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Peyrot C, Provencher J, Duplessis Marcotte F, Cernik R, Marin MF. Using unconditioned responses to predict fear acquisition, fear extinction learning, and extinction retention patterns: Sex hormone status matters. Behav Brain Res 2024; 459:114802. [PMID: 38081517 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114802] [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: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Following a traumatic event, fear dysregulation can increase the likelihood of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This psychopathology is twice as prevalent in women than in men. High physiological reactivity following trauma may be an early risk indicator for the development of PTSD. Elevated physiological reactivity and low estradiol levels have individually been associated with higher fear acquisition and/or lower extinction retention. Thus, sex hormone status may also modulate fear regulation abilities. However, it is unknown whether these two vulnerability factors interact to modulate fear learning and regulation. Using a fear conditioning and extinction protocol, we examined whether physiological reactivity to the aversive stimulus during fear acquisition training predicted fear responses during fear learning, extinction learning, and extinction retention. We verified whether these associations differed according to sex hormone status. Seventy-seven non-clinical participants were recruited including oral contraceptive users (n = 18), early follicular women (n = 20, [low estradiol]), mid-cycle women (n = 20, [high estradiol]), and men (n = 19). Participants underwent a three-day fear conditioning and extinction protocol (day 1: fear acquisition training; day 2: extinction training; day 3: retention test). Skin conductance responses were recorded. In early follicular women, physiological reactivity predicted conditioned and extinguished stimulus fear responses during all phases. For the remaining women, this effect was only present during fear learning and extinction learning. These findings highlight the importance of considering physiological reactivity and sex hormone status following a traumatic event. This knowledge could aid in the early identification of those at higher risk of developing PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clémence Peyrot
- Research Centre, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, 7331 Hochelaga Street, H1N 3J4 Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry and Addiction, Université de Montréal, 2900 Édouard-Montpetit boulevard, Montréal, Québec H3T 1J4, Canada.
| | - Jessie Provencher
- Research Centre, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, 7331 Hochelaga Street, H1N 3J4 Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, 100 Sherbrooke Street W, Montréal, Québec H2X 2P3, Canada.
| | - Félix Duplessis Marcotte
- Research Centre, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, 7331 Hochelaga Street, H1N 3J4 Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, 100 Sherbrooke Street W, Montréal, Québec H2X 2P3, Canada.
| | - Rebecca Cernik
- Research Centre, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, 7331 Hochelaga Street, H1N 3J4 Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, 100 Sherbrooke Street W, Montréal, Québec H2X 2P3, Canada.
| | - Marie-France Marin
- Research Centre, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, 7331 Hochelaga Street, H1N 3J4 Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry and Addiction, Université de Montréal, 2900 Édouard-Montpetit boulevard, Montréal, Québec H3T 1J4, Canada; Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, 100 Sherbrooke Street W, Montréal, Québec H2X 2P3, Canada.
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Murray SB, Strober M, Le Grange D, Schauer R, Craske MG, Zbozinek TD. A multi-modal assessment of fear conditioning in adolescent anorexia nervosa. Int J Eat Disord 2024. [PMID: 38415877 DOI: 10.1002/eat.24180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Revised: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a pernicious psychiatric disorder which is principally characterized by a fear of weight gain. Notwithstanding the centrality of fear in the psychopathology of AN, controlled assessments of negative valence systems are lacking. Herein we assess fear conditioning in adolescent females with AN. METHOD Adolescent girls (Mage = 14.6 years, ±1.57) with DSM-5 diagnoses of AN (N = 25) and age-matched control girls (Mage = 14.8 years, ±1.46) with no DSM-5 diagnoses (N = 25) completed structured clinical interviews and participated in a classical three-phase Pavlovian fear conditioning paradigm. Participants with comorbid anxiety disorders were excluded. Skin conductance response (SCR) was measured, alongside self-reported fear, valence, and fear expectancy ratings. RESULTS Both groups demonstrated significant differential acquisition across all four measures. Regarding group comparisons, no differences emerged for self-reported fear, valence, and fear expectancy ratings during acquisition, although for SCR, those with AN demonstrated reduced physiological arousal relative to controls. Both groups demonstrated significant differential extinction for unconditioned stimuli (US) expectancy, self-report fear, and self-report valence. No statistically significant group differences were evident during extinction to the conditioned stimuli (CS)+, on any outcome measure. However, controls reported more positive valence to the CS- than those with AN. CONCLUSIONS Contrary to our hypotheses, our preliminary assessment did not find support for elevated fear responding among adolescent girls with AN with regards to fear acquisition or extinction. These data suggest that AN in adolescent girls may not be associated with a heightened propensity to acquire fear, but conversely, may suggest that exposure treatments for AN may be helpful, since extinction learning is intact in AN. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE AN is characterized by fear-related symptoms, including food and weight-related fear, and behavioral avoidance, yet controlled studies assessing fear learning are limited. Our preliminary assessment of adolescent AN indicates no abnormalities in fear learning among adolescents with AN. These findings may inform existing mechanistic models of AN psychopathology, and the development of exposure-based treatments for AN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart B Murray
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Michael Strober
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Daniel Le Grange
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience (Emeritus), The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Rebecca Schauer
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Michelle G Craske
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Tomislav D Zbozinek
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
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Battaglia S, Di Fazio C, Mazzà M, Tamietto M, Avenanti A. Targeting Human Glucocorticoid Receptors in Fear Learning: A Multiscale Integrated Approach to Study Functional Connectivity. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:864. [PMID: 38255937 PMCID: PMC10815285 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25020864] [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: 10/28/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Fear extinction is a phenomenon that involves a gradual reduction in conditioned fear responses through repeated exposure to fear-inducing cues. Functional brain connectivity assessments, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), provide valuable insights into how brain regions communicate during these processes. Stress, a ubiquitous aspect of life, influences fear learning and extinction by changing the activity of the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus, leading to enhanced fear responses and/or impaired extinction. Glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) are key to the stress response and show a dual function in fear regulation: while they enhance the consolidation of fear memories, they also facilitate extinction. Accordingly, GR dysregulation is associated with anxiety and mood disorders. Recent advancements in cognitive neuroscience underscore the need for a comprehensive understanding that integrates perspectives from the molecular, cellular, and systems levels. In particular, neuropharmacology provides valuable insights into neurotransmitter and receptor systems, aiding the investigation of mechanisms underlying fear regulation and potential therapeutic targets. A notable player in this context is cortisol, a key stress hormone, which significantly influences both fear memory reconsolidation and extinction processes. Gaining a thorough understanding of these intricate interactions has implications in terms of addressing psychiatric disorders related to stress. This review sheds light on the complex interactions between cognitive processes, emotions, and their neural bases. In this endeavor, our aim is to reshape the comprehension of fear, stress, and their implications for emotional well-being, ultimately aiding in the development of therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Battaglia
- Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, Cesena Campus, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy
| | - Chiara Di Fazio
- Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, Cesena Campus, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy
| | - Matteo Mazzà
- Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, Cesena Campus, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy
| | - Marco Tamietto
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, Cesena Campus, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy
- Neuropsicology and Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center (CINPSI Neurocog), Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca 3460000, Chile
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Truckenbrod LM, Betzhold SM, Wheeler AR, Shallcross J, Singhal S, Harden S, Schwendt M, Frazier CJ, Bizon JL, Setlow B, Orsini CA. Circuit and Cell-Specific Contributions to Decision Making Involving Risk of Explicit Punishment in Male and Female Rats. J Neurosci 2023; 43:4837-4855. [PMID: 37286352 PMCID: PMC10312052 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0276-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 05/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Decision making is a complex cognitive process that recruits a distributed network of brain regions, including the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh). Recent work suggests that communication between these structures, as well as activity of cells expressing dopamine (DA) D2 receptors (D2R) in the NAcSh, are necessary for some forms of decision making; however, the contributions of this circuit and cell population during decision making under risk of punishment are unknown. The current experiments addressed this question using circuit-specific and cell type-specific optogenetic approaches in rats during a decision making task involving risk of punishment. In experiment 1, Long-Evans rats received intra-BLA injections of halorhodopsin or mCherry (control) and in experiment 2, D2-Cre transgenic rats received intra-NAcSh injections of Cre-dependent halorhodopsin or mCherry. Optic fibers were implanted in the NAcSh in both experiments. Following training in the decision making task, BLA→NAcSh or D2R-expressing neurons were optogenetically inhibited during different phases of the decision process. Inhibition of the BLA→NAcSh during deliberation (the time between trial initiation and choice) increased preference for the large, risky reward (increased risk taking). Similarly, inhibition during delivery of the large, punished reward increased risk taking, but only in males. Inhibition of D2R-expressing neurons in the NAcSh during deliberation increased risk taking. In contrast, inhibition of these neurons during delivery of the small, safe reward decreased risk taking. These findings extend our knowledge of the neural dynamics of risk taking, revealing sex-dependent circuit recruitment and dissociable activity of selective cell populations during decision making.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Until recently, the ability to dissect the neural substrates of decision making involving risk of punishment (risk taking) in a circuit-specific and cell-specific manner has been limited by the tools available for use in rats. Here, we leveraged the temporal precision of optogenetics, together with transgenic rats, to probe contributions of a specific circuit and cell population to different phases of risk-based decision making. Our findings reveal basolateral amygdala (BLA)→nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) is involved in evaluation of punished rewards in a sex-dependent manner. Further, NAcSh D2 receptor (D2R)-expressing neurons make unique contributions to risk taking that vary across the decision making process. These findings advance our understanding of the neural principles of decision making and provide insight into how risk taking may become compromised in neuropsychiatric diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leah M Truckenbrod
- Institute for Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712
| | | | - Alexa-Rae Wheeler
- Institute for Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Jennifer L Bizon
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32610
| | | | - Caitlin A Orsini
- Department of Psychology
- Department of Neurology
- Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712
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5
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Tyson PJ, Davies SK, Scorey S, Greville WJ. Fear of clowns: An investigation into the aetiology of coulrophobia. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1109466. [PMID: 36818074 PMCID: PMC9931735 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1109466] [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: 11/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Fear of clowns or coulrophobia is a little understood phenomenon despite studies indicating that it has a high prevalence in the general population. There have been no previous investigations into the aetiology of this fear, although several plausible hypotheses from the wider literature can be generated; the fear stems from media portrayals of scary clowns, from the unusual physical appearance or the unpredictable behaviour displayed, or it derives from an unpleasant personal experience. Methods The current study reviews the literature in this area and also pilots a new questionnaire (Origin of Fear of Clowns Questionnaire; OFCQ) to explore the causes of the fear of clowns in a sample of 528 participants who reported such a fear. Results Our findings suggest that uncertainty of harmful intent, media influences and unpredictability of behaviour play an important role in the origins of coulrophobia. There are also multiple features of clown appearance which produce a negative experiential state and a sense of a direct threat. Discussion We conclude that the origins of clown fear are multi-factorial and primarily relate to aspects of their facial appearance, their behaviour, and how they have been portrayed in the media. Surprisingly, fear derived from personal experience was not one of our main findings. Further research is focused on looking at associations between the level of fear and each aetiological category.
