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Abela N, Haywood K, Di Giovanni G. Alcohol and cannabinoid binges and daily exposure to nicotine in adolescent/young adult rats induce sex-dependent long-term appetitive instrumental learning impairment. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1129866. [PMID: 36815183 PMCID: PMC9939753 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1129866] [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: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Adolescence is a critical developmental period, concerning anatomical, neurochemical and behavioral changes. Moreover, adolescents are more sensitive to the long-term deleterious effects of drug abuse. Binge-like consumption of alcohol and marijuana, along with tobacco smoking, is a dangerous pattern often observed in adolescents during weekends. Nevertheless, the long-term effect of their adolescent co-exposure has not been yet experimentally investigated. Long-Evans adolescent male (n = 20) and female (n = 20) rats from postnatal day 30 (P30) until P60 were daily treated with nicotine (0.3 mg/kg, i.p.), and, on two consecutive 'binging days' per week (for a total of eight times), received an intragastric ethanol solution (3 g/kg) and an intraperitoneal (i.p.) dose of cannabinoid 1/2 receptor agonist WIN55,212-2 (1.2 mg/kg). These rats were tested after treatment discontinuation at > P90 for associative food-rewarded operant learning in the two-lever conditioning chambers for six consecutive days on a fixed ratio 1 (FR1) schedule followed by another six days of daily FR2 schedule testing, after 42 days rest. We found the main effects of sex x treatment interactions in FR1 but not in FR2 experiments. Treated females show attenuated operant responses for food pellets during all FR1 and the FR2 schedule, whilst the treated males show an impairment in FR2 but not in the FR1 schedule. Moreover, the treated females' percentage of learners was significantly lower than female controls in FR1 while treated males were lower than controls in FR2. Our findings suggest that intermittent adolescent abuse of common drugs, such as alcohol and marijuana, and chronic tobacco exposure can cause significant long-term effects on motivation for natural reinforcers later in adulthood in both sexes. Females appear to be sensitive earlier to the deleterious effects of adolescent polydrug abuse, with both sexes having an increased likelihood of developing lifelong brain alterations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Norbert Abela
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
| | - Katie Haywood
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Msida, Malta,Division of Neuroscience, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Giuseppe Di Giovanni
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Msida, Malta,Division of Neuroscience, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom,*Correspondence: Giuseppe Di Giovanni, ;
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2
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Neurobiology of reward-related learning. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 124:224-234. [PMID: 33581225 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2020] [Revised: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
A major goal in psychology is to understand how environmental stimuli associated with primary rewards come to function as conditioned stimuli, acquiring the capacity to elicit similar responses to those elicited by primary rewards. Our neurobiological model is predicated on the Hebbian idea that concurrent synaptic activity on the primary reward neural substrate-proposed to be ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine (DA) neurons-strengthens the synapses involved. We propose that VTA DA neurons receive both a strong unconditioned stimulus signal (acetylcholine stimulation of DA cells) from the primary reward capable of unconditionally activating DA cells and a weak stimulus signal (glutamate stimulation of DA cells) from the neutral stimulus. Through joint stimulation the weak signal is potentiated and capable of activating the VTA DA cells, eliciting a conditioned response. The learning occurs when this joint stimulation initiates intracellular second-messenger cascades resulting in enhanced glutamate-DA synapses. In this review we present evidence that led us to propose this model and the most recent evidence supporting it.
