Anxiety-Like Behaviors and Neural Circuitry following Chronic Moderate Noise Exposure in Mice. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2023; 131:107004. [PMID: 37796530 PMCID: PMC10552915 DOI: 10.1289/ehp12532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 08/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Commonly encountered nontraumatic, moderate noise is increasingly implicated in anxiety; however, the neural substrates underlying this process remain unclear. OBJECTIVES We investigated the neural circuit mechanism through which chronic exposure to moderate-level noise causes anxiety-like behaviors. METHODS Mice were exposed to chronic, moderate white noise [85 decibel (dB) sound pressure level (SPL)], 4 h/d for 4 wk to induce anxiety-like behaviors, which were assessed by open field, elevated plus maze, light-dark box, and social interaction tests. Viral tracing, immunofluorescence confocal imaging, and brain slice patch-clamp recordings were used to characterize projections from auditory brain regions to the lateral amygdala. Neuronal activities were characterized by in vivo multielectrode and fiber photometry recordings in awake mice. Optogenetics and chemogenetics were used to manipulate specific neural circuitry. RESULTS Mice chronically (4 wk) exposed to moderate noise (85 dB SPL, 4 h/d) demonstrated greater neuronal activity in the lateral amygdala (LA), and the LA played a critical role in noise-induced anxiety-like behavior in these model mice. Viral tracing showed that the LA received monosynaptic projections from the medial geniculate body (MG) and auditory cortex (ACx). Optogenetic excitation of the MG → LA or ACx → LA circuits acutely evoked anxiety-like behaviors, whereas their chemogenetic inactivation abolished noise-induced anxiety-like behavior. Moreover, mice chronically exposed to moderate noise were more susceptible to acute stress, with more neuronal firing in the LA, even after noise withdrawal. DISCUSSION Mice exposed to 4 wk of moderate noise (85 dB SPL, 4 h/d) demonstrated behavioral and physiological differences compared to controls. The neural circuit mechanisms involved greater excitation from glutamatergic neurons of the MG and ACx to LA neurons under chronic, moderate noise exposure, which ultimately promoted anxiety-like behaviors. Our findings support the hypothesis that nontraumatic noise pollution is a potentially serious but unrecognized public health concern. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12532.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoqi Peng
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Yunfeng Mao
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Yingju Tai
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Bin Luo
- Auditory Research Laboratory, Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, USTC, Hefei, China
- Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, China
| | - Qian Dai
- School of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China
| | - Xiyang Wang
- School of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China
| | - Hao Wang
- School of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China
| | - Yue Liang
- Department of Otolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, China
| | - Ruirui Guan
- Department of Otolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, China
| | - Chunhua Liu
- Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yiping Guo
- Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lin Chen
- Auditory Research Laboratory, Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, USTC, Hefei, China
| | - Zhi Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Haitao Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- School of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China
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24
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Han HB, Shin HS, Jeong Y, Kim J, Choi JH. Dynamic switching of neural oscillations in the prefrontal-amygdala circuit for naturalistic freeze-or-flight. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2308762120. [PMID: 37669394 PMCID: PMC10500169 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2308762120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) are involved in the regulation of defensive behavior under threat, but their engagement in flexible behavior shifts remains unclear. Here, we report the oscillatory activities of mPFC-BLA circuit in reaction to a naturalistic threat, created by a predatory robot in mice. Specifically, we found dynamic frequency tuning among two different theta rhythms (~5 or ~10 Hz) was accompanied by agile changes of two different defensive behaviors (freeze-or-flight). By analyzing flight trajectories, we also found that high beta (~30 Hz) is engaged in the top-down process for goal-directed flights and accompanied by a reduction in fast gamma (60 to 120 Hz, peak near 70 Hz). The elevated beta nested the fast gamma activity by its phase more strongly. Our results suggest that the mPFC-BLA circuit has a potential role in oscillatory gear shifting allowing flexible information routing for behavior switches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hio-Been Han
- Computational Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul02792, Republic of Korea
- Program of Brain and Cognitive Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Hee-Sup Shin
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon34126, Republic of Korea
- SL Bigen Co., Incheon21983, Republic of Korea
| | - Yong Jeong
- Program of Brain and Cognitive Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon34141, Republic of Korea
- Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Jisoo Kim
- Computational Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul02792, Republic of Korea
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3EG, United Kingdom
| | - Jee Hyun Choi
- Computational Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul02792, Republic of Korea
- Division of Bio-Medical Science & Technology, Korea University of Science and Technology, Daejeon34113, Republic of Korea
- Department of Physics and Center for Theoretical Physics, Seoul National University, Seoul08826, Republic of Korea
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25
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Glover EJ, Margaret Starr E, Gascon A, Clayton-Stiglbauer K, Amegashie CL, Selchick AH, Vaughan DT, Wayman WN, Woodward JJ, Chandler LJ. Involvement of cortical input to the rostromedial tegmental nucleus in aversion to foot shock. Neuropsychopharmacology 2023; 48:1455-1464. [PMID: 37221326 PMCID: PMC10425416 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-023-01612-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Revised: 04/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
The rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) encodes negative reward prediction error (RPE) and plays an important role in guiding behavioral responding to aversive stimuli. Previous research has focused on regulation of RMTg activity by the lateral habenula despite studies revealing RMTg afferents from other regions including the frontal cortex. The current study provides a detailed anatomical and functional analysis of cortical input to the RMTg of male rats. Retrograde tracing uncovered dense cortical input to the RMTg spanning the medial prefrontal cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex and anterior insular cortex. Afferents were most dense in the dorsomedial subregion of the PFC (dmPFC), an area that is also implicated in both RPE signaling and aversive responding. RMTg-projecting dmPFC neurons originate in layer V, are glutamatergic, and collateralize to select brain regions. In-situ mRNA hybridization revealed that neurons in this circuit are predominantly D1 receptor-expressing with a high degree of D2 receptor colocalization. Consistent with cFos induction in this neural circuit during exposure to foot shock and shock-predictive cues, optogenetic stimulation of dmPFC terminals in the RMTg drove avoidance. Lastly, acute slice electrophysiology and morphological studies revealed that exposure to repeated foot shock resulted in significant physiological and structural changes consistent with a loss of top-down modulation of RMTg-mediated signaling. Altogether, these data reveal the presence of a prominent cortico-subcortical projection involved in adaptive behavioral responding to aversive stimuli such as foot shock and provide a foundation for future work aimed at exploring alterations in circuit function in diseases characterized by deficits in cognitive control over reward and aversion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth J Glover
- Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
| | - E Margaret Starr
- Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Andres Gascon
- Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Kacey Clayton-Stiglbauer
- Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Christen L Amegashie
- Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Alyson H Selchick
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Dylan T Vaughan
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Wesley N Wayman
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - John J Woodward
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - L Judson Chandler
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
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26
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Wang Y, Mou YK, Wang HR, Song XY, Wei SZ, Ren C, Song XC. Brain response in asthma: the role of "lung-brain" axis mediated by neuroimmune crosstalk. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1240248. [PMID: 37691955 PMCID: PMC10484342 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1240248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
In addition to typical respiratory symptoms, patients with asthma are frequently accompanied by cognitive decline, mood disorders (anxiety and depression), sleep disorders, olfactory disorders, and other brain response manifestations, all of which worsen asthma symptoms, form a vicious cycle, and exacerbate the burden on families and society. Therefore, studying the mechanism of neurological symptoms in patients with asthma is necessary to identify the appropriate preventative and therapeutic measures. In order to provide a comprehensive reference for related research, we compiled the pertinent literature, systematically summarized the latest research progress of asthma and its brain response, and attempted to reveal the possible "lung-brain" crosstalk mechanism and treatment methods at the onset of asthma, which will promote more related research to provide asthmatic patients with neurological symptoms new hope.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yao Wang
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Qingdao University, Yantai, China
- Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
- Yantai Key Laboratory of Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
| | - Ya-Kui Mou
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Qingdao University, Yantai, China
- Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
- Yantai Key Laboratory of Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
| | - Han-Rui Wang
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Qingdao University, Yantai, China
- Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
- Yantai Key Laboratory of Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
| | - Xiao-Yu Song
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Qingdao University, Yantai, China
- Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
- Yantai Key Laboratory of Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
| | - Shi-Zhuang Wei
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Qingdao University, Yantai, China
- Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
- Yantai Key Laboratory of Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
| | - Chao Ren
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Qingdao University, Yantai, China
- Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
- Yantai Key Laboratory of Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
- Shandong Provincial Innovation and Practice Base for Postdoctors, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
- Department of Neurology, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Qingdao University, Yantai, China
| | - Xi-Cheng Song
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Qingdao University, Yantai, China
- Shandong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
- Yantai Key Laboratory of Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
- Shandong Provincial Innovation and Practice Base for Postdoctors, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
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27
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Nguyen R, Koukoutselos K, Forro T, Ciocchi S. Fear extinction relies on ventral hippocampal safety codes shaped by the amygdala. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadg4881. [PMID: 37256958 PMCID: PMC10413664 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg4881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Extinction memory retrieval is influenced by spatial contextual information that determines responding to conditioned stimuli (CS). However, it is poorly understood whether contextual representations are imbued with emotional values to support memory selection. Here, we performed activity-dependent engram tagging and in vivo single-unit electrophysiological recordings from the ventral hippocampus (vH) while optogenetically manipulating basolateral amygdala (BLA) inputs during the formation of cued fear extinction memory. During fear extinction when CS acquire safety properties, we found that CS-related activity in the vH reactivated during sleep consolidation and was strengthened upon memory retrieval. Moreover, fear extinction memory was facilitated when the extinction context exhibited precise coding of its affective zones. Last, these activity patterns along with the retrieval of the fear extinction memory were dependent on glutamatergic transmission from the BLA during extinction learning. Thus, fear extinction memory relies on the formation of contextual and stimulus safety representations in the vH instructed by the BLA.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Thomas Forro
- Laboratory of Systems Neuroscience, Department of Physiology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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28
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Binette AN, Liu J, Bayer H, Crayton KL, Melissari L, Sweck SO, Maren S. Parvalbumin-Positive Interneurons in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Regulate Stress-Induced Fear Extinction Impairments in Male and Female Rats. J Neurosci 2023; 43:4162-4173. [PMID: 37127359 PMCID: PMC10255009 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1442-22.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Revised: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Stress has profound effects on fear extinction, a form of learning that is essential to behavioral therapies for trauma-related and stressor-related disorders. Recent work reveals that acute footshock stress reduces medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activity that is critical for extinction learning. Reductions in mPFC activity may be mediated by parvalbumin (PV)-containing interneurons via feedforward inhibition imposed by amygdala afferents. To test this hypothesis, footshock stress-induced Fos expression was characterized in PV+ and PV- neurons in the prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic (IL) cortices. Footshock stress increased the proportion of PV+ cells expressing Fos in both male and female rats; this effect was more pronounced in IL compared with PL. To determine whether PV+ interneurons in the mPFC mediate stress-induced extinction impairments, we chemogenetically silenced these neurons before an immediate extinction procedure in PV-Cre rats. Clozapine-N-oxide (CNO) did not affect conditioned freezing during the extinction procedure. However, CNO exacerbated extinction retrieval in both male and female rats with relatively high PL expression of designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD). In contrast, in rats with relatively high IL DREADD expression, CNO produced a modest facilitation of extinction in the earliest retrieval trials, but in male rats only. Conversely, excitation of IL PV interneurons was sufficient to impair delayed extinction in both male and female rats. Finally, chemogenetic inhibition of IL-projecting amygdala neurons reduced the immediate extinction deficit in male, but not female rats. These results reveal that PV interneurons regulate extinction learning under stress in a sex-dependent manner, and this effect is mediated by amygdaloprefrontal projections.