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6
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Truckenbrod LM, Betzhold SM, Wheeler AR, Shallcross J, Singhal S, Harden S, Schwendt M, Frazier CJ, Bizon JL, Setlow B, Orsini CA. Circuit and cell-specific contributions to decision making involving risk of explicit punishment in male and female rats. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.01.15.524142. [PMID: 36711946 PMCID: PMC9882127 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.15.524142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Decision making is a complex cognitive process that recruits a distributed network of brain regions, including the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh). Recent work suggests that communication between these structures, as well as activity of cells expressing dopamine D2 receptors (D2R) in the NAcSh, are necessary for some forms of decision making; however, the contributions of this circuit and cell population during decision making under risk of punishment are unknown. The current experiments addressed this question using circuit- and cell type-specific optogenetic approaches in rats during a decision-making task involving risk of punishment. In Experiment 1, Long-Evans rats received intra-BLA injections of halorhodopsin or mCherry (control) and in Experiment 2, D2-Cre transgenic rats received intra-NAcSh injections of Cre-dependent halorhodopsin or mCherry. Optic fibers were implanted in the NAcSh in both experiments. Following training in the decision-making task, BLA→NAcSh or D2R-expressing neurons were optogenetically inhibited during different phases of the decision process. Inhibition of the BLA→NAcSh during deliberation (the time between trial initiation and choice) increased choice of the large, risky reward (increased risk taking). Similarly, inhibition during delivery of the large, punished reward increased risk taking, but only in males. Inhibition of D2R-expressing neurons in the NAcSh during deliberation increased risk taking. In contrast, inhibition of these neurons during delivery of the small, safe reward decreased risk taking. These findings extend our knowledge of the neural dynamics of risk taking, revealing sex-dependent circuit recruitment and dissociable activity of selective cell populations during decision making.
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7
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Velasco ER, Florido A, Perez-Caballero L, Marin I, Andero R. The Impacts of Sex Differences and Sex Hormones on Fear Extinction. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2023; 64:105-132. [PMID: 37528309 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2023_426] [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: 08/03/2023]
Abstract
Fear extinction memories are strongly modulated by sex and hormonal status, but the exact mechanisms are still being discovered. In humans, there are some basal and task-related features in which male and female individuals differ in fear conditioning paradigms. However, analyses considering the effects of sex hormones demonstrate a role for estradiol in fear extinction memory consolidation. Translational studies are taking advantage of the convergent findings between species to understand the brain structures implicated. Nevertheless, the human brain is complex and the transfer of these findings into the clinics remains a challenge. The promising advances in the field together with the standardization of fear extinction methodologies in humans will benefit the design of new personalized therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Raul Velasco
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Antonio Florido
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Departament de Psicobiologia i de Metodologia de les Ciències de la Salut, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Laura Perez-Caballero
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Departament de Psicobiologia i de Metodologia de les Ciències de la Salut, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ignacio Marin
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Raul Andero
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
- Departament de Psicobiologia i de Metodologia de les Ciències de la Salut, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
- Unitat de Neurociència Traslacional, Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari, Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí (I3PT), Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain.
- ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, Barcelona, Spain.
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8
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Bauer EP. Sex differences in fear responses: Neural circuits. Neuropharmacology 2023; 222:109298. [PMID: 36328063 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2022.109298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2022] [Revised: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Women have increased vulnerability to PTSD and anxiety disorders compared to men. Understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of these disorders is critical for identifying risk factors and developing appropriate sex-specific interventions. Despite the clear clinical relevance of an examination of sex differences in fear responses, the vast majority of pre-clinical research on fear learning and memory formation has exclusively used male animals. This review highlights sex differences in context and cued fear conditioning, fear extinction and fear generalization with a focus on the neural circuits underlying these behaviors in rodents. There are mixed reports of behavioral sex differences in context and cued fear conditioning paradigms, which can depend upon the behavioral indices of fear. However, there is greater evidence of differential activation of the hippocampus, amygdalar nuclei and the prefrontal cortical regions in male and female rodents during context and cued fear conditioning. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a sexually dimorphic structure, is of particular interest as it differentially contributes to fear responses in males and females. In addition, while the influence of the estrous cycle on different phases of fear conditioning is delineated, the clearest modulatory effect of estrogen is on fear extinction processes. Examining the variability in neural responses and behavior in both sexes should increase our understanding of how that variability contributes to the neurobiology of affective disorders. This article is part of the Special Issue on 'Fear, anxiety and PTSD'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth P Bauer
- Departments of Biology and Neuroscience & Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, United States.
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9
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Dark HE, Harnett NG, Hurst DR, Wheelock MD, Wood KH, Goodman AM, Mrug S, Elliott MN, Emery ST, Schuster MA, Knight DC. Sex-related differences in violence exposure, neural reactivity to threat, and mental health. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:2221-2229. [PMID: 36030316 PMCID: PMC9630543 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-022-01430-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus, and amygdala play an important role in emotional health. However, adverse life events (e.g., violence exposure) affect the function of these brain regions, which may lead to disorders such as depression and anxiety. Depression and anxiety disproportionately affect women compared to men, and this disparity may reflect sex differences in the neural processes that underlie emotion expression and regulation. The present study investigated sex differences in the relationship between violence exposure and the neural processes that underlie emotion regulation. In the present study, 200 participants completed a Pavlovian fear conditioning procedure in which cued and non-cued threats (i.e., unconditioned stimuli) were presented during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Violence exposure was previously assessed at four separate time points when participants were 11-19 years of age. Significant threat type (cued versus non-cued) × sex and sex × violence exposure interactions were observed. Specifically, women and men differed in amygdala and parahippocampal gyrus reactivity to cued versus non-cued threat. Further, dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) and inferior parietal lobule (IPL) reactivity to threat varied positively with violence exposure among women, but not men. Similarly, threat-elicited skin conductance responses varied positively with violence exposure among women. Finally, women reported greater depression and anxiety symptoms than men. These findings suggest that sex differences in threat-related brain and psychophysiological activity may have implications for mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather E Dark
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Nathaniel G Harnett
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Danielle R Hurst
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Muriah D Wheelock
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Department of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Kimberly H Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Department of Psychology, Samford University, Homewood, AL, USA
| | - Adam M Goodman
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Sylvie Mrug
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | | | - Susan Tortolero Emery
- Texas Prevention Research Center, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Mark A Schuster
- Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - David C Knight
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
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Tronson NC, Schuh KM. Hormonal contraceptives, stress, and the brain: The critical need for animal models. Front Neuroendocrinol 2022; 67:101035. [PMID: 36075276 DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2022] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Hormonal contraceptives are among the most important health and economic developments in the 20thCentury, providing unprecedented reproductive control and a range of health benefits including decreased premenstrual symptoms and protections against various cancers. Hormonal contraceptives modulate neural function and stress responsivity. These changes are usually innocuous or even beneficial, including their effects onmood. However, in approximately 4-10% of users, or up to 30 million people at any given time, hormonal contraceptives trigger depression or anxiety symptoms. How hormonal contraceptives contribute to these responses and who is at risk for adverse outcomes remain unknown. In this paper, we discussstudies of hormonal contraceptive use in humans and describe the ways in which laboratory animal models of contraceptive hormone exposure will be an essential tool for expanding findings to understand the precise mechanisms by which hormonal contraceptives influence the brain, stress responses, and depression risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie C Tronson
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | - Kristen M Schuh
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Khalsa SS, Victor TA, Kuplicki R, Yeh HW, Vanover KE, Paulus MP, Davis RE. Single doses of a highly selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 1 (lenrispodun) in healthy volunteers: a randomized pharmaco-fMRI clinical trial. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:1844-1853. [PMID: 35488084 PMCID: PMC9372139 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-022-01331-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Lenrispodun is a potent and highly selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase (PDE) type 1, which is thought to prolong intracellular second messenger signaling within cortical and subcortical dopaminergic brain regions. This is the first study of a PDE1 inhibitor in healthy volunteers using behavioral and neuroimaging approaches to examine its effects on neural targets and to provide a safety and tolerability assessment. The primary objectives were to determine whether lenrispodun induces changes in BOLD fMRI signals in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) during the stop signal task, and the dorsal anterior insula (dAI) during the extinction phase of a fear conditioning/extinction task. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects design, 26 healthy individuals (22 completed all fMRI sessions) received in random order a single oral dose of placebo, lenrispodun 1.0 milligram (mg) or lenrispodun 10.0 mg and completed several tasks in the scanner including the stop signal (n = 24) and fear conditioning/extinction tasks (n = 22). Prespecified region-of-interest analyses for the IFG and dAI were computed using linear mixed models. Lenrispodun induced increases in IFG activity during the stop signal task at 1.0 mg (Cohen's d = 0.63) but not 10.0 mg (Cohen's d = 0.07) vs. placebo. Lenrispodun did not induce changes in dAI activity during fear extinction at either dose. Exploratory outcomes revealed changes in cardiac interoception. Lenrispodun administration was well-tolerated. These results provide evidence that 1.0 mg lenrispodun selectively improved neural inhibitory control without altering fear extinction processing. Future investigations should determine whether lenrispodun improves inhibitory control in target populations such as individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03489772.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sahib S Khalsa
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA.