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Costa KM, Schenkel D, Roeper J. Sex-dependent alterations in behavior, drug responses and dopamine transporter expression in heterozygous DAT-Cre mice. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3334. [PMID: 33558587 PMCID: PMC7870653 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82600-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2019] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Heterozygous mice that express Cre-recombinase under the dopamine transporter promoter (DAT-Cre knock in mice, or KI) are widely used for targeting midbrain dopamine neurons, under the assumption that their constitutive physiology is not affected. We report here that these mice display striking sex-dependent behavioral and molecular differences in relation to wildtypes (WT). Male and female KI mice were constitutively hyperactive, and male KI mice showed attenuated hyperlocomotor responses to amphetamine. In contrast, female KIs displayed a marked reduction in locomotion ("calming" effect) in response to the same dose of amphetamine. Furthermore, male and female DAT-Cre KI mice showed opposing differences in reinforcement learning, with females showing faster conditioning and males showing slower extinction. Other behavioral variables, including working memory and novelty preference, were not changed compared to WT. These effects were paralleled by differences in striatal DAT expression that disproportionately affected female KI mice. Our findings reveal clear limitations of the DAT-Cre line that must be considered when using this model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kauê Machado Costa
- grid.7839.50000 0004 1936 9721Institute of Neurophysiology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany ,grid.94365.3d0000 0001 2297 5165Present Address: National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Daniela Schenkel
- grid.7839.50000 0004 1936 9721Institute of Neurophysiology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Jochen Roeper
- grid.7839.50000 0004 1936 9721Institute of Neurophysiology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Radke AK, Zweifel LS, Holmes A. NMDA receptor deletion on dopamine neurons disrupts visual discrimination and reversal learning. Neurosci Lett 2019; 699:109-114. [PMID: 30726715 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2019.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2018] [Revised: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 02/01/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
The dopamine (DA) system is critical for various forms of learning about salient environmental stimuli. Prior work has shown that deletion of the obligatory NR1 subunit of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor on neurons expressing the DA transporter (DAT) in mice results in reduced phasic release from DA-containing neurons. To further investigate the contribution of phasic DA release to reward-related learning and cognitive flexibility, the current study evaluated DAT-NR1 null mutant mice in a touchscreen-based pairwise visual discrimination and reversal learning paradigm. Results showed that these mutants were slower to attain a high level of choice accuracy on the discrimination task, but showed improved late reversal performance on sessions where correct choice was above chance. A number of possible interpretations are offered for this pattern of effects, including the opposing possibilities that discrimination memory was either stronger by the completion of training (overtraining effect) or weaker (learning deficit), both of which could potentially produce faster reversal. These data add to the extensive literature ascribing a critical role for DAergic neurotransmission in cognitive functions and the regulation of reward-related behaviors of relevance to addictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna K Radke
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience and Behavior, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA.
| | - Larry S Zweifel
- Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science & Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Andrew Holmes
- Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Cieślak PE, Rodriguez Parkitna J. Ablation of NMDA receptors in dopamine neurons disrupts attribution of incentive salience to reward-paired stimuli. Behav Brain Res 2019; 363:77-82. [PMID: 30711444 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.01.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2018] [Revised: 01/21/2019] [Accepted: 01/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons play a crucial role in the formation of conditioned associations between environmental cues and appetitive events. Activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors is a key mechanism responsible for the generation of conditioned responses of DA neurons to reward cues. Here, we tested the effects of the cell type-specific inactivation of NMDA receptors in DA neurons in adult mice on stimulus-reward learning. Animals were trained in a Pavlovian learning paradigm in which they had to learn the predictive value of two conditioned stimuli, one of which (CS+) was paired with the delivery of a water reward. Over the course of conditioning, mutant mice learned that the CS+ predicted reward availability, and they approached the reward receptacle more frequently during CS+ trials than CS- trials. However, conditioned responses to the CS+ were weaker in the mutant mice, possibly indicating that they did not attribute incentive salience to the CS+. To further assess whether the attribution of incentive salience was impaired by the mutation, animals were tested in a conditioned reinforcement test. The test revealed that mutant mice made fewer instrumental responses paired with CS+ presentation, confirming that the CS+ had a weaker incentive value. Taken together, these results indicate that reward prediction learning does occur in the absence of NMDA receptors in DA neurons, but the ability of reward-paired cues to invigorate and reinforce behavior is attenuated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Przemysław Eligiusz Cieślak
- Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology, Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Smętna 12, 31-343, Krakow, Poland
| | - Jan Rodriguez Parkitna
- Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology, Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Smętna 12, 31-343, Krakow, Poland.
