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Towner TT, Applegate DT, Coleman HJ, Papastrat KM, Varlinskaya EI, Werner DF. Patterns of neuronal activation following ethanol-induced social facilitation and social inhibition in adolescent cFos-LacZ male and female rats. Behav Brain Res 2024; 471:115118. [PMID: 38906480 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115118] [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: 03/07/2024] [Revised: 06/10/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024]
Abstract
Alcohol-associated social facilitation together with attenuated sensitivity to adverse alcohol effects play a substantial role in adolescent alcohol use and misuse, with adolescent females being more susceptible to adverse consequences of binge drinking than adolescent males. Adolescent rodents also demonstrate individual and sex differences in sensitivity to ethanol-induced social facilitation and social inhibition, therefore the current study was designed to identify neuronal activation patterns associated with ethanol-induced social facilitation and ethanol-induced social inhibition in male and female adolescent cFos-LacZ rats. Experimental subjects were given social interaction tests on postnatal day (P) 34, 36, and 38 after an acute challenge with 0, 0.5 and 0.75 g/kg ethanol, respectively, and β-galactosidase (β-gal) expression was assessed in brain tissue of subjects socially facilitated and socially inhibited by 0.75 g/kg ethanol. In females, positive correlations were evident between overall social activity and neuronal activation of seven out of 13 ROIs, including the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, with negative correlations evident in males. Assessments of neuronal activation patterns revealed drastic sex differences between ethanol responding phenotypes. In socially inhibited males, strong correlations were evident among almost all ROIs (90 %), with markedly fewer correlations among ROIs (38 %) seen in socially facilitated males. In contrast, interconnectivity in females inhibited by ethanol was only 10 % compared to nearly 60 % in facilitated subjects. However, hub analyses revealed convergence of brain regions in males and females, with the nucleus accumbens being a hub region in socially inhibited subjects. Taken together, these findings demonstrate individual and sex-related differences in responsiveness to acute ethanol in adolescent rats, with sex differences more evident in socially inhibited by ethanol adolescents than their socially facilitated counterparts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trevor T Towner
- Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center (DEARC), Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA
| | - Devon T Applegate
- Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center (DEARC), Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA
| | - Harper J Coleman
- Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center (DEARC), Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA
| | - Kimberly M Papastrat
- Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center (DEARC), Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA
| | - Elena I Varlinskaya
- Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center (DEARC), Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA
| | - David F Werner
- Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center (DEARC), Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA.
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Gu T, Dong J, Ge J, Feng J, Liu X, Chen Y, Liu J. Neurotoxic lesions of the anterior claustrum influence cued fear memory in rats. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1387507. [PMID: 38707622 PMCID: PMC11066318 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1387507] [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: 02/17/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Background The claustrum (CLA), a subcortical area between the insular cortex and striatum, innervates almost all cortical regions of the mammalian brain. There is growing evidence that CLA participates in many brain functions, including memory, cognition, and stress response. It is proposed that dysfunction or malfunction of the CLA might be the pathology of some brain diseases, including stress-induced depression and anxiety. However, the role of the CLA in fear memory and anxiety disorders remains largely understudied. Methods We evaluated the influences of neurotoxic lesions of the CLA using auditory-cued fear memory and anxiety-like behaviors in rats. Results We found that lesions of anterior CLA (aCLA) but not posterior CLA (pCLA) before fear conditioning attenuated fear retrieval, facilitated extinction, and reduced freezing levels during the extinction retention test. Post-learning lesions of aCLA but not pCLA facilitated fear extinction and attenuated freezing behavior during the extinction retention test. Lesions of aCLA or pCLA did not affect anxiety-like behaviors evaluated by the open field test and elevated plus-maze test. Conclusion These data suggested that aCLA but not pCLA was involved in fear memory and extinction. Future studies are needed to further investigate the anatomical and functional connections of aCLA subareas that are involved in fear conditioning, which will deepen our understanding of CLA functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tengyu Gu
- Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard Identification and Control, School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Jing Dong
- Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard Identification and Control, School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Jing Ge
- Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard Identification and Control, School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Jialu Feng
- Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard Identification and Control, School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Xiaoliu Liu
- Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard Identification and Control, School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Yun Chen
- Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard Identification and Control, School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Jianfeng Liu
- Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard Identification and Control, School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- College of Life Sciences and Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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Towner TT, Applegate DT, Coleman HJ, Varlinskaya EI, Werner DF. Patterns of neuronal activation following ethanol-induced social facilitation and social inhibition in adolescent cFos-LacZ male and female rats. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.06.583793. [PMID: 38559141 PMCID: PMC10979894 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.06.583793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Motives related to the enhancement of the positive effects of alcohol on social activity within sexes are strongly associated with alcohol use disorder and are a major contributor to adolescent alcohol use and heavy drinking. This is particularly concerning given that heightened vulnerability of the developing adolescent brain. Despite this linkage, it is unknown how adolescent non-intoxicated social behavior relates to alcohol's effects on social responding, and how the social brain network differs in response within individuals that are socially facilitated or inhibited by alcohol. Sex effects for social facilitation and inhibition during adolescence are conserved in rodents in high and low drinkers, respectively. In the current study we used cFos-LacZ transgenic rats to evaluate behavior and related neural activity in male and female subjects that differed in their social facilitatory or social inhibitory response to ethanol. Subjects were assessed using social interaction on postnatal days 34, 36 and 38 after a 0, 0.5 and 0.75 g/kg ethanol challenge, respectively, with brain tissue being evaluated following the final social interaction. Subjects were binned into those that were socially facilitated or inhibited by ethanol using a tertile split within each sex. Results indicate that both males and females facilitated by ethanol display lower social activity in the absence of ethanol compared to socially inhibited subjects. Analyses of neural activity revealed that females exhibited differences in 54% of examined socially relevant brain regions of interest (ROIs) compared to only 8% in males, with neural activity in females socially inhibited by ethanol generally being lower than facilitated subjects. Analysis of socially relevant ROI neural activity to social behavior differed for select brain regions as a function of sex, with the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens being negatively correlated in males, but positively correlated in females. Females displayed additional positive correlations in other ROIs, and sex differences were noted across the rostro-caudal claustrum axis. Importantly, neural activity largely did not correlate with locomotor activity. Functional network construction of social brain regions revealed further sex dissociable effects, with 90% interconnectivity in males socially inhibited by ethanol compared to 38% of facilitated subjects, whereas interconnectivity in females inhibited by ethanol was 10% compared to nearly 60% in facilitated subjects. However, hub analyses converged on similar brain regions in males and females, with the nucleus accumbens being a hub region in socially inhibited subjects, whereas the central amygdala was disconnected in facilitated subjects. Taken together, these findings support unified brain regions that contribute to social facilitation or inhibition from ethanol despite prominent sex differences in the social brain network.
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Li XL, Li F, Zhu XY, Wang XD, Kou ZZ, Liu SQ, Li H. Whole-brain mapping of monosynaptic afferent inputs to the CRH neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex of mice. J Anat 2024; 244:527-536. [PMID: 38009263 PMCID: PMC10862190 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons are densely distributed in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which plays a crucial role in integrating and processing emotional and cognitive inputs from other brain regions. Therefore, it is important to know the neural afferent patterns of mPFCCRH neurons, which are still unclear. Here, we utilized a rabies virus-based monosynaptic retrograde tracing system to map the presynaptic afferents of the mPFCCRH neurons throughout the entire brain. The results show that the mPFCCRH neurons receive inputs from three main groups of brain regions: (1) the cortex, primarily the orbital cortex, somatomotor areas, and anterior cingulate cortex; (2) the thalamus, primarily the anteromedial nucleus, mediodorsal thalamic nucleus, and central medial thalamic nucleus; and (3) other brain regions, primarily the basolateral amygdala, hippocampus, and dorsal raphe nucleus. Taken together, our results are valuable for further investigations into the roles of the mPFCCRH neurons in normal and neurological disease states. These investigations can shed light on various aspects such as cognitive processing, emotional modulation, motivation, sociability, and pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Lan Li
- Institute of Basic Medicine and Forensic Medicine, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China
- Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K.K. Leung Brain Research Centre, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Fei Li
- Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K.K. Leung Brain Research Centre, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Xin-Yi Zhu
- Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K.K. Leung Brain Research Centre, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Xiao-Dong Wang