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA.
| | | | | | - Hung-Wen Yeh
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
- Health Services and Outcomes Research, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO, USA
- School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA
| | | | - Martin P Paulus
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
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12
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Wen Z, Fried J, Pace-Schott EF, Lazar SW, Milad MR. Revisiting sex differences in the acquisition and extinction of threat conditioning in humans. Learn Mem 2022; 29:274-282. [PMID: 36206388 PMCID: PMC9488021 DOI: 10.1101/lm.053521.121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Findings pertaining to sex differences in the acquisition and extinction of threat conditioning, a paradigm widely used to study emotional homeostasis, remain inconsistent, particularly in humans. This inconsistency is likely due to multiple factors, one of which is sample size. Here, we pooled functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and skin conductance response (SCR) data from multiple studies in healthy humans to examine sex differences during threat conditioning, extinction learning, and extinction memory recall. We observed increased functional activation in males, relative to females, in multiple parietal and frontal (medial and lateral) cortical regions during acquisition of threat conditioning and extinction learning. Females mainly exhibited higher amygdala activation during extinction memory recall to the extinguished conditioned stimulus and also while responding to the unconditioned stimulus (presentation of the shock) during threat conditioning. Whole-brain functional connectivity analyses revealed that females showed increased connectivity across multiple networks including visual, ventral attention, and somatomotor networks during late extinction learning. At the psychophysiological level, a sex difference was only observed during shock delivery, with males exhibiting higher unconditioned responses relative to females. Our findings point to minimal to no sex differences in the expression of conditioned responses during acquisition and extinction of such responses. Functional MRI findings, however, show some distinct functional activations and connectivities between the sexes. These data suggest that males and females might use different neural mechanisms, mainly related to cognitive processing, to achieve comparable levels of acquired conditioned responses to threating cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenfu Wen
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
| | - Jamie Fried
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
| | - Edward F Pace-Schott
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02114, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA
| | - Sara W Lazar
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02114, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA
| | - Mohammed R Milad
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
- The Neuroscience Institute, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
- Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York 10962, USA
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13
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Orsini CA, Truckenbrod LM, Wheeler AR. Regulation of sex differences in risk-based decision making by gonadal hormones: Insights from rodent models. Behav Processes 2022; 200:104663. [PMID: 35661794 PMCID: PMC9893517 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Men and women differ in their ability to evaluate options that vary in their rewards and the risks that are associated with these outcomes. Most studies have shown that women are more risk averse than men and that gonadal hormones significantly contribute to this sex difference. Gonadal hormones can influence risk-based decision making (i.e., risk taking) by modulating the neurobiological substrates underlying this cognitive process. Indeed, estradiol, progesterone and testosterone modulate activity in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala and nucleus accumbens associated with reward and risk-related information. The use of animal models of decision making has advanced our understanding of the intersection between the behavioral, neural and hormonal mechanisms underlying sex differences in risk taking. This review will outline the current state of this literature, identify the current gaps in knowledge and suggest the neurobiological mechanisms by which hormones regulate risky decision making. Collectively, this knowledge can be used to understand the potential consequences of significant hormonal changes, whether endogenously or exogenously induced, on risk-based decision making as well as the neuroendocrinological basis of neuropsychiatric diseases that are characterized by impaired risk taking, such as substance use disorder and schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin A. Orsini
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA,Department of Neurology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA,Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA,Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA,Correspondence to: Department of Psychology & Neurology, Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, 108 E. Dean Keaton St., Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712, USA. (C.A. Orsini)
| | - Leah M. Truckenbrod
- Department of Neurology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA,Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA,Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Alexa-Rae Wheeler
- Department of Neurology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA,Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA,Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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14
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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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15
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Behavioral and neural responses during fear conditioning and extinction in a large transdiagnostic sample. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 35:103060. [PMID: 35679785 PMCID: PMC9189200 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Revised: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral and neural responses during Pavlovian fear learning were examined in a large sample of healthy and individuals with anxiety and depression. Latent profile models to threat were derived from behavioral and neural data. Demographic, cognitive, and psychological variables did not robustly characterize latent profiles. Neuroimaging data did not evidence functional role of amygdala in fear learning. Human fear learning recruited a distributed network of regions involved in interoceptive, cognitive, motivational, and psychomotor processes.
Background Dysregulation of fear learning has been associated with psychiatric disorders that have altered positive and negative valence domain function. While amygdala-insula-prefrontal circuitry is considered important for fear learning, there have been inconsistencies in neural findings in healthy and clinical human samples. This study aimed to delineate the neural substrates and behavioral responses during fear learning in a large, transdiagnostic sample with predominantly depressive and/or anxious dysfunction. Methods Two-hundred and eighty-two individuals (52 healthy participants; 230 participants with depression and/or anxiety-related problems) from the Tulsa 1000 study, an ongoing, naturalistic longitudinal study based on a dimensional psychopathological framework, completed a Pavlovian fear learning task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Linear mixed-effects analyses examined condition-by-time effects on brain activation (CS+, CS- across familiarization, conditioning, and extinction trials). A data-driven latent profile analysis (LPA) examined distinct patterns of behavioral and neural responses to threat across fear conditioning and extinction, while logistic regression analyses evaluated cognitive-affective predictors of latent profiles. Results Whole-brain analyses revealed a condition-by-time interaction in the anterior insula, postcentral gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and cerebellum but not amygdala. The LPA identified distinct latent profiles across subjective and neural levels of measurement. Anterior insula profiles were characterized by marginal differences in age and state anxiety. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that human fear learning recruits a distributed network of regions involved in interoceptive, cognitive, motivational, and psychomotor processes. Data-driven analyses identified distinct profiles of subjective and neural responses during fear learning that transcended clinical diagnoses, but no robust relationships to demographic or cognitive-affective variable were identified.
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16
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Rasmusson AM, Pineles SL, Brown KD, Pinna G. A role for deficits in GABAergic neurosteroids and their metabolites with NMDA receptor antagonist activity in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder. J Neuroendocrinol 2022; 34:e13062. [PMID: 34962690 PMCID: PMC9233411 DOI: 10.1111/jne.13062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [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: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Trauma-focused psychotherapies show general efficacy in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), although outcomes vary substantially among individuals with PTSD and many patients do not achieve clinically meaningful symptom improvement. Several factors may contribute to poor treatment response, including genetic or environmental (e.g., stress) effects on neurobiological factors involved in learning and memory processes critical to PTSD recovery. In this review, we discuss the relationship between deficient GABAergic neurosteroid metabolites of progesterone, allopregnanolone (Allo) and pregnanolone (PA), and PTSD symptoms in men and women or PTSD-like behavioral abnormalities observed in male rodent models of PTSD. We also review the role and molecular underpinnings of learning and memory processes relevant to PTSD recovery, including extinction, extinction retention, reconsolidation of reactivated aversive memories and episodic non-aversive memory. We then discuss preclinical and clinical research that supports a role in these learning and memory processes for GABAergic neurosteroids and sulfated metabolites of Allo and PA that allosterically antagonize NMDA receptor function. Studies supporting the possible therapeutic impact of appropriately timed, acutely administered Allo or Allo analogs to facilitate extinction retention and/or block reconsolidation of aversive memories are also reviewed. Finally, we discuss important future directions for research in this area. Examining the varied and composite effects in PTSD of these metabolites of progesterone, as well as neuroactive derivatives of other parent steroids produced in the brain and the periphery, will likely enable a broadening of targets for treatment development. Defining contributions of these neuroactive steroids to common PTSD-comorbid psychiatric and medical conditions, as well as subpopulation-specific underlying dysfunctional physiological processes such as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and immune system dysregulation, may also enable development of more effective multisystem precision medicines to prevent and treat the broader, polymorbid sequelae of extreme and chronic stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann M. Rasmusson
- VA National Center for PTSD, Women’s Health Science Division, Department of Veterans Affairs, Boston, MA 02130, U.S.A
- Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118
| | - Suzanne L. Pineles
- VA National Center for PTSD, Women’s Health Science Division, Department of Veterans Affairs, Boston, MA 02130, U.S.A
- Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118
| | - Kayla D. Brown
- Behavioral Neurosciences PhD Program, Boston University Medical Campus, Boston, MA, 02118, U.S.A
| | - Graziano Pinna
- The Psychiatric Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60612, U.S.A
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17