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Stress significantly impairs the memory of fear extinction, a type of learning that is central to behavioral therapies for trauma-based and anxiety-based disorders (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder). Here we show that acute footshock stress recruits parvalbumin (PV) interneurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of male and female rats. Silencing mPFC PV interneurons or mPFC-projecting amygdala neurons during immediate extinction influenced extinction retrieval in a sex-dependent manner. This work highlights the role for PV-containing mPFC interneurons in stress-induced impairments in extinction learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annalise N Binette
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3474
| | - Jianfeng Liu
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3474
| | - Hugo Bayer
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3474
| | - Kennedi L Crayton
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3474
| | - Laila Melissari
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3474
| | - Samantha O Sweck
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3474
| | - Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3474
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Ng KH, Sangha S. Encoding of conditioned inhibitors of fear in the infralimbic cortex. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:5658-5670. [PMID: 36411540 PMCID: PMC10152082 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Revised: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Cues in the environment signaling the absence of threat, i.e. safety, can influence both fear and reward-seeking behaviors. Heightened and maladaptive fear is associated with reduced activity in the medial prefrontal cortex. We have previously shown in male rats that the infralimbic (IL) prefrontal cortex is necessary for suppressing fear during a safety cue. The objective of the present study was to determine if there was safety cue-specific neural activity within the IL using a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm, where a fear cue was paired with shock, a safety cue was paired with no shock, and a reward cue was paired with sucrose. To investigate how safety cues can suppress fear, the fear and safety cues were presented together as a compound fear + safety cue. Single-unit activity showed a large proportion of neurons with excitatory responses to the fear + safety cue specifically, a separate group of neurons with excitatory responses to both the reward and fear + safety cues, and bidirectional neurons with excitation to the fear + safety cue and inhibition to the fear cue. Neural activity was also found to be negatively correlated with freezing during the fear + safety cue. Together, these data implicate the IL in encoding specific aspects of conditioned inhibitors when fear is being actively suppressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka H Ng
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States
| | - Susan Sangha
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States
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30
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Silva BA, Gräff J. Face your fears: attenuating remote fear memories by reconsolidation-updating. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27:404-416. [PMID: 36813591 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Revised: 01/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
Traumatic events generate some of the most enduring memories, yet little is known about how long-lasting fear memories can be attenuated. In this review, we collect the surprisingly sparse evidence on remote fear memory attenuation from both animal and human research. What is becoming apparent is twofold: although remote fear memories are more resistant to change compared with recent ones, they can nevertheless be attenuated when interventions are targeted toward the period of memory malleability instigated by memory recall, the reconsolidation window. We describe the physiological mechanisms underlying remote reconsolidation-updating approaches and highlight how they can be enhanced through interventions promoting synaptic plasticity. By capitalizing on an intrinsically relevant phase of memory, reconsolidation-updating harbors the potential to permanently alter remote fear memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bianca A Silva
- National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Neuroscience, Milan, Italy; IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Milan, Italy
| | - Johannes Gräff
- Laboratory of Neuroepigenetics, Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.
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31
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Printz Y, Patil P, Mahn M, Benjamin A, Litvin A, Levy R, Bringmann M, Yizhar O. Determinants of functional synaptic connectivity among amygdala-projecting prefrontal cortical neurons in male mice. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1667. [PMID: 36966143 PMCID: PMC10039875 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37318-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) mediates a variety of complex cognitive functions via its vast and diverse connections with cortical and subcortical structures. Understanding the patterns of synaptic connectivity that comprise the mPFC local network is crucial for deciphering how this circuit processes information and relays it to downstream structures. To elucidate the synaptic organization of the mPFC, we developed a high-throughput optogenetic method for mapping large-scale functional synaptic connectivity in acute brain slices. We show that in male mice, mPFC neurons that project to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) display unique spatial patterns of local-circuit synaptic connectivity, which distinguish them from the general mPFC cell population. When considering synaptic connections between pairs of mPFC neurons, the intrinsic properties of the postsynaptic cell and the anatomical positions of both cells jointly account for ~7.5% of the variation in the probability of connection. Moreover, anatomical distance and laminar position explain most of this fraction in variation. Our findings reveal the factors determining connectivity in the mPFC and delineate the architecture of synaptic connections in the BLA-projecting subnetwork.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoav Printz
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
| | - Pritish Patil
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
| | - Mathias Mahn
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
| | - Asaf Benjamin
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
| | - Anna Litvin
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
| | - Rivka Levy
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
| | - Max Bringmann
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
| | - Ofer Yizhar
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel.