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Inner Mongolia Armed Police Corps Hospital, Hohhot, China
| | - Zhen-Zhen Kou
- Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K.K. Leung Brain Research Centre, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Shang-Qing Liu
- Institute of Basic Medicine and Forensic Medicine, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China
- School of International Education and Cooperation, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China
| | - Hui Li
- Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K.K. Leung Brain Research Centre, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
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Zhao Z, Liu Z, Wang J, Li X, He Y, Chen L, Mai Y, Wei X, Ding J, Ge F, Fan Y, Guan X. Fine-Regional Role of the Claustrum in Anxiety and Higher Sensitivity to Cocaine in Adolescent Cocaine-Exposed Male Mice during Adulthood. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e0884232023. [PMID: 38148153 PMCID: PMC10860578 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0884-23.2023] [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: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Adolescent cocaine exposure (ACE) induces anxiety and higher sensitivity to substances abuse during adulthood. Here, we show that the claustrum is crucial for controlling these psychiatric problems in male mice. In anxiety-like behavioral tests, the CaMKII-positive neurons in the median portion of the claustrum (MClaustrum) were triggered, and local suppression of these neurons reduced the anxiety-like behavior in ACE mice during adulthood. In contrast, the CaMKII-positive neurons in the anterior portion of the claustrum (AClaustrum) were more activated in response to subthreshold dose of cocaine induced conditioned place preference (CPP), and local suppression of these neurons blocked the acquisition of cocaine CPP in ACE mice during adulthood. Our findings for the first time identified the fine-regional role of the claustrum in regulating the anxiety and susceptibility to cocaine in ACE mice during adulthood, extending our understanding of the claustrum in substance use disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziheng Zhao
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Zhaoyu Liu
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Jingjing Wang
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Xiang Li
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Yuhong He
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Liying Chen
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Yuning Mai
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Xiaoyan Wei
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Jianhua Ding
- Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China
| | - Feifei Ge
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Yu Fan
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Xiaowei Guan
- Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
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Hong J, Li JN, Wu FL, Bao SY, Sun HX, Zhu KH, Cai ZP, Li F, Li YQ. Projections from anteromedial thalamus nucleus to the midcingulate cortex mediate pain and anxiety-like behaviors in mice. Neurochem Int 2023; 171:105640. [PMID: 37951541 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuint.2023.105640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 10/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Abstract
Prior research has demonstrated the involvement of the midcingulate cortex (MCC) and its downstream pathway in pain regulation. However, the mechanism via which pain information is conveyed to the MCC remains unclear. The present study utilized immunohistochemistry, chemogenetics, optogenetics, and behavior detection methods to explore the involvement of MCC, anteromedial thalamus nucleus (AM), and AM-MCC pathway in pain and emotional regulation. Chemogenetics or optogenetics methods were employed to activate/inhibit MCCCaMKIIα, AMCaMKIIα, AMCaMKIIα-MCC pathway. This manipulation evokes/relieves mechanical and partial heat hyperalgesia, as well as anxiety-like behaviors. In the complete Freund,s adjuvant (CFA) inflammatory pain model, chemogenetic inhibition of the AMCaMKIIα-MCCCaMKIIα pathway contributed to pain relief. Notably, this study presented the first evidence implicating the AM in the regulation of nociception and negative emotions. Additionally, it was observed that the MCC primarily receives projections from the AM, highlighting the crucial role of this pathway in the transmission of pain and emotional information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Hong
- Department of Human Anatomy, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, 014040, China; Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China
| | - Jia-Ni Li
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China
| | - Feng-Ling Wu
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China; Department of Human Anatomy, College of Preclinical Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
| | - Shang-Yi Bao
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China
| | - Han-Xue Sun
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China; Department of Human Anatomy, The School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, China
| | - Ke-Hua Zhu
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China; Institute of Medical Research, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, China
| | - Zhi-Ping Cai
- Department of Human Anatomy, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, 014040, China
| | - Fei Li
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
| | - Yun-Qing Li
- Department of Human Anatomy, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, 014040, China; Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China; Department of Anatomy, Basic Medical College, Dali University, Dali, 671000, China.
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