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Bertram T, Hoffmann Ayala D, Huber M, Brandl F, Starke G, Sorg C, Mulej Bratec S. Human threat circuits: Threats of pain, aggressive conspecific, and predator elicit distinct BOLD activations in the amygdala and hypothalamus. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:1063238. [PMID: 36733415 PMCID: PMC9887727 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1063238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Threat processing, enabled by threat circuits, is supported by a remarkably conserved neural architecture across mammals. Threatening stimuli relevant for most species include the threat of being attacked by a predator or an aggressive conspecific and the threat of pain. Extensive studies in rodents have associated the threats of pain, predator attack and aggressive conspecific attack with distinct neural circuits in subregions of the amygdala, the hypothalamus and the periaqueductal gray. Bearing in mind the considerable conservation of both the anatomy of these regions and defensive behaviors across mammalian species, we hypothesized that distinct brain activity corresponding to the threats of pain, predator attack and aggressive conspecific attack would also exist in human subcortical brain regions. METHODS Forty healthy female subjects underwent fMRI scanning during aversive classical conditioning. In close analogy to rodent studies, threat stimuli consisted of painful electric shocks, a short video clip of an attacking bear and a short video clip of an attacking man. Threat processing was conceptualized as the expectation of the aversive stimulus during the presentation of the conditioned stimulus. RESULTS Our results demonstrate differential brain activations in the left and right amygdala as well as in the left hypothalamus for the threats of pain, predator attack and aggressive conspecific attack, for the first time showing distinct threat-related brain activity within the human subcortical brain. Specifically, the threat of pain showed an increase of activity in the left and right amygdala and the left hypothalamus compared to the threat of conspecific attack (pain > conspecific), and increased activity in the left amygdala compared to the threat of predator attack (pain > predator). Threat of conspecific attack revealed heightened activity in the right amygdala, both in comparison to threat of pain (conspecific > pain) and threat of predator attack (conspecific > predator). Finally, for the condition threat of predator attack we found increased activity in the bilateral amygdala and the hypothalamus when compared to threat of conspecific attack (predator > conspecific). No significant clusters were found for the contrast predator attack > pain. CONCLUSION Results suggest that threat type-specific circuits identified in rodents might be conserved in the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Bertram
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Daniel Hoffmann Ayala
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of Neurosurgery, Klinikum Großhadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Maria Huber
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Felix Brandl
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Georg Starke
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,College of Humanities, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Christian Sorg
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Satja Mulej Bratec
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
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18
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Marcon L, C V V Giacomini A, Dos Santos BE, Costa F, Rosemberg DB, Demin KA, Kalueff AV, de Abreu MS. Understanding sex differences in zebrafish pain- and fear-related behaviors. Neurosci Lett 2021; 772:136412. [PMID: 34942320 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.136412] [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: 07/07/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Sex is an important variable in translational biomedical research. While overt sex differences have been reported for pain and fear-like behaviors in humans and rodents, these differences in other popular model organisms, such as zebrafish, remain poorly understood. Here, we evaluate potential sex differences in zebrafish behavioral responses to pain (intraperitoneal administration of 5% acetic acid) and fear stimuli (exposure to alarm substance). Overall, both male and female zebrafish exposed to pain (intraperitoneal 5% acetic acid injection) show lesser distance traveled, fewer top entries and more writhing-like pain-related behavior vs. controls. However, female fish more robustly (than males) altered some other pain-like behaviors (e.g., increasing freezing episodes and time in top) in this model. In contrast, zebrafish of both sexes responded equally strongly to fear evoked by alarm substance exposure. Collectively, these findings emphasize the growing importance of studying sex differences in zebrafish, including pain models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leticia Marcon
- Bioscience Institute, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil
| | - Ana C V V Giacomini
- Bioscience Institute, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil; Postgraduate Program in Environmental Sciences, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil
| | - Bruna E Dos Santos
- Bioscience Institute, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil
| | - Fabiano Costa
- Graduate Program in Biological Sciences: Toxicological Biochemistry, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil; Neurobiology Program, Sirius University of Science and Technology, Sochi, Russia
| | - Denis B Rosemberg
- Graduate Program in Biological Sciences: Toxicological Biochemistry, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil; The International Zebrafish Neuroscience Research Consortium (ZNRC), Slidell, LA, USA
| | - Konstantin A Demin
- Institute of Experimental Medicine, Almazov National Medical Research Center, Ministry of Healthcare of Russian Federation, St. Petersburg, Russia; Institute of Translational Biomedicine, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; Granov Russian Scientific Research Center of Radiology and Surgical Technologies, Ministry of Healthcare of Russian Federation, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Allan V Kalueff
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia; Neurobiology Program, Sirius University of Science and Technology, Sochi, Russia; Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia; Scientific Research Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine, Novosibirsk, Russia.
| | - Murilo S de Abreu
- Bioscience Institute, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil; The International Zebrafish Neuroscience Research Consortium (ZNRC), Slidell, LA, USA; Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology and Neurobiology, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia.
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19
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Chen BK, Luna VM, Shannon ME, Hunsberger HC, Mastrodonato A, Stackmann M, McGowan JC, Rubinstenn G, Denny CA. Fluoroethylnormemantine, a Novel NMDA Receptor Antagonist, for the Prevention and Treatment of Stress-Induced Maladaptive Behavior. Biol Psychiatry 2021; 90:458-472. [PMID: 34274107 PMCID: PMC9590626 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.04.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Revised: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Major depressive disorder is a common, recurrent illness. Recent studies have implicated the NMDA receptor in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder. (R,S)-ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, is an effective antidepressant but has numerous side effects. Here, we characterized a novel NMDA receptor antagonist, fluoroethylnormemantine (FENM), to determine its effectiveness as a prophylactic and/or antidepressant against stress-induced maladaptive behavior. METHODS Saline, memantine (10 mg/kg), (R,S)-ketamine (30 mg/kg), or FENM (10, 20, or 30 mg/kg) was administered before or after contextual fear conditioning in 129S6/SvEv mice. Drug efficacy was assayed using various behavioral tests. Protein expression in the hippocampus was quantified with immunohistochemistry or Western blotting. In vitro radioligand binding was used to assay drug binding affinity. Patch clamp electrophysiology was used to determine the effect of drug administration on glutamatergic activity in ventral hippocampal cornu ammonis 3 (vCA3) 1 week after injection. RESULTS Given after stress, FENM decreased behavioral despair and reduced perseverative behavior. When administered after re-exposure, FENM facilitated extinction learning. As a prophylactic, FENM attenuated learned fear and decreased stress-induced behavioral despair. FENM was behaviorally effective in both male and female mice. (R,S)-ketamine, but not FENM, increased expression of c-fos in vCA3. Both (R,S)-ketamine and FENM attenuated large-amplitude AMPA receptor-mediated bursts in vCA3, indicating a common neurobiological mechanism for further study. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that FENM is a novel drug that is efficacious when administered at various times before or after stress. Future work will further characterize FENM's mechanism of action with the goal of clinical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Briana K Chen
- Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Victor M Luna
- Division of Systems Neuroscience, Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc./New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York
| | | | - Holly C Hunsberger
- Division of Systems Neuroscience, Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc./New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York
| | - Alessia Mastrodonato
- Division of Systems Neuroscience, Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc./New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York
| | - Michelle Stackmann
- Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Josephine C McGowan
- Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | | | - Christine A Denny
- Division of Systems Neuroscience, Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc./New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York.
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20
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Sleep and fear conditioning, extinction learning and extinction recall: A systematic review and meta-analysis of polysomnographic findings. Sleep Med Rev 2021; 59:101501. [PMID: 34090064 DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2020] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Sleep may contribute to the long-lasting consolidation and processing of emotional memories. Experimental fear conditioning and extinction paradigms model the development, maintenance, and treatment of anxiety disorders. The literature provides compelling evidence for the involvement of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in the consolidation of such memories. This meta-analysis correlated polysomnographic sleep findings with psychophysiological reactivity to the danger (CS+) and safety stimuli (CS-), to clarify the specific role of sleep stages before and after fear conditioning, extinction learning and extinction recall. Overall, there was evidence that more pre-learning sleep stage two and less slow wave sleep was associated with higher psychophysiological reactivity to the safety stimulus during extinction learning. Preliminary evidence found here support the role of REM sleep during the post-extinction consolidation sleep phase in clinical populations with disrupted sleep, but not in healthy controls. Furthermore, the meta-regressions found that sex moderated the associations between sleep and psychophysiological reactivity throughout the paradigm providing evidence for diverging correlations in male and females. Specifically, increased post-extinction REM was associated with poorer extinction and safety recall in females while the opposite was found in males. These results have implications for future research in the role of sleep in emotional memory processing.
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21
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The effects of FAAH inhibition on the neural basis of anxiety-related processing in healthy male subjects: a randomized clinical trial. Neuropsychopharmacology 2021; 46:1011-1019. [PMID: 33335310 PMCID: PMC8105363 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-020-00936-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2020] [Revised: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Acute pharmacological inhibition of the anandamide-degrading enzyme, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), prolongs the regulatory effects of endocannabinoids and reverses the stress-induced anxiety state in a cannabinoid receptor-dependent manner. However, the neural systems underlying this modulation are poorly understood. A single site, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study was conducted with 43 subjects assigned to receive once daily dosing of either placebo (n = 21) or JNJ-42165279 (100 mg) (n = 22) for 4 consecutive days. Pharmacodynamic effects were assessed on the last day of dosing and included evaluation of brain activation patterns using BOLD fMRI during an (1) emotion face-processing task, (2) inspiratory breathing load task, and (3) fear conditioning and extinction task. JNJ-42165279 attenuated activation in the amygdala, bilateral anterior cingulate, and bilateral insula during the emotion face-processing task consistent with effects previously observed with anxiolytic agents. Higher levels of anandamide were associated with greater attenuation in bilateral anterior cingulate and left insula. JNJ-42165279 increased the activation during anticipation of an aversive interoceptive event in the anterior cingulate and bilateral anterior insula and right inferior frontal cortex. JNJ-42165279 did not affect fear conditioning or within-session extinction learning as evidenced by a lack of differences on a subjective and neural circuit level. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that JNJ-42165279 at this dose shares some effects with existing anxiolytic agents in dampening response to emotional stimuli but not responses to conditioned fear.