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32
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Brown A, Villaruel FR, Chaudhri N. Neural correlates of recall and extinction in a rat model of appetitive Pavlovian conditioning. Behav Brain Res 2023; 440:114248. [PMID: 36496079 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114248] [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: 10/06/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Extinction is a fundamental form of inhibitory learning that is important for adapting to changing environmental contingencies. While numerous studies have investigated the neural correlates of extinction using Pavlovian fear conditioning and appetitive operant reward-seeking procedures, less is known about the neural circuitry mediating the extinction of appetitive Pavlovian responding. Here, we aimed to generate an extensive brain activation map of extinction learning in a rat model of appetitive Pavlovian conditioning. Male Long-Evans rats were trained to associate a conditioned stimulus (CS; 20 s white noise) with the delivery of a 10% sucrose unconditioned stimulus (US; 0.3 ml/CS) to a fluid port. Control groups also received CS presentations, but sucrose was delivered either during the inter-trial interval or in the home-cage. After conditioning, 1 or 6 extinction sessions were conducted in which the CS was presented but sucrose was withheld. We performed Fos immunohistochemistry and network connectivity analyses on a set of cortical, striatal, thalamic, and amygdalar brain regions. Neural activity in the prelimbic cortex, ventral orbitofrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens core, and paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus was greater during recall relative to extinction. Conversely, prolonged extinction following 6 sessions induced increased neural activity in the infralimbic cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, and nucleus accumbens shell compared to home-cage controls. All these structures were similarly recruited during recall on the first extinction session. These findings provide novel evidence for the contribution of brain areas and neural networks that are differentially involved in the recall versus extinction of appetitive Pavlovian conditioned responding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexa Brown
- Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
| | - Franz R Villaruel
- Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Nadia Chaudhri
- Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Hua SS, Ding JJ, Sun TC, Guo C, Zhang Y, Yu ZH, Cao YQ, Zhong LH, Wu Y, Guo LY, Luo JH, Cui YH, Qiu S. NMDAR-dependent synaptic potentiation via APPL1 signaling is required for the accessibility of a prefrontal neuronal assembly in retrieving fear extinction. Biol Psychiatry 2023:S0006-3223(23)00087-2. [PMID: 36842495 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.02.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Revised: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) has been viewed as a locus to store and recall extinction memory. However, the synaptic and cellular mechanisms underlying this process remain elusive. METHODS We combined transgenic mice, electrophysiological recording, activity-dependent cell labeling, and chemogenetic manipulation to analyze the role of adaptor protein APPL1 in the vmPFC for fear extinction retrieval. RESULTS We found that both constitutive and conditional APPL1 knockout decreases NMDA receptor (NMDAR) function in the vmPFC and impairs fear extinction retrieval. Moreover, APPL1 undergoes nuclear translocation during extinction retrieval. Blocking APPL1 nucleocytoplasmic translocation reduces NMDAR currents and disrupts extinction retrieval. We further identified a prefrontal neuronal ensemble that is both necessary and sufficient for the storage of extinction memory. Inducible APPL1 knockout in this ensemble abolishes NMDAR-dependent synaptic potentiation and disrupts extinction retrieval, while simultaneously chemogenetic activation of this ensemble rescues the impaired behaviors. CONCLUSIONS Therefore, our results indicate that a prefrontal neuronal ensemble stores extinction memory, and APPL1 signaling supports these neurons to retrieve extinction memory via controlling NMDAR-dependent potentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu-Shan Hua
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Anesthesiology of Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Jin-Jun Ding
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Anesthesiology of Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Tian-Cheng Sun
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Anesthesiology of Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Chen Guo
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Neurology of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Ying Zhang
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Anesthesiology of Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Zi-Hui Yu
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Anesthesiology of Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Yi-Qing Cao
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Anesthesiology of Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Lin-Hong Zhong
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Anesthesiology of Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Yu Wu
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Anesthesiology of Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Lu-Ying Guo
- Kidney Disease Center of First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Jian-Hong Luo
- Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 311121, China; NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology,ZhejiangUniversity ,Hangzhou ,310058 ,China
| | - Yi-Hui Cui
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Neurology of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
| | - Shuang Qiu
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Anesthesiology of Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China; Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 311121, China; NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology,ZhejiangUniversity ,Hangzhou ,310058 ,China.
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34
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Dehdar K, Mooziri M, Samii Moghaddam A, Salimi M, Nazari M, Dehghan S, Jamaati H, Salimi A, Raoufy MR. Corticosteroid treatment attenuates anxiety and mPFC-amygdala circuit dysfunction in allergic asthma. Life Sci 2023; 315:121373. [PMID: 36621536 DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2023.121373] [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: 10/28/2022] [Revised: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
AIMS Allergic asthma is associated with anxiety-related behaviors, leading to poor quality of life. Previous studies mainly described the neuropathophysiology of asthma-induced anxiety. However, the effects of corticosteroids, the most common anti-inflammatory agents for asthma treatment, on the neurophysiological foundations of allergic asthma-induced anxiety are unexplored. MAIN METHODS Here, we evaluated lung and brain inflammation as well as anxiety in an animal model of allergic asthma pretreated with inhaled fluticasone propionate. Furthermore, to define the neurophysiological bases of these conditions, we studied the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)-amygdala circuit, which is previously shown to accompany asthma-induced anxiety. KEY FINDINGS Our data showed that allergen induces anxiety, mPFC and amygdala inflammation, as well as disruptions in the local and long-range oscillatory activities within the mPFC-amygdala circuit. Interestingly, we observed a roughly consistent trend of changes with inhaled fluticasone pretreatment. Namely, the asthma-induced behavioral, inflammatory, and neurophysiological changes were partly, but not totally, prevented by inhaled fluticasone pretreatment. SIGNIFICANCE We suggest that early treatment of asthmatic patients with inhaled corticosteroids improves mPFC-amygdala circuit function by attenuating neuroinflammation leading to reduced anxiety. These findings could lead clinical guidelines of asthma to consider the neuropsychiatric disorders of patients in treatment recommendations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kolsoum Dehdar
- Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Morteza Mooziri
- School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
| | | | - Morteza Salimi
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Milad Nazari
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; DANDRITE, The Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Samaneh Dehghan
- Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Eye Research Center, The Five Senses Institute, Rassoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hamidreza Jamaati
- Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Alireza Salimi
- Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mohammad Reza Raoufy
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran; Institute for Brain Sciences and Cognition, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
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35
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Liu H, Wang C, Lan X, Li W, Zhang F, Fu L, Ye Y, Ning Y, Zhou Y. Functional connectivity of the amygdala and the antidepressant and antisuicidal effects of repeated ketamine infusions in major depressive disorder. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1123797. [PMID: 36816116 PMCID: PMC9932998 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1123797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Dysfunction of the amygdala is the core pathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, it remains unclear whether ketamine treatment could modulate characteristics of amygdala-related networks. We aimed to explore the relationship between changes in the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the amygdala and the treatment of ketamine in MDD patients and to identify important neuroimaging predictors of treatment outcome. Methods Thirty-nine MDD patients received six subanesthetic dose infusions of ketamine. Depressive and suicidal symptoms were assessed and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were performed before and after six ketamine infusions. Forty-five healthy controls also underwent once MRI scans. Seed-based RSFC analyses were performed, focusing on the bilateral amygdala. Results After ketamine treatment, the RSFC between the left amygdala (LA) and the left medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG) of MDD patients enhanced significantly, and this change was positively correlated with the reduction in depressive symptoms (r = 0.40, p = 0.012). The combination baseline RSFC of LA - right putamen and right amygdala (RA) - right putamen was related to the antidepressant and antisuicidal effects of ketamine. The combination baseline RSFC of LA - right putamen and RA - right putamen could predict the ineffective antidepressant (AUC = 0.739, p = 0.011) and antisuicidal effects of ketamine (AUC = 0.827, p = 0.001). Conclusion Ketamine can regulate the relevant circuits of amygdala and mSFG, and the baseline RSFC between bilateral amygdala and right putamen may be a predictor of the response of ketamine's antidepressant and antisuicidal treatment. Clinical trial registration https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=20875, identifier ChiCTR-OOC-17012239.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haiyan Liu