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Cieślak PE, Ahn WY, Bogacz R, Rodriguez Parkitna J. Selective Effects of the Loss of NMDA or mGluR5 Receptors in the Reward System on Adaptive Decision-Making. eNeuro 2018; 5:ENEURO.0331-18.2018. [PMID: 30302389 PMCID: PMC6175304 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0331-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2017] [Revised: 05/23/2018] [Accepted: 06/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Selecting the most advantageous actions in a changing environment is a central feature of adaptive behavior. The midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons along with the major targets of their projections, including dopaminoceptive neurons in the frontal cortex and basal ganglia, play a key role in this process. Here, we investigate the consequences of a selective genetic disruption of NMDA receptor and metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) in the DA system on adaptive choice behavior in mice. We tested the effects of the mutation on performance in the probabilistic reinforcement learning and probability-discounting tasks. In case of the probabilistic choice, both the loss of NMDA receptors in dopaminergic neurons or the loss mGluR5 receptors in D1 receptor-expressing dopaminoceptive neurons reduced the probability of selecting the more rewarded alternative and lowered the likelihood of returning to the previously rewarded alternative (win-stay). When observed behavior was fitted to reinforcement learning models, we found that these two mutations were associated with a reduced effect of the expected outcome on choice (i.e., more random choices). None of the mutations affected probability discounting, which indicates that all animals had a normal ability to assess probability. However, in both behavioral tasks animals with targeted loss of NMDA receptors in dopaminergic neurons or mGluR5 receptors in D1 neurons were significantly slower to perform choices. In conclusion, these results show that glutamate receptor-dependent signaling in the DA system is essential for the speed and accuracy of choices, but at the same time probably is not critical for correct estimation of probable outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Przemysław Eligiusz Cieślak
- Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology, Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 31-343, Krakow, Poland
| | - Woo-Young Ahn
- Department of Psychology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Rafał Bogacz
- MRC Brain Networks Dynamics Unit, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Oxford University, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom
| | - Jan Rodriguez Parkitna
- Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology, Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 31-343, Krakow, Poland
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7
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Chow JJ, Beckmann JS. NMDA receptor blockade specifically impedes the acquisition of incentive salience attribution. Behav Brain Res 2017; 338:40-46. [PMID: 29037660 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2017] [Revised: 10/06/2017] [Accepted: 10/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Glutamatergic signaling plays an important role in learning and memory. Using Pavlovian conditioned approach procedures, the mechanisms that drive stimulus-reward learning and memory have been investigated. However, there are instances where reward-predictive stimuli can function beyond being solely predictive and can be attributed with "motivational value" or incentive salience. Using a Pavlovian conditioned approach procedure consisting of two different but equally predictive stimuli (lever vs. tone) we investigated the role NMDA receptor function has in the attribution of incentive salience. The results revealed that the administration of MK-801, an NMDA receptor antagonist, during acquisition of Pavlovian conditioned approach promoted goal-tracking to a lever stimulus, while control animals learned to sign-track. Moreover, within the same animals, the use of a tone stimulus elicited goal-tracking responses that were unaffected by MK-801 pretreatments. Furthermore, a lever CS that elicited sign-tracking served as a more robust conditioned reinforcer than a tone CS that elicited goal-tracking or a lever CS that elicited goal-tracking via MK-801 pretreatments. Collectively, these results demonstrate that NMDA receptor antagonism can alter the stimulus-reward relationship learned and prevent the attribution of incentive salience, rather than impede general learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan J Chow
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 741 S. Limestone, Lexington, KY, 40536 USA.
| | - Joshua S Beckmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 741 S. Limestone, Lexington, KY, 40536 USA.