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Broche-Pérez Y, Fernández-Fleites Z, Fernández-Castillo E, Jiménez-Puig E, Vizcaíno-Escobar AE, Ferrer-Lozano DM, Martínez-Rodríguez L, Martín-González R. Anxiety, Health Self-Perception, and Worry About the Resurgence of COVID-19 Predict Fear Reactions Among Genders in the Cuban Population. Front Glob Womens Health 2021; 2:634088. [PMID: 34816192 PMCID: PMC8594045 DOI: 10.3389/fgwh.2021.634088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The resurgence of COVID-19 could deepen the psychological impacts of the pandemic which poses new challenges for mental health professionals. Among the actions that should be prioritized is the monitoring of the groups that have shown greater psychological vulnerability during the first stage of the pandemic. The first aim of our study is to explore the fear reactions to COVID-19 between genders during the second wave of the outbreak in Cuba. Second, establish possible predictors of fear of COVID-19 in relation to gender. Specifically, we will evaluate how anxiety related to COVID-19, health self-perception, and worry about the resurgence of COVID-19 predict fear reactions among women and men in the Cuban population. A cross-sectional online study was designed. The research was conducted between August 16 and October 18, 2020. A total of 373 people completed the online survey. A socio-demographic questionnaire, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale were used. An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare the fear, worry, anxiety and self-perceived health scores, between genders. The relationship between those variables and fear of COVID-19, was investigated using Pearson correlation coefficient. Finally, multiple linear regression was used to evaluate the possible associations (predictors) related to fear of COVID-19. In our study, women, compared to men, presented greater fear reactions, greater concern about resurgence of COVID-19 and poorer self-perceived health. Anxiety reactions in our sample showed no differences between genders. In women, anxiety of COVID-19, worry about resurgence of COVID-19, and self-perceived health are associated with fear reactions to COVID-19. In the case of men, the self-perceived health showed no associations with fear reactions. Our results confirm the results of several related investigations during the first wave of the pandemic where women have shown greater psychological vulnerability compared to men. However, we cannot rule out that the real impact of the pandemic on mental health in men is much greater than that described by the studies conducted to date. Additional studies are needed on the psychological impact of COVID-19 on men.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunier Broche-Pérez
- Psychology Department, Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba
- CognitiON (Cuban Iniciative on Cognitive Health), Santa Clara, Cuba
| | - Zoylen Fernández-Fleites
- Psychology Department, Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba
- CognitiON (Cuban Iniciative on Cognitive Health), Santa Clara, Cuba
| | - Evelyn Fernández-Castillo
- Psychology Department, Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba
- CognitiON (Cuban Iniciative on Cognitive Health), Santa Clara, Cuba
| | - Elizabeth Jiménez-Puig
- Psychology Department, Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba
- CognitiON (Cuban Iniciative on Cognitive Health), Santa Clara, Cuba
| | | | - Dunia M. Ferrer-Lozano
- Psychology Department, Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba
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Leblanc H, Ramirez S. Linking Social Cognition to Learning and Memory. J Neurosci 2020; 40:8782-8798. [PMID: 33177112 PMCID: PMC7659449 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1280-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Revised: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Many mammals have evolved to be social creatures. In humans, the ability to learn from others' experiences is essential to survival; and from an early age, individuals are surrounded by a social environment that helps them develop a variety of skills, such as walking, talking, and avoiding danger. Similarly, in rodents, behaviors, such as food preference, exploration of novel contexts, and social approach, can be learned through social interaction. Social encounters facilitate new learning and help modify preexisting memories throughout the lifespan of an organism. Moreover, social encounters can help buffer stress or the effects of negative memories, as well as extinguish maladaptive behaviors. Given the importance of such interactions, there has been increasing work studying social learning and applying its concepts in a wide range of fields, including psychotherapy and medical sociology. The process of social learning, including its neural and behavioral mechanisms, has also been a rapidly growing field of interest in neuroscience. However, the term "social learning" has been loosely applied to a variety of psychological phenomena, often without clear definition or delineations. Therefore, this review gives a definition for specific aspects of social learning, provides an overview of previous work at the circuit, systems, and behavioral levels, and finally, introduces new findings on the social modulation of learning. We contextualize such social processes in the brain both through the role of the hippocampus and its capacity to process "social engrams" as well as through the brainwide realization of social experiences. With the integration of new technologies, such as optogenetics, chemogenetics, and calcium imaging, manipulating social engrams will likely offer a novel therapeutic target to enhance the positive buffering effects of social experiences or to inhibit fear-inducing social stimuli in models of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heloise Leblanc
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02119
- Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, 02118
| | - Steve Ramirez
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02119
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02119
- Neurophotonics Center at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02119
- Center for Systems Neuroscience at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02119
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Hurley SW, Carelli RM. Activation of Infralimbic to Nucleus Accumbens Shell Pathway Suppresses Conditioned Aversion in Male But Not Female Rats. J Neurosci 2020; 40:6888-6895. [PMID: 32727819 PMCID: PMC7470915 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0137-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2020] [Revised: 07/14/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Hedonic processing plays an integral role in directing appropriate behavior, but disrupted hedonic processing is associated with psychiatric disorders such as depression. The infralimbic cortex (IL) is a key structure in affective processing in rodents and activation of its human homolog, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, has been implicated in suppressing aversive states. Here, we tested whether optogenetic activation of glutamatergic projections from the IL to the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) suppresses the aversive impact of sucrose devalued using the conditioned taste aversion paradigm in males and female rats. In naive rats, no significant differences in appetitive or aversive taste reactivity (TR) to sucrose was observed indicating that initial sucrose palatability was equivalent across sex. However, we found that optical activation of the IL-NAcSh pathway during intraoral infusion of devalued sucrose inhibited aversive TR in male but not female rats. Interestingly, when allowed to freely ingest water and sucrose in a two-bottle test both males and females with a history of IL-NAcSh stimulation exhibited greater preference for sucrose. Optical pathway activation failed to alter TR to innately bitter quinine in either sex. Finally, both sexes lever pressed to self-stimulate the IL-NAcSh pathway. These results indicate that the IL-NAcSh pathway plays an important role in suppressing learned aversive states selectively in males but spares hedonic processing of innately aversive tastants. Further, pathway activation is reinforcing in both sexes, indicating that suppression of conditioned aversive TR can be dissociable from the effects of unconditioned rewarding properties of IL-NAcSh pathway activation.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Negative emotional states contribute to psychiatric disorders including depression and substance use disorders. In this study, we examined whether brain circuitry previously implicated in suppressing negative emotional states in humans can inhibit learned aversion in male and female rats. We found that optical activation of the infralimbic to nucleus accumbens shell pathway attenuates learned aversive responses in male but not female rats, indicating an important sex difference in the function of this brain pathway. Furthermore, we found that pathway stimulation was reinforcing in both sexes. Collectively, these findings support the role of the infralimbic cortex and its projection to the nucleus accumbens shell in suppressing learned negative emotional states and highlight an important sex-specific function of this pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seth W Hurley
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Regina M Carelli
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
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25
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Stress perception following childhood adversity: Unique associations with adversity type and sex. Dev Psychopathol 2020; 32:343-356. [PMID: 30846020 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579419000130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Childhood adversity is associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes across the life span. Alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis are considered a key mechanism underlying these associations, although findings have been mixed. These inconsistencies suggest that other aspects of stress processing may underlie variations in this these associations, and that differences in adversity type, sex, and age may be relevant. The current study investigated the relationship between childhood adversity, stress perception, and morning cortisol, and examined whether differences in adversity type (generalized vs. threat and deprivation), sex, and age had distinct effects on these associations. Salivary cortisol samples, daily hassle stress ratings, and retrospective measures of childhood adversity were collected from a large sample of youth at risk for serious mental illness including psychoses (n = 605, mean age = 19.3). Results indicated that childhood adversity was associated with increased stress perception, which subsequently predicted higher morning cortisol levels; however, these associations were specific to threat exposures in females. These findings highlight the role of stress perception in stress vulnerability following childhood adversity and highlight potential sex differences in the impact of threat exposures.