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chengyu Wang
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaofeng Lan
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, China
| | - Weicheng Li
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, China,Department of Psychology, The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Fan Zhang
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, China,Department of Psychology, The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ling Fu
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, China,Department of Psychology, The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yanxiang Ye
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuping Ning
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, China,Department of Psychology, The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China,*Correspondence: Yuping Ning,
| | - Yanling Zhou
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, China,Yanling Zhou,
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Hartsock MJ, Brennan NA, Spencer RL. Circadian Rhythms in Fear Extinction Recall Depend on the Time of Day of Extinction Recall, Not the Time of Day of Extinction Learning. J Biol Rhythms 2023; 38:109-115. [PMID: 36281735 DOI: 10.1177/07487304221128161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The recall of conditioned fear extinction exhibits a circadian rhythm in humans and rodents, with optimal extinction recall occurring during the early active phase. However, it remains unclear whether this rhythm depends on the circadian modulation of mechanisms supporting memory consolidation versus memory maintenance and retrieval. Here, adult male rats underwent conditioned fear extinction at one of four times throughout the day and then, starting 24 h after extinction, were repeatedly tested for extinction recall over the next 24 h. Rats undergoing extinction learning during the early active phase tended toward accelerated extinction learning compared with rats in other groups, pointing to rhythms in mechanisms that support extinction memory encoding. The next day, the strength of extinction recall followed a 24-h cycle that depended not on the time of day of extinction learning but, instead, on the time of day of extinction recall. This latter finding indicates a rhythm in mechanisms supporting extinction memory maintenance and/or retrieval. Subsequent testing for fear relapse in the conditioning context suggested reduced fear in rats tested during the early active phase. These results lay the groundwork for mechanistic investigations of circadian rhythms in fear extinction memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Hartsock
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado
| | - Nicholas A Brennan
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado
| | - Robert L Spencer
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado
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37
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Avecillas-Chasin JM, Levinson S, Kuhn T, Omidbeigi M, Langevin JP, Pouratian N, Bari A. Connectivity-based parcellation of the amygdala and identification of its main white matter connections. Sci Rep 2023; 13:1305. [PMID: 36693904 PMCID: PMC9873600 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-28100-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The amygdala plays a role in emotion, learning, and memory and has been implicated in behavioral disorders. Better understanding of the amygdala circuitry is crucial to develop new therapies for these disorders. We used data from 200 healthy-subjects from the human connectome project. Using probabilistic tractography, we created population statistical maps of amygdala connectivity to brain regions involved in limbic, associative, memory, and reward circuits. Based on the amygdala connectivity with these regions, we applied k-means clustering to parcellate the amygdala into three clusters. The resultant clusters were averaged across all subjects and the main white-matter pathways of the amygdala from each averaged cluster were generated. Amygdala parcellation into three clusters showed a medial-to-lateral pattern. The medial cluster corresponded with the centromedial and cortical nuclei, the basal cluster with the basal nuclei and the lateral cluster with the lateral nuclei. The connectivity analysis revealed different white-matter pathways consistent with the anatomy of the amygdala circuit. This in vivo connectivity-based parcellation of the amygdala delineates three clusters of the amygdala in a mediolateral pattern based on its connectivity with brain areas involved in cognition, memory, emotion, and reward. The human amygdala circuit presented in this work provides the first step for personalized amygdala circuit mapping for patients with behavioral disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josue M Avecillas-Chasin
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 988437 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-8437, USA. .,Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Simon Levinson
- David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Taylor Kuhn
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Mahmoud Omidbeigi
- Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jean-Philippe Langevin
- Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Neurosurgery Service, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nader Pouratian
- Department of Neurological Surgery, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Ausaf Bari
- Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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38
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Manoocheri K, Carter AG. Rostral and caudal basolateral amygdala engage distinct circuits in the prelimbic and infralimbic prefrontal cortex. eLife 2022; 11:e82688. [PMID: 36476757 PMCID: PMC9803354 DOI: 10.7554/elife.82688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Connections from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) to medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) regulate memory and emotion and become disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders. The diverse roles attributed to interactions between the BLA and PFC may reflect multiple circuits nested within a wider network. To examine these circuits, we first used retrograde and anterograde anatomy to show that the rostral BLA (rBLA) and caudal BLA (cBLA) differentially project to prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic (IL) subregions of the mouse PFC. Using ex vivo whole-cell recordings and optogenetics, we then assessed which neuronal subtypes are targeted, showing that rBLA preferentially drives layer 2 (L2) cortico-amygdalar (CA) neurons in PL, whereas cBLA drives layer 5 (L5) pyramidal tract (PT) neurons in IL. We next combined in vivo silicon probe recordings and optogenetics to confirm that cBLA mainly influences IL L5, whereas rBLA primarily activates PL L2, but also evokes polysynaptic activity in PL L5. Lastly, we used soma-tagged optogenetics to explore the local circuits linking superficial and deep layers of PL, showing how rBLA can engage L2 CA neurons to impact L5 PT neuron activity. Together, our findings delineate how subregions of the BLA target distinct networks within the PFC and differentially influence output from PL and IL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kasra Manoocheri
- Center for Neural Science, New York UniversityNew YorkUnited States
| | - Adam G Carter
- Center for Neural Science, New York UniversityNew YorkUnited States
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39
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Busceti CL, Bucci D, Scioli M, Di Pietro P, Nicoletti F, Puglisi-Allegra S, Ferrucci M, Fornai F. Chronic treatment with corticosterone increases the number of tyrosine hydroxylase-expressing cells within specific nuclei of the brainstem reticular formation. Front Neuroanat 2022; 16:976714. [DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2022.976714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cushing's syndrome is due to increased glucocorticoid levels in the body, and it is characterized by several clinical alterations which concern both vegetative and behavioral functions. The anatomical correlates of these effects remain largely unknown. Apart from peripheral effects induced by corticosteroids as counter-insular hormones, only a few reports are available concerning the neurobiology of glucocorticoid-induced vegetative and behavioral alterations. In the present study, C57 Black mice were administered daily a chronic treatment with corticosterone in drinking water. This treatment produces a significant and selective increase of TH-positive neurons within two nuclei placed in the lateral column of the brainstem reticular formation. These alterations significantly correlate with selective domains of Cushing's syndrome. Specifically, the increase of TH neurons within area postrema significantly correlates with the development of glucose intolerance, which is in line with the selective control by area postrema of vagal neurons innervating the pancreas. The other nucleus corresponds to the retrorubral field, which is involved in the behavioral activity. In detail, the retrorubral field is likely to modulate anxiety and mood disorders, which frequently occur following chronic exposure to glucocorticoids. To our knowledge, this is the first study that provides the neuroanatomical basis underlying specific symptoms occurring in Cushing's syndrome.
