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Huang S, Riley AL. Drug discrimination learning: Interoceptive stimulus control of behavior and its implications for regulated and dysregulated drug intake. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2024; 244:173848. [PMID: 39137873 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2024.173848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2024] [Revised: 08/06/2024] [Accepted: 08/09/2024] [Indexed: 08/15/2024]
Abstract
Drug discrimination research has generated rich evidence for the capacity of interoceptive drug stimuli to control behavior by serving as discriminative cues. Owing to its neuropharmacological specificity, drug discrimination learning has been widely used to characterize the stimulus effects and neuropharmacological underpinning of drugs. Apart from such utility, discriminative drug stimuli may help regulate drug use by disambiguating conditioned associations and post-intake outcomes. First, this review summarizes the evidence supporting interoceptive regulation of drug intake from the literature of exteroceptive discriminative control of drug-related behavior, effects of drug priming, and self-titration of drug intake. Second, an overview of interoceptive control of reward-seeking and the animal model of discriminated goal-tracking is provided to illustrate interoceptive stimulus control of the initiation and patterning of drug intake. Third, we highlight the importance of interoceptive control of aversion-avoidance in the termination of drug-use episodes and describe the animal model of discriminated taste avoidance that supports such a position. In bridging these discriminative functions of drug stimuli, we propose that interoceptive drug stimuli help regulate intake by disambiguating whether intake will be rewarding, nonrewarding, or aversive. The reflection and discussion on current theoretical formulations of interoceptive control of drug intake may further scientific advances to improve animal models to study the mechanisms by which interoceptive stimuli regulate drug intake, as well as how alterations of interoceptive processes may contribute to the transition to dysregulated drug use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shihui Huang
- Psychopharmacology Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neuroscience and Behavior, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20016, USA.
| | - Anthony L Riley
- Psychopharmacology Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neuroscience and Behavior, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20016, USA.
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2
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Ndiaye NA, Shamleh SA, Casale D, Castaneda-Ouellet S, Laplante I, Robinson MJF, Samaha AN. Relapse after intermittent access to cocaine: Discriminative cues more effectively trigger drug seeking than do conditioned cues. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2024; 241:2015-2032. [PMID: 38767684 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-024-06614-9] [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: 02/22/2024] [Accepted: 05/12/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
RATIONALE When people with drug addiction encounter cues associated with drug use, this can trigger cravings and relapse. These cues can include conditioned stimuli (CSs) signaling drug delivery and discriminative stimuli (DSs) signaling drug availability. Compared to CS effects, DS effects are less explored in preclinical studies on cue-induced relapse. OBJECTIVE We compared CS and DS effects on reward seeking following abstinence from intermittent-access cocaine (or sucrose) self-administration. METHODS During 15-20 intermittent-access sessions, rats self-administered i.v. cocaine or sucrose pellets paired with a light-tone CS. Cocaine/sucrose was available for 5-min (signalled by a light; DS+) and unavailable for 25 min (signalled by different lighting conditions; DS-), and this cycled for 4 h/session. Following abstinence, we measured cocaine/sucrose seeking under extinction triggered by CS and DS presentation, and instrumental responding reinforced by these cues. RESULTS Across intermittent-access sessions, rats increased lever pressing for cocaine or sucrose during DS+ periods and decreased responding during DS- periods. On days 2 and 21 of abstinence, only presentation of the DS+ or DS+ and CS combined elicited increased cocaine/sucrose-seeking behaviour (i.e., increased active lever presses). Presenting the DS- alongside the DS+ suppressed the increased cocaine-seeking behaviour otherwise produced by the DS+ . Finally, on day 21 of abstinence, rats showed equivalent levels of lever pressing reinforced by the DS+ , CS and by the DS+ and CS combined, suggesting comparable conditioned reinforcing value. CONCLUSIONS After intermittent self-administration, cocaine-associated DSs and CSs acquire similar conditioned reinforcing properties, but DSs more effectively trigger increases in drug seeking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ndeye Aissatou Ndiaye
- Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada
| | - Sema Abu Shamleh
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada
| | - Domiziana Casale
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada
| | | | - Isabel Laplante
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada
| | - Mike J F Robinson
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada
| | - Anne-Noël Samaha
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada.
- Neural Signaling and Circuitry Research Group (SNC), Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada.
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research On the Brain and Learning (CIRCA), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada.
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada.