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Day HLL, Stevenson CW. The neurobiological basis of sex differences in learned fear and its inhibition. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 52:2466-2486. [PMID: 31631413 PMCID: PMC7496972 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2019] [Revised: 10/07/2019] [Accepted: 10/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Learning that certain cues or environments predict threat enhances survival by promoting appropriate fear and the resulting defensive responses. Adapting to changing stimulus contingencies by learning that such cues no longer predict threat, or distinguishing between these threat-related and other innocuous stimuli, also enhances survival by limiting fear responding in an appropriate manner to conserve resources. Importantly, a failure to inhibit fear in response to harmless stimuli is a feature of certain anxiety and trauma-related disorders, which are also associated with dysfunction of the neural circuitry underlying learned fear and its inhibition. Interestingly, these disorders are up to twice as common in women, compared to men. Despite this striking sex difference in disease prevalence, the neurobiological factors involved remain poorly understood. This is due in part to the majority of relevant preclinical studies having neglected to include female subjects alongside males, which has greatly hindered progress in this field. However, more recent studies have begun to redress this imbalance and emerging evidence indicates that there are significant sex differences in the inhibition of learned fear and associated neural circuit function. This paper provides a narrative review on sex differences in learned fear and its inhibition through extinction and discrimination, along with the key gonadal hormone and brain mechanisms involved. Understanding the endocrine and neural basis of sex differences in learned fear inhibition may lead to novel insights on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the enhanced vulnerability to develop anxiety-related disorders that are observed in women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harriet L. L. Day
- School of BiosciencesUniversity of NottinghamLoughboroughUK
- Present address:
RenaSci LtdBioCity, Pennyfoot StreetNottinghamNG1 1GFUK
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Assessment of conditioned fear extinction in male and female adolescent rats. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2020; 116:104670. [PMID: 32334346 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2020] [Revised: 03/25/2020] [Accepted: 03/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Pavlovian fear conditioning and extinction have been widely studied across many species to understand emotional learning and memory. Importantly, it is becoming clear that these processes are affected by sex and age. In adult rodents and humans, sex differences are evident in extinction, with estradiol playing a significant role. In adolescence, an extinction deficit has been reported in rodents and humans. However, the influence of sex on extinction during adolescence is unknown. This is surprising, since adolescence coincides with the onset of hormone cycling, and therefore it might be expected that hormones fluctuations exert a more profound effect at this time. Therefore, we examined Pavlovian fear conditioning and extinction in adolescent male and female rats. In experiment 1, 35-day-old male and female rats were exposed to 6 pairings of a conditioned stimulus (CS, a tone) with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US, a footshock). The next day they were extinguished in a contextually distinct chamber, via 60 presentations of the CS without the US. Extinction recall was tested 24 hours later in the extinction context. Estrous phase was monitored by cytology on vaginal smears taken 1 hour after each behavioral session. In experiment 2, male and female rats were given sham surgery or gonadectomy at 21 days of age. They were then trained and tested as for experiment 1. We observed that females in proestrus or met/diestrus during extinction showed delayed extinction and impaired extinction recall the next day compared to males. Ovariectomy enhanced extinction for female rats, but orchidectomy delayed extinction for males. Plasma analyses showed that met/di/proestrus phases were associated with high estradiol levels. These findings suggest that high plasma estradiol levels impair extinction for adolescent females. These results contradict what is reported in adult animals, suggesting that hormonal influences on extinction are dependent on age. Given that impaired extinction is widely used as a model to understand resistance to exposure-based therapies, our findings have important implications for understanding mental health treatments in adolescents.
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Estradiol Modulates Neural and Behavioral Arousal in Women With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder During a Fear Learning and Extinction Task. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2020; 5:1114-1122. [PMID: 32563699 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.04.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2020] [Revised: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fear responding in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sexually heterogeneous and varies with hormonal fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle. While research suggests that estrogen levels affect PTSD symptoms among women, there is a dearth of research on modulatory effects of estrogen on fear responding among women with PTSD, and neural outcome measures are lacking. METHODS A sample of 42 women with PTSD underwent 2 consecutive alternating blocks of fear conditioning and extinction training, during which a CS+ conditioned stimulus, but not a CS-, predicted the occurrence of an electric shock in an acquisition context but not in an extinction context. Assayed saliva determined estradiol levels. Skin conductance response and whole-brain voxelwise activity during functional magnetic resonance imaging were outcome variables in linear mixed-effects models, with estradiol level, PTSD severity, and task contrasts as predictors. RESULTS Skin conductance response exhibited a significant estradiol × PTSD severity × habituation interaction (t = 3.180, p = .002), such that PTSD severity was correlated with increased arousal responding between training blocks among women with lower estradiol (t = -3.985, p < .001) but not higher estradiol (t = 0.550, p = .583). Voxelwise activity also demonstrated an identical three-way interaction within dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and anterior insula clusters. The skin conductance response and imaging interactions between PTSD severity and estradiol were not specific to conditioned stimulus type or context. CONCLUSIONS Estradiol moderated the relationship between PTSD severity and arousal response habituation between fear conditioning and extinction training sessions, such that high estradiol protected against the negative impact of severe PTSD symptoms on fear habituation. These findings suggest that estrogen enhances habituation among women with severe PTSD, potentially influencing the efficacy of extinction-based therapies.
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29
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Peyrot C, Brouillard A, Morand-Beaulieu S, Marin MF. A review on how stress modulates fear conditioning: Let's not forget the role of sex and sex hormones. Behav Res Ther 2020; 129:103615. [PMID: 32334278 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2020.103615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 03/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Stress and fear are two fields of research that have evolved simultaneously. It was not until the eighties that these domains converged in order to better characterize the impact of stress on fear memory formation. Here, we reviewed the effects of stress occurring before fear acquisition on the main phases of fear conditioning protocols (acquisition training, extinction training, extinction retention test), with a specific focus on sex and sex hormones. We also paid close attention to methodological aspects in order to better understand and characterize discrepant findings across studies. In men, stress appears to potentiate fear acquisition at a physiological level but induces lower activations of fear-related brain regions. In women, results are inconsistent. Although some studies have shown that stress lowers physiological fear responses and heightens brain activations in women during fear acquisition, many studies report no significant effects. Irrespective of sex, pre-acquisition stress seems to induce fear extinction learning resistance. Overall, few studies have taken into account sex hormones, despite their impact on both the fear and stress brain networks. As methodological variability makes it complex to draw strong conclusions, several methodological aspects are discussed with the aim of orienting future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clémence Peyrot
- Research Center, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, 7331 Hochelaga Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H1N 3J4; Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Université de Montréal, 2900 Édouard-Montpetit Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1J4.
| | - Alexandra Brouillard
- Research Center, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, 7331 Hochelaga Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H1N 3J4; Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, 100 Sherbrooke Street W, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H2X 2P3.
| | - Simon Morand-Beaulieu
- Research Center, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, 7331 Hochelaga Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H1N 3J4; Department of Neuroscience, Université de Montréal, 2960 de la Tour Rd, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1J4; Currently with the Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 S Frontage Rd, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA.
| | - Marie-France Marin
- Research Center, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, 7331 Hochelaga Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H1N 3J4; Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Université de Montréal, 2900 Édouard-Montpetit Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1J4; Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, 100 Sherbrooke Street W, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H2X 2P3.
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Hamidovic A, Wang Y. The P300 in alcohol use disorder: A meta-analysis and meta-regression. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2019; 95:109716. [PMID: 31369766 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2019.109716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Revised: 07/22/2019] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The P300 ERP component is a marker of reduced capacity in alcohol use disorder (AUD) to engage attentional mechanisms and update memory representations. No meta-analysis to date has been completed comparing effect size estimates of auditory vs. visual stimuli in AUD. In addition, there is a lack of consensus on whether the P3b in women is reduced, or whether the P3a - an earlier, more frontally distributed component - is reduced in AUD. METHODS Strict inclusion criteria and data-analysis plans were implemented. Eligible studies needed to diagnose AUD using DSM or ICD-10 and exclude patients with any psychiatric co-morbidities. Data analysis was completed using a refined variance estimator of the random effects model. RESULTS Effect size estimates were large for both auditory (Hedges' g = 1.01, p = .056) and visual (Hedges' g = 0.77, p = .040) P300 amplitudes, but only marginally significant for the auditory modality. Auditory P300 latency was significantly increased in AUD patients (Hedges' g = 0.73, p = .027). The moderator analysis did not show significant sex differences for either auditory (p = .97) or visual (p = .45) P3b. Finally, the P3a was not reduced in patients with AUD (Hedges' g = 1.01; p = .59). CONCLUSION This meta-analysis clarifies important questions related to P300 in AUD. By resolving inconsistencies, it is hoped that this information will facilitate the design of futurestudies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ajna Hamidovic
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60608, United States of America.