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Dynamic tripartite construct of interregional engram circuits underlies forgetting of extinction memory. Mol Psychiatry 2022; 27:4077-4091. [PMID: 35804093 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01684-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Fear extinction allows for adaptive control of learned fear responses but often fails, resulting in a renewal or spontaneous recovery of the extinguished fear, i.e., forgetting of the extinction memory readily occurs. Using an activity-dependent neuronal labeling strategy, we demonstrate that engram neurons for fear extinction memory are dynamically positioned in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), basolateral amygdala (BLA), and ventral hippocampus (vHPC), which constitute an engram construct in the term of directional engram synaptic connectivity from the BLA or vHPC to mPFC, but not that in the opposite direction, for retrieval of extinction memory. Fear renewal or spontaneous recovery switches the extinction engram construct from an accessible to inaccessible state, whereas additional extinction learning or optogenetic induction of long-term potentiation restores the directional engram connectivity and prevents the return of fear. Thus, the plasticity of engram construct underlies forgetting of extinction memory.
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Ilomäki M, Lindblom J, Salmela V, Flykt M, Vänskä M, Salmi J, Tolonen T, Alho K, Punamäki RL, Wikman P. Early life stress is associated with the default mode and fronto-limbic network connectivity among young adults. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:958580. [PMID: 36212193 PMCID: PMC9537946 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.958580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Exposure to early life stress (ELS) is associated with a variety of detrimental psychological and neurodevelopmental effects. Importantly, ELS has been associated with regional alterations and aberrant connectivity in the structure and functioning of brain regions involved in emotion processing and self-regulation, creating vulnerability to mental health problems. However, longitudinal research regarding the impact of ELS on functional connectivity between brain regions in the default mode network (DMN) and fronto-limbic network (FLN), both implicated in emotion-related processes, is relatively scarce. Neuroimaging research on ELS has mostly focused on single nodes or bi-nodal connectivity instead of functional networks. We examined how ELS is associated with connectivity patterns within the DMN and FLN during rest in early adulthood. The participants (n = 86; 47 females) in the current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study were young adults (18-21 years old) whose families had participated in a longitudinal study since pregnancy. ELS was assessed both prospectively (parental reports of family relationship problems and mental health problems during pregnancy and infancy) and retrospectively (self-reported adverse childhood experiences). Inter-subject representational similarity analysis (IS-RSA) and multivariate distance matrix regression (MDMR) were used to analyze the association between ELS and the chosen networks. The IS-RSA results suggested that prospective ELS was associated with complex alterations within the DMN, and that retrospective ELS was associated with alterations in the FLN. MDMR results, in turn, suggested that that retrospective ELS was associated with DMN connectivity. Mean connectivity of the DMN was also associated with retrospective ELS. Analyses further showed that ELS-related alterations in the FLN were associated with increased connectivity between the prefrontal and limbic regions, and between different prefrontal regions. These results suggest that exposure to ELS in infancy might have long-lasting influences on functional brain connectivity that persist until early adulthood. Our results also speak for the importance of differentiating prospective and retrospective assessment methods to understand the specific neurodevelopmental effects of ELS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miro Ilomäki
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jallu Lindblom
- Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Viljami Salmela
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Marjo Flykt
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Mervi Vänskä
- Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Juha Salmi
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tuija Tolonen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Kimmo Alho
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Advanced Magnetic Imaging Centre, Aalto NeuroImaging, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | | | - Patrik Wikman
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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Jaffe AE, Tao R, Page SC, Maynard KR, Pattie EA, Nguyen CV, Deep-Soboslay A, Bharadwaj R, Young KA, Friedman MJ, Williamson DE, Shin JH, Hyde TM, Martinowich K, Kleinman JE. Decoding Shared Versus Divergent Transcriptomic Signatures Across Cortico-Amygdala Circuitry in PTSD and Depressive Disorders. Am J Psychiatry 2022; 179:673-686. [PMID: 35791611 PMCID: PMC10697016 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.21020162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disease that is highly comorbid with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder. The overlap in symptoms is hypothesized to stem from partially shared genetics and underlying neurobiological mechanisms. To delineate conservation between transcriptional patterns across PTSD and MDD, the authors examined gene expression in the human cortex and amygdala in these disorders. METHODS RNA sequencing was performed in the postmortem brain of two prefrontal cortex regions and two amygdala regions from donors diagnosed with PTSD (N=107) or MDD (N=109) as well as from neurotypical donors (N=109). RESULTS The authors identified a limited number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) specific to PTSD, with nearly all mapping to cortical versus amygdala regions. PTSD-specific DEGs were enriched in gene sets associated with downregulated immune-related pathways and microglia as well as with subpopulations of GABAergic inhibitory neurons. While a greater number of DEGs associated with MDD were identified, most overlapped with PTSD, and only a few were MDD specific. The authors used weighted gene coexpression network analysis as an orthogonal approach to confirm the observed cellular and molecular associations. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide supporting evidence for involvement of decreased immune signaling and neuroinflammation in MDD and PTSD pathophysiology, and extend evidence that GABAergic neurons have functional significance in PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew E. Jaffe
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Genetic Medicine, McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Center for Computational Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
| | - Ran Tao
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Keith A. Young
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M College of Medicine, Bryan TX
- Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans, Waco, TX
- Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Temple, TX, 76504, USA
- Baylor Scott & White Psychiatry, Temple, TX
| | - Matthew J. Friedman
- Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Dartmouth Hanover, NH
- National Center for PTSD, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
| | - Douglas E. Williamson
- Duke Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, 300 North Duke St, Durham, North Carolina
- Durham VA Healthcare System, 508 Fulton St, Durham, North Carolina
| | | | - Joo Heon Shin
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