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Jastrzębska K, Walczak M, Cieślak PE, Szumiec Ł, Turbasa M, Engblom D, Błasiak T, Parkitna JR. Loss of NMDA receptors in dopamine neurons leads to the development of affective disorder-like symptoms in mice. Sci Rep 2016; 6:37171. [PMID: 27853270 PMCID: PMC5112557 DOI: 10.1038/srep37171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2016] [Accepted: 10/25/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The role of changes in dopamine neuronal activity during the development of symptoms in affective disorders remains controversial. Here, we show that inactivation of NMDA receptors on dopaminergic neurons in adult mice led to the development of affective disorder-like symptoms. The loss of NMDA receptors altered activity and caused complete NMDA-insensitivity in dopamine-like neurons. Mutant mice exhibited increased immobility in the forced swim test and a decrease in social interactions. Mutation also led to reduced saccharin intake, however the preference of sweet taste was not significantly decreased. Additionally, we found that while mutant mice were slower to learn instrumental tasks, they were able to reach the same performance levels, had normal sensitivity to feedback and showed similar motivation to exert effort as control animals. Taken together these results show that inducing the loss of NMDA receptor-dependent activity in dopamine neurons is associated with development of affective disorder-like symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamila Jastrzębska
- Laboratory of Transgenic Models, Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology, Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Smętna 12, 31-343, Krakow, Poland
| | - Magdalena Walczak
- Department of Neurophysiology and Chronobiology, Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 9, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Przemysław Eligiusz Cieślak
- Laboratory of Transgenic Models, Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology, Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Smętna 12, 31-343, Krakow, Poland
| | - Łukasz Szumiec
- Laboratory of Transgenic Models, Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology, Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Smętna 12, 31-343, Krakow, Poland
| | - Mateusz Turbasa
- Laboratory of Transgenic Models, Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology, Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Smętna 12, 31-343, Krakow, Poland
| | - David Engblom
- Cell Biology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, SE-581 85, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Tomasz Błasiak
- Department of Neurophysiology and Chronobiology, Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 9, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Jan Rodriguez Parkitna
- Laboratory of Transgenic Models, Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology, Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Smętna 12, 31-343, Krakow, Poland
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9
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Yau HJ, Wang DV, Tsou JH, Chuang YF, Chen BT, Deisseroth K, Ikemoto S, Bonci A. Pontomesencephalic Tegmental Afferents to VTA Non-dopamine Neurons Are Necessary for Appetitive Pavlovian Learning. Cell Rep 2016; 16:2699-2710. [PMID: 27568569 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2016] [Revised: 06/28/2016] [Accepted: 07/31/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The ventral tegmental area (VTA) receives phenotypically distinct innervations from the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg). While PPTg-to-VTA inputs are thought to play a critical role in stimulus-reward learning, direct evidence linking PPTg-to-VTA phenotypically distinct inputs in the learning process remains lacking. Here, we used optogenetic approaches to investigate the functional contribution of PPTg excitatory and inhibitory inputs to the VTA in appetitive Pavlovian conditioning. We show that photoinhibition of PPTg-to-VTA cholinergic or glutamatergic inputs during cue presentation dampens the development of anticipatory approach responding to the food receptacle during the cue. Furthermore, we employed in vivo optetrode recordings to show that photoinhibition of PPTg cholinergic or glutamatergic inputs significantly decreases VTA non-dopamine (non-DA) neural activity. Consistently, photoinhibition of VTA non-DA neurons disrupts the development of cue-elicited anticipatory approach responding. Taken together, our study reveals a crucial regulatory mechanism by PPTg excitatory inputs onto VTA non-DA neurons during appetitive Pavlovian conditioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hau-Jie Yau
- Synaptic Plasticity Section, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA; Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10051, Taiwan
| | - Dong V Wang
- Neurocircuitry of Motivation Section, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
| | - Jen-Hui Tsou
- Synaptic Plasticity Section, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
| | - Yi-Fang Chuang
- Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan
| | - Billy T Chen
- Synaptic Plasticity Section, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA; Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc., Carlsbad, CA 92010, USA
| | - Karl Deisseroth
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Bioengineering and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Satoshi Ikemoto
- Neurocircuitry of Motivation Section, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
| | - Antonello Bonci
- Synaptic Plasticity Section, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA; Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
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