| | - Yohyoh Wang
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60608, United States of America
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31
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Dugandzic A, Ratko M, Habek N. Anxiety‐like behavior in female mice changes by feeding, possible effect of guanylate cyclase C. Eur J Neurosci 2019; 52:2781-2790. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Revised: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra Dugandzic
- Laboratory of cellular neurophysiology Croatian Institute for Brain Research School of Medicine University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
- Centre of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience School of Medicine University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
- Department of Physiology School of Medicine University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
| | - Martina Ratko
- Laboratory of cellular neurophysiology Croatian Institute for Brain Research School of Medicine University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
- Centre of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience School of Medicine University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
| | - Nikola Habek
- Laboratory of cellular neurophysiology Croatian Institute for Brain Research School of Medicine University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
- Centre of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience School of Medicine University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
- Department of Physiology School of Medicine University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
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Gogos A, Ney LJ, Seymour N, Van Rheenen TE, Felmingham KL. Sex differences in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder: Are gonadal hormones the link? Br J Pharmacol 2019; 176:4119-4135. [PMID: 30658014 PMCID: PMC6877792 DOI: 10.1111/bph.14584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2018] [Revised: 11/13/2018] [Accepted: 11/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In this review, we describe the sex differences in prevalence, onset, symptom profiles, and disease outcome that are evident in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Women with schizophrenia tend to exhibit less disease impairment than men. By contrast, women with post-traumatic stress disorder are more affected than men. The most likely candidates to explain these sex differences are gonadal hormones. This review details the clinical evidence that oestradiol and progesterone are dysregulated in these psychiatric disorders. Notably, existing data on oestradiol, and to a lesser extent, progesterone, suggest that low levels of these hormones may increase the risk of disease development and worsen symptom severity. We argue that future studies require a more inclusive, considered analysis of gonadal steroid hormones and the intricacies of the interactions between them, with methodological rigour applied, to enhance our understanding of the roles of steroid hormones in psychiatric disorders. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on The Importance of Sex Differences in Pharmacology Research. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v176.21/issuetoc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Gogos
- Hormones in Psychiatry LaboratoryFlorey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental HealthParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
| | - Luke J. Ney
- School of Medicine (Psychology)University of TasmaniaSandy BayTasmaniaAustralia
| | - Natasha Seymour
- Hormones in Psychiatry LaboratoryFlorey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental HealthParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
- Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health SciencesUniversity of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
| | - Tamsyn E. Van Rheenen
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of PsychiatryUniversity of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
- Centre for Mental Health, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts and DesignSwinburne UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Kim L. Felmingham
- School of Psychological SciencesUniversity of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
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Ip KI, Liu Y, Moser J, Mannella K, Hruschak J, Bilek E, Muzik M, Rosenblum K, Fitzgerald K. Moderation of the relationship between the error-related negativity and anxiety by age and gender in young children: A preliminary investigation. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2019; 39:100702. [PMID: 31494429 PMCID: PMC6969360 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2018] [Revised: 08/15/2019] [Accepted: 08/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The error-related negativity (ERN) is a neurophysiologic response to errors that associates with anxiety. Despite the potential relevance of the ERN for understanding mechanisms of early anxiety problems in the developing brain, the relation between ERN and anxious symptoms in young children remains poorly understood. Emerging evidence suggests that ERN-anxiety associations could vary by developmental stage, but this work requires replication and consideration of gender effects, given earlier maturation of the ERN and higher rates of anxiety problems in girls relative to boys. To address this gap, the ERN was collected in 49 preschool- to school-aged children (ages 4-9; 26 girls) sampled across a wide range of anxiety severity. Regression analyses revealed that ERN - anxiety associations depended on age and gender. Specifically, larger (more negative) ERN associated with more anxiety in older girls, whereas smaller ERN associated with more anxiety symptoms in younger girls. No ERN-anxiety association was found in boys. These findings suggest that age and gender moderate the direction of the relation between ERN and anxiety in early childhood and could have important implications for the development of ERN-based risk identification and targeted treatment strategies tailored to individual children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka I Ip
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | - Yanni Liu
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jason Moser
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lasing, MI, USA
| | - Kristin Mannella
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jessica Hruschak
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Emily Bilek
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Maria Muzik
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | | | - Kate Fitzgerald
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Hillerer KM, Slattery DA, Pletzer B. Neurobiological mechanisms underlying sex-related differences in stress-related disorders: Effects of neuroactive steroids on the hippocampus. Front Neuroendocrinol 2019; 55:100796. [PMID: 31580837 PMCID: PMC7115954 DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2019.100796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Revised: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 09/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Men and women differ in their vulnerability to a variety of stress-related illnesses, but the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are not well understood. This is likely due to a comparative dearth of neurobiological studies that assess male and female rodents at the same time, while human neuroimaging studies often don't model sex as a variable of interest. These sex differences are often attributed to the actions of sex hormones, i.e. estrogens, progestogens and androgens. In this review, we summarize the results on sex hormone actions in the hippocampus and seek to bridge the gap between animal models and findings in humans. However, while effects of sex hormones on the hippocampus are largely consistent in animals and humans, methodological differences challenge the comparability of animal and human studies on stress effects. We summarise our current understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie sex-related differences in behavior and discuss implications for stress-related illnesses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina M Hillerer
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Salzburger Landeskrankenhaus (SALK), Paracelsus Medical University (PMU), Clinical Research Center Salzburg (CRCS), Salzburg, Austria.
| | - David A Slattery
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Belinda Pletzer
- Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria; Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
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Prefrontal cortex neuronal ensembles encoding fear drive fear expression during long-term memory retrieval. Sci Rep 2019; 9:10709. [PMID: 31341176 PMCID: PMC6656710 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-47095-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2019] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex is an important regulator of fear expression in humans and rodents. Specifically, the rodent prelimbic (PL) prefrontal cortex drives fear expression during both encoding and retrieval of fear memory. Neuronal ensembles have been proposed to function as memory encoding units, and their re-activation is thought to be necessary for memory retrieval and expression of conditioned behavior. However, it remains unclear whether PL cortex neuronal ensembles that encode fear memory contribute to long-term fear expression during memory retrieval. To address this, we employed a viral-mediated TRAP (Targeted Recombination in Active Population) technology to target PL cortex ensembles active during fear conditioning and expressed the inhibitory Gi-DREADD in fear-encoding ensembles. Male and female rats were trained to lever press for food and subjected to Pavlovian delay fear conditioning, then 28 days later, they underwent a fear memory retrieval test. Chemogenetic inhibition of TRAPed PL cortex ensembles reduced conditioned suppression of food seeking in females, but not males. Neither context nor tone freezing behavior was altered by this manipulation during the same retrieval test. Thus, fear-encoding ensembles in PL cortex drive long-term fear expression in a sex and fear modality dependent manner.
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Abstract
Neuroimaging studies suggest differences in the underlying biology of sexual arousal associated with sex and sexual orientation, yet their findings are conflicting. Following a thorough statistical review of all significant neuroimaging studies, we offer strong quantitative evidence that the neuronal response to visual sexual stimuli, contrary to the widely accepted view, is independent of biological sex. Both men and women show increased activation in many cortical and subcortical brain regions thought to be involved in the response to visual sexual stimuli, while the limited sex differences that have been found and reported previously refer to subjective rating of the content. Sexual arousal is a dynamical, highly coordinated neurophysiological process that is often induced by visual stimuli. Numerous studies have proposed that the cognitive processing stage of responding to sexual stimuli is the first stage, in which sex differences occur, and the divergence between men and women has been attributed to differences in the concerted activity of neural networks. The present comprehensive metaanalysis challenges this hypothesis and provides robust quantitative evidence that the neuronal circuitries activated by visual sexual stimuli are independent of biological sex. Sixty-one functional magnetic resonance imaging studies (1,850 individuals) that presented erotic visual stimuli to men and women of different sexual orientation were identified. Coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation was used to conduct metaanalyses. Sensitivity and clustering analyses of averaged neuronal response patterns were performed to investigate robustness of the findings. In contrast to neutral stimuli, sexual pictures and videos induce significant activations in brain regions, including insula, middle occipital, anterior cingulate and fusiform gyrus, amygdala, striatum, pulvinar, and substantia nigra. Cluster analysis suggests stimulus type as the most, and biological sex as the least, predictor for classification. Contrast analysis further shows no significant sex-specific differences within groups. Systematic review of sex differences in gray matter volume of brain regions associated with sexual arousal (3,723 adults) did not show any causal relationship between structural features and functional response to visual sexual stimuli. The neural basis of sexual arousal in humans is associated with sexual orientation yet, contrary to the widely accepted view, is not different between women and men.
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Velasco ER, Florido A, Milad MR, Andero R. Sex differences in fear extinction. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 103:81-108. [PMID: 31129235 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2018] [Revised: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Despite the exponential increase in fear research during the last years, few studies have included female subjects in their design. The need to include females arises from the knowledge gap of mechanistic processes underlying the behavioral and neural differences observed in fear extinction. Moreover, the exact contribution of sex and hormones in relation to learning and behavior is still largely unknown. Insights from this field could be beneficial as fear-related disorders are twice as prevalent in women compared to men. Here, we review an up-to-date summary of animal and human studies in adulthood that report sex differences in fear extinction from a structural and functional approach. Furthermore, we describe how these factors could contribute to the observed sex differences in fear extinction during normal and pathological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- E R Velasco
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
| | - A Florido
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
| | - M R Milad
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
| | - R Andero
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain; CIBERSAM, Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí, Sabadell, Spain; Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Health Sciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
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Sase AS, Lombroso SI, Santhumayor BA, Wood RR, Lim CJ, Neve RL, Heller EA. Sex-Specific Regulation of Fear Memory by Targeted Epigenetic Editing of Cdk5. Biol Psychiatry 2019; 85:623-634. [PMID: 30661667 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.11.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Revised: 10/29/2018] [Accepted: 11/15/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sex differences in the expression and prevalence of trauma- and stress-related disorders have led to a growing interest in the sex-specific molecular and epigenetic mechanisms underlying these diseases. Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) is known to underlie both fear memory and stress behavior in male mice. Given our recent finding that targeted histone acetylation of Cdk5 regulates stress responsivity in male mice, we hypothesized that such a mechanism may be functionally relevant in female mice as well. METHODS We applied epigenetic editing of Cdk5 in the hippocampus and examined the regulation of fear memory retrieval in male and female mice. Viral expression of zinc finger proteins targeting histone acetylation to the Cdk5 promoter was paired with a quantification of learning and memory of contextual fear conditioning, expression of CDK5, and enrichment of histone modifications of the Cdk5 gene. RESULTS We found that male mice exhibit stronger long-term memory retrieval than do female mice, and this finding was associated with male-specific epigenetic activation of hippocampal Cdk5 expression. Sex differences in behavior and epigenetic regulation of Cdk5 occurred after long-term, but not short-term, fear memory retrieval. Finally, targeted histone acetylation of hippocampal Cdk5 promoter attenuated fear memory retrieval and increased tau phosphorylation in female but not male mice. CONCLUSIONS Epigenetic editing uncovered a female-specific role of Cdk5 activation in attenuating fear memory retrieval. This finding may be attributed to CDK5 mediated hyperphosphorylation of tau only in the female hippocampus. Sex-specific epigenetic regulation of Cdk5 may reflect differences in the effect of CDK5 on downstream target proteins that regulate memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ajinkya S Sase
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Sonia I Lombroso
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Brandon A Santhumayor
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Rozalyn R Wood
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Carissa J Lim
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Rachael L Neve
- Gene Delivery Technology Core, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Elizabeth A Heller
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Penn Epigenetics Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Interfering with emotional processing resources upon associative threat memory reactivation does not affect memory retention. Sci Rep 2019; 9:4175. [PMID: 30862869 PMCID: PMC6414694 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-40827-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2018] [Accepted: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Ample evidence suggests that memories enter a labile state upon retrieval, requiring reconsolidation processes in order to be retained. During this period of instability, various interventions can be applied to modify problematic memories. A novel behavioral intervention was designed, aimed at disrupting amygdala-based cognitive processing following the retrieval of a conditioned threat memory, in order to prevent its reconsolidation. We fear-conditioned participants on day 1, and reactivated their memory on day 2. Following reactivation, the reactivation plus emotional working memory task (R + EWMT) group completed an EWMT, while the reactivation only (RO) group served as a no-task control. On day 3, all participants were tested for memory retention, followed by a test for sensitivity to reinstatement. We observed successful acquisition and reactivation in fear-potentiated startle responding, skin conductance responding and US expectancies in both groups. Differential fear responding was fully preserved in the R + EWMT group relative to the RO group at the beginning of retention testing, and both groups were comparably sensitive to reinstatement. Thus, we failed to obtain any evidence that the execution of an EWMT after threat memory reactivation impairs reconsolidation. Further research is indicated to clarify whether threat memory reconsolidation can be disrupted by taxing relevant WM resources.