| | - Thomas M. Hyde
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - Keri Martinowich
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - Joel E. Kleinman
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
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43
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Neural activity in afferent projections to the infralimbic cortex is associated with individual differences in the recall of fear extinction. Sci Rep 2022; 12:13703. [PMID: 35953525 PMCID: PMC9372091 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17895-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by an impaired ability to extinguish fear responses to trauma-associated cues. Studies in humans and non-human animals point to differences in the engagement of certain frontal cortical regions as key mediators determining whether or not fear extinction is successful, however the neural circuit interactions that dictate the differential involvement of these regions are not well understood. To better understand how individual differences in extinction recall are reflected in differences in neural circuit activity, we labeled projections to the infralimbic cortex (IL) in rats using a retrograde tracer and compared neural activity within, and outside, of IL-projecting neurons. We analyzed these data in groups separated on the basis of how well rats retained extinction memory. We found that within IL-projecting cells, neurons in the posterior paraventricular thalamus showed heightened activity in rats that showed good extinction recall. Outside of the IL-projecting cells, increased Fos activity was observed in good extinction rats in select regions of the claustrum and ventral hippocampus. Our results indicate that differences in extinction recall are associated with a specific pattern of neural activity both within and outside of projections to the IL.
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44
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Prefrontal cortical circuits in anxiety and fear: an overview. Front Med 2022; 16:518-539. [PMID: 35943704 DOI: 10.1007/s11684-022-0941-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Pathological anxiety is among the most difficult neuropsychiatric diseases to treat pharmacologically, and it represents a major societal problem. Studies have implicated structural changes within the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and functional changes in the communication of the PFC with distal brain structures in anxiety disorders. Treatments that affect the activity of the PFC, including cognitive therapies and transcranial magnetic stimulation, reverse anxiety- and fear-associated circuit abnormalities through mechanisms that remain largely unclear. While the subjective experience of a rodent cannot be precisely determined, rodent models hold great promise in dissecting well-conserved circuits. Newly developed genetic and viral tools and optogenetic and chemogenetic techniques have revealed the intricacies of neural circuits underlying anxiety and fear by allowing direct examination of hypotheses drawn from existing psychological concepts. This review focuses on studies that have used these circuit-based approaches to gain a more detailed, more comprehensive, and more integrated view on how the PFC governs anxiety and fear and orchestrates adaptive defensive behaviors to hopefully provide a roadmap for the future development of therapies for pathological anxiety.
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45
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Shan Q, Yu X, Tian Y. Reduction of excitatory synaptic transmission efficacy in the infralimbic prefrontal cortex potentially contributes to impairment of contextual fear memory extinction in aged mice. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2022; 78:930-937. [PMID: 35778266 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glac137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Human beings are living longer than ever before and cognitive decline experienced by aged adults, such as compromise in cognitive flexibility, has been attracting more and more attention. One such example is the aging-related impairment of memory extinction. However, its underlying neural basis, especially the functional basis at the synapse level, is largely unknown. This study verifies that Pavlovian contextual fear memory extinction is impaired in aged mice. A large body of previous studies have shown that the infralimbic prefrontal cortex (ilPFC) plays a pivotal role in memory extinction. Correspondingly, this study reveals an aging-related reduction in the efficacy of excitatory synaptic transmission onto the ilPFC pyramidal neurons via electrophysiology recordings. This study further suggests that this reduced excitation potentially contributes to the aging-related impairment of contextual fear memory extinction: chemogenetically suppressing the activity of the ilPFC pyramidal neurons in young mice impairs contextual fear memory extinction, whereas chemogenetically compensating the reduced excitation of the ilPFC pyramidal neurons in aged mice restores contextual fear memory extinction. This study identifies a functional synaptic plasticity in the ilPFC pyramidal neurons that potentially contributes to the aging-related impairment of contextual fear memory extinction, which would potentially help to develop a therapy to treat related cognitive decline in aged human adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Shan
- Laboratory for Synaptic Plasticity, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiaoxuan Yu
- Laboratory for Synaptic Plasticity, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, China
| | - Yao Tian
- Chern Institute of Mathematics, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
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46
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Humanized substitutions of Vmat1 in mice alter amygdala-dependent behaviors associated with the evolution of anxiety. iScience 2022; 25:104800. [PMID: 35992083 PMCID: PMC9385864 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2021] [Revised: 05/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
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47
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Maeng LY, Rosenfeld D, Simandl GJ, Koehler F, Senko AW, Moon J, Varnavides G, Murillo MF, Reimer AE, Wald A, Anikeeva P, Widge AS. Probing Neuro-Endocrine Interactions Through Remote Magnetothermal Adrenal Stimulation. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:901108. [PMID: 35837128 PMCID: PMC9274974 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.901108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Exposure to stressful or traumatic stimuli may alter hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathoadrenal-medullary (SAM) reactivity. This altered reactivity may be a component or cause of mental illnesses. Dissecting these mechanisms requires tools to reliably probe HPA and SAM function, particularly the adrenal component, with temporal precision. We previously demonstrated magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) technology to remotely trigger adrenal hormone release by activating thermally sensitive ion channels. Here, we applied adrenal magnetothermal stimulation to probe stress-induced HPA axis and SAM changes. MNP and control nanoparticles were injected into the adrenal glands of outbred rats subjected to a tone-shock conditioning/extinction/recall paradigm. We measured MNP-triggered adrenal release before and after conditioning through physiologic (heart rate) and serum (epinephrine, corticosterone) markers. Aversive conditioning altered adrenal function, reducing corticosterone and blunting heart rate increases post-conditioning. MNP-based organ stimulation provides a novel approach to probing the function of SAM, HPA, and other neuro-endocrine axes and could help elucidate changes across stress and disease models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Y. Maeng
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Dekel Rosenfeld
- Research Laboratory of Electronics and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Gregory J. Simandl
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Florian Koehler
- Research Laboratory of Electronics and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Alexander W. Senko
- Research Laboratory of Electronics and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Junsang Moon
- Research Laboratory of Electronics and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Georgios Varnavides
- Research Laboratory of Electronics and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Maria F. Murillo
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Adriano E. Reimer
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Aaron Wald
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Polina Anikeeva
- Research Laboratory of Electronics and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
- *Correspondence: Polina Anikeeva,
| | - Alik S. Widge
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
- Alik S. Widge,
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48
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Lawson K, Scarlata MJ, Cho WC, Mangan C, Petersen D, Thompson HM, Ehnstrom S, Mousley AL, Bezek JL, Bergstrom HC. Adolescence alcohol exposure impairs fear extinction and alters medial prefrontal cortex plasticity. Neuropharmacology 2022; 211:109048. [PMID: 35364101 PMCID: PMC9067297 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2022.109048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Revised: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 03/26/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
After experiencing a traumatic event people often turn to alcohol to cope with symptoms. In those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a co-occurring alcohol use disorder (AUD), PTSD symptoms can worsen, suggesting that alcohol changes how traumatic memory is expressed. The objective of this series of experiments is to identify how alcohol drinking (EtOH), following cued fear conditioning and extinction, impacts fear expression in mice. Molecular (activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein, Arc/arg3.1) and structural (dendrite and spine morphometry) markers of neuronal plasticity were measured following remote extinction retrieval. Mouse age (adolescent and adult) and sex were included as interacting variables in a full factorial design. Females drank more EtOH than males and adolescents drank more EtOH than adults. Adolescent females escalated EtOH intake across drinking days. Adolescent drinkers exhibited more conditioned freezing during extinction retrieval, an effect that persisted for at least 20 days. Heightened cued freezing in the adolescent group was associated with greater Arc/arg3.1 expression in layer (L) 2/3 prelimbic (PL) cortex, greater spine density, and reduced basal dendrite complexity. In adults, drinking was associated with reduced L2/3 infralimbic (IL) Arc expression but no behavioral differences. Few sex interactions were uncovered throughout. Overall, these data identify prolonged age-related differences in alcohol-induced fear extinction impairment and medial prefrontal cortex neuroadaptations.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Lawson
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
| | - M J Scarlata
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
| | - W C Cho
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
| | - C Mangan
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
| | - D Petersen
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
| | - H M Thompson
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
| | - S Ehnstrom
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
| | - A L Mousley
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
| | - J L Bezek
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
| | - H C Bergstrom
- Department of Psychological Science, Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA.
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Kuga N, Abe R, Takano K, Ikegaya Y, Sasaki T. Prefrontal-amygdalar oscillations related to social behavior in mice. eLife 2022; 11:78428. [PMID: 35580019 PMCID: PMC9113747 DOI: 10.7554/elife.78428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala are involved in the regulation of social behavior and associated with psychiatric diseases but their detailed neurophysiological mechanisms at a network level remain unclear. We recorded local field potentials (LFPs) from the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) while male mice engaged on social behavior. We found that in wild-type mice, both the dmPFC and BLA increased 4–7 Hz oscillation power and decreased 30–60 Hz power when they needed to attend to another target mouse. In mouse models with reduced social interactions, dmPFC 4–7 Hz power further increased especially when they exhibited social avoidance behavior. In contrast, dmPFC and BLA decreased 4–7 Hz power when wild-type mice socially approached a target mouse. Frequency-specific optogenetic manipulations replicating social approach-related LFP patterns restored social interaction behavior in socially deficient mice. These results demonstrate a neurophysiological substrate of the prefrontal cortex and amygdala related to social behavior and provide a unified pathophysiological understanding of neuronal population dynamics underlying social behavioral deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nahoko Kuga
- Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.,Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Reimi Abe
- Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kotomi Takano
- School of Medicine, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Yuji Ikegaya
- Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.,Institute for AI and Beyond, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.,Center for Information and Neural Networks, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Osaka, Japan
| | - Takuya Sasaki
- Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.,Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
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50
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Maren S. Unrelenting Fear Under Stress: Neural Circuits and Mechanisms for the Immediate Extinction Deficit. Front Syst Neurosci 2022; 16:888461. [PMID: 35520882 PMCID: PMC9062589 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2022.888461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Therapeutic interventions for disorders of fear and anxiety rely on behavioral approaches that reduce pathological fear memories. For example, learning that threat-predictive stimuli are no longer associated with aversive outcomes is central to the extinction of conditioned fear responses. Unfortunately, fear memories are durable, long-lasting, and resistant to extinction, particularly under high levels of stress. This is illustrated by the "immediate extinction deficit," which is characterized by a poor long-term reduction of conditioned fear when extinction procedures are attempted within hours of fear conditioning. Here, I will review recent work that has provided new insight into the neural mechanisms underlying resistance to fear extinction. Emerging studies reveal that locus coeruleus norepinephrine modulates amygdala-prefrontal cortical circuits that are critical for extinction learning. These data suggest that stress-induced activation of brain neuromodulatory systems biases fear memory at the expense of extinction learning. Behavioral and pharmacological strategies to reduce stress in patients undergoing exposure therapy might improve therapeutic outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
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