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Tuominen L, Boeke E, DeCross S, Wolthusen RPF, Nasr S, Milad M, Vangel M, Tootell R, Holt D. The relationship of perceptual discrimination to neural mechanisms of fear generalization. Neuroimage 2019; 188:445-455. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.12.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2018] [Revised: 11/21/2018] [Accepted: 12/16/2018] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
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Marin M, Barbey F, Rosenbaum BL, Hammoud MZ, Orr SP, Milad MR. Absence of conditioned responding in humans: A bad measure or individual differences? Psychophysiology 2019; 57:e13350. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2018] [Revised: 11/13/2018] [Accepted: 01/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Marie‐France Marin
- Department of Psychology Université du Québec à Montréal, Research Center of the Montreal Mental Health University Institute Montreal Quebec
| | | | | | - Mira Z. Hammoud
- Department of Psychiatry University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago Illinois
| | - Scott P. Orr
- Department of Psychiatry Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School Boston Massachusetts
| | - Mohammed R. Milad
- Department of Psychiatry University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago Illinois
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Tchessalova D, Tronson NC. Memory deficits in males and females long after subchronic immune challenge. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2019; 158:60-72. [PMID: 30611884 PMCID: PMC6879099 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2019.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2018] [Revised: 11/30/2018] [Accepted: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Memory impairments and cognitive decline persist long after recovery from major illness or injury, and correlate with increased risk of later dementia. Here we developed a subchronic peripheral immune challenge model to examine delayed and persistent memory impairments in females and in males. We show that intermittent injections of either lipopolysaccharides or Poly I:C cause memory decline in both sexes that are evident eight weeks after the immune challenge. Importantly, we observed sex-specific patterns of deficits. Females showed impairments in object recognition one week after challenge that persisted for at least eight weeks. In contrast, males had intact memory one week after the immune challenge but exhibited broad impairments in memory tasks including object recognition, and both context and tone fear conditioning several months later. The differential patterns of memory deficits in males and in females were observed without sustained microglial activation or changes in blood-brain barrier permeability. Together, these data suggest that transient neuroimmune activity results in differential vulnerabilities of females and males to memory decline after immune challenge. This model will be an important tool for determining the mechanisms in both sexes that contribute to memory impairments that develop over the weeks and months after recovery from illness. Future studies using this model will provide new insights into the role of chronic inflammation in the pathogenesis of long-lasting memory decline and dementias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daria Tchessalova
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States.
| | - Natalie C Tronson
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States.
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Mertens G, Wagensveld P, Engelhard IM. Cue conditioning using a virtual spider discriminates between high and low spider fearful individuals. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2018.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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44
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Panitz C, Sperl MF, Hennig J, Klucken T, Hermann C, Mueller EM. Fearfulness, neuroticism/anxiety, and COMT Val158Met in long-term fear conditioning and extinction. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2018; 155:7-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2018.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2017] [Revised: 05/16/2018] [Accepted: 06/04/2018] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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45
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Modulation of the endocannabinoid system by sex hormones: Implications for posttraumatic stress disorder. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 94:302-320. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2018] [Revised: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 07/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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46
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Merz CJ, Kinner VL, Wolf OT. Let's talk about sex … differences in human fear conditioning. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.01.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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47
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Opposite Molecular Signatures of Depression in Men and Women. Biol Psychiatry 2018; 84:18-27. [PMID: 29548746 PMCID: PMC6014892 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.01.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 188] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2017] [Revised: 01/16/2018] [Accepted: 01/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects women approximately twice as often as men. Women are three times as likely to have atypical depression, with hypersomnia and weight gain. This suggests that the molecular mechanisms of MDD may differ by sex. METHODS To test this hypothesis, we performed a large-scale gene expression meta-analysis across three corticolimbic brain regions: the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and basolateral amygdala (26 men, 24 women with MDD and sex-matched control subjects). Results were further analyzed using a threshold-free approach, Gene Ontology, and cell type-specific analyses. A separate dataset was used for independent validation (13 MDD subjects/sex and 22 control subjects [13 men, 9 women]). RESULTS Of the 706 genes differentially expressed in men with MDD and 882 genes differentially expressed in women with MDD, only 21 were changed in the same direction in both sexes. Notably, 52 genes displayed expression changes in opposite directions between men and women with MDD. Similar results were obtained using a threshold-free approach, in which the overall transcriptional profile of MDD was opposite in men and women. Gene Ontology indicated that men with MDD had decreases in synapse-related genes, whereas women with MDD exhibited transcriptional increases in this pathway. Cell type-specific analysis indicated that men with MDD exhibited increases in oligodendrocyte- and microglia-related genes, while women with MDD had decreases in markers of these cell types. CONCLUSIONS The brain transcriptional profile of MDD differs greatly by sex, with multiple transcriptional changes in opposite directions between men and women with MDD.
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48
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Mechanisms of Sex Differences in Fear and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Biol Psychiatry 2018; 83:876-885. [PMID: 29331353 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.11.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2017] [Revised: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 11/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Following sexual maturity, females disproportionately have higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and experience greater symptom severity and chronicity as compared with males. This observation has led many to examine sex differences in PTSD risk factors. Though relatively few, these studies reveal that the root causes of PTSD sex differences are complex, and partly represent interactions between sex-specific nonbiological and biological risk factors, which differentially shape PTSD vulnerability. Moreover, these studies suggest that sex-specific PTSD vulnerability is partly regulated by sex differences in fear systems. Fear, which represents a highly conserved adaptive response to threatening environmental stimuli, becomes pathological in trauma- and stress-based psychiatric syndromes, such as PTSD. Over the last 30 years, considerable progress has been made in understanding normal and pathological molecular and behavioral fear processes in humans and animal models. Thus, fear mechanisms represent a tractable PTSD biomarker in the study of sex differences in fear. In this review, we discuss studies that examine nonbiological and biological sex differences that contribute to normal and pathological fear behaviors in humans and animal models. This, we hope, will shed greater light on the potential mechanisms that contribute to increased PTSD vulnerability in females.
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49
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Pittig A, Treanor M, LeBeau RT, Craske MG. The role of associative fear and avoidance learning in anxiety disorders: Gaps and directions for future research. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 88:117-140. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2017] [Revised: 02/16/2018] [Accepted: 03/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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50
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Mareckova K, Holsen LM, Admon R, Makris N, Seidman L, Buka S, Whitfield-Gabrieli S, Goldstein JM. Brain activity and connectivity in response to negative affective stimuli: Impact of dysphoric mood and sex across diagnoses. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 37:3733-3744. [PMID: 27246897 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2015] [Revised: 03/16/2016] [Accepted: 05/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Negative affective stimuli elicit behavioral and neural responses which vary on a continuum from adaptive to maladaptive, yet are typically investigated in a dichotomous manner (healthy controls vs. psychiatric diagnoses). This practice may limit our ability to fully capture variance from acute responses to negative affective stimuli to psychopathology at the extreme end. To address this, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study to examine the neural responses to negative valence/high arousal and neutral valence/low arousal images as a function of dysphoric mood and sex across individuals (n = 99) who represented traditional categories of healthy controls, major depressive disorder, bipolar psychosis, and schizophrenia. Observation of negative (vs. neutral) stimuli elicited blood oxygen-level dependent responses in the following circuitry: periaqueductal gray, hypothalamus (HYPO), amygdala (AMYG), hippocampus (HIPP), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and greater connectivity between AMYG and mPFC. Across all subjects, severity of dysphoric mood was associated with hyperactivity of HYPO, and, among females, right (R) AMYG. Females also demonstrated inverse relationships between severity of dysphoric mood and connectivity between HYPO - R OFC, R AMYG - R OFC, and R AMYG - R HIPP. Overall, our findings demonstrated sex-dependent deficits in response to negative affective stimuli increasing as a function of dysphoric mood state. Females demonstrated greater inability to regulate arousal as mood became more dysphoric. These findings contribute to elucidating biosignatures associated with response to negative stimuli across disorders and suggest the importance of a sex-dependent lens in determining these biosignatures. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3733-3744, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klara Mareckova
- Connors Center for Women's Health & Gender Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.,Brain and Mind Research Programme, CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Laura M Holsen
- Connors Center for Women's Health & Gender Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Roee Admon
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Nikos Makris
- Division of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Athinoula a. Martinos Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Larry Seidman
- Division of Public Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Massachusetts Mental Health Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Stephen Buka
- Department of Community Health, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
| | - Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Jill M Goldstein
- Connors Center for Women's Health & Gender Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. .,Division of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Athinoula a. Martinos Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
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