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3
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Crombag HS, Duka T, Stephens DN. The Continuing Challenges of Studying Parallel Behaviours in Humans and Animal Models. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2024. [PMID: 38976140 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/09/2024]
Abstract
The use of animal models continues to be essential for carrying out research into clinical phenomena, including addiction. However, the complexity of the clinical condition inevitably means that even the best animal models are inadequate, and this may go some way to account for the apparent failures of discoveries from animal models, including the identification of potential novel therapies, to translate to the clinic. We argue here that it is overambitious and misguided in the first place to attempt to model complex, multifacetted human disorders such as addiction in animals, and especially in rodents, and that all too frequently "validity" of such models is limited to superficial similarities, referred to as "face validity", that reflect quite different underlying phenomena and biological processes from the clinical situation. Instead, a more profitable approach is to identify (a) well-defined intermediate human behavioural phenotypes that reflect defined, limited aspects of, or contributors to, the human clinical disorder, and (b) to develop animal models that are homologous with those discrete human behavioural phenotypes in terms of psychological processes, and underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Examples of past and continuing weaknesses and suggestions for more limited approaches that may allow better homology between the test animal and human condition are made.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans S Crombag
- School of Psychology and Sussex Neuroscience, The University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
| | - Theodora Duka
- School of Psychology and Sussex Neuroscience, The University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - David N Stephens
- School of Psychology and Sussex Neuroscience, The University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
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4
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Avila C, Sarter M. Cortico-striatal action control inherent of opponent cognitive-motivational styles. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.12.584623. [PMID: 38559086 PMCID: PMC10979997 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.12.584623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Turning on cue or stopping at a red light requires the detection of such cues to select action sequences, or suppress action, in accordance with cue-associated action rules. Cortico-striatal projections are an essential part of the brain's attention-motor interface. Glutamate-sensing microelectrode arrays were used to measure glutamate transients in the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) of male and female rats walking a treadmill and executing cued turns and stops. Prelimbic-DMS projections were chemogenetically inhibited to determine their behavioral necessity and the cortico-striatal origin of cue-evoked glutamate transients. Furthermore, we investigated rats exhibiting preferably goal-directed (goal trackers, GTs) versus cue-driven attention (sign trackers, STs), to determine the impact of such cognitive-motivational biases on cortico-striatal control. GTs executed more cued turns and initiated such turns more slowly than STs. During turns, but not missed turns or cued stops, cue-evoked glutamate concentrations were higher in GTs than in STs. In conjunction with turn cue-evoked glutamate spike levels, the presence of a single spike rendered GTs to be almost twice as likely to turn than STs. In contrast, multiple glutamate spikes predicted GTs to be less likely to turn than STs. In GTs, but not STs, inhibition of prelimbic-DMS projections attenuated turn rates, turn cue-evoked glutamate peaks, and increased the number of spikes. These findings suggest that turn cue-evoked glutamate release in GTs is tightly controlled by cortico-striatal neuronal activity. In contrast, in STs, glutamate release from DMS glutamatergic terminals may be regulated by other striatal circuitry, preferably mediating cued suppression of action and reward tracking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassandra Avila
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Martin Sarter
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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5
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Cherkasova MV, Clark L, Barton JJS, Stoessl AJ, Winstanley CA. Risk-promoting effects of reward-paired cues in human sign- and goal-trackers. Behav Brain Res 2024; 461:114865. [PMID: 38220058 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114865] [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: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
Animal research suggests trait-like individual variation in the degree of incentive salience attribution to reward-predictive cues, defined phenotypically as sign-tracking (high) and goal-tracking (low incentive salience attribution). While these phenotypes have been linked to addiction features in rodents, their translational validity is less clear. Here, we examined whether sign- and goal-tracking in healthy human volunteers modulates the effects of reward-paired cues on decision making. Sign-tracking was measured in a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm as the amount of eye gaze fixation on the reward-predictive cue versus the location of impending reward delivery. In Study 1 (Cherkasova et al., 2018), participants were randomly assigned to perform a binary choice task in which rewards were either accompanied (cued, n = 63) or unaccompanied (uncued, n = 68) by money images and casino jingles. In Study 2, participants (n = 58) performed cued and uncued versions of the task in a within-subjects design. Across both studies, cues promoted riskier choice. Sign-tracking was not associated with risky choice in either study. Goal-tracking rather than sign-tracking was significantly associated with greater risk-promoting effects of cues in Study 1 but not in Study 2, although the direction of findings was consistent across both studies. These findings are at odds with the notion of sign-trackers being preferentially susceptible to the influence of reward cues on behavior and point to the role of mechanisms besides incentive salience in mediating such influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariya V Cherkasova
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
| | - Luke Clark
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Jason J S Barton
- Department of Medicine, Division of Neurology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Department of Ophthalmology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - A Jon Stoessl
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Department of Medicine, Division of Neurology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Catharine A Winstanley
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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Gibney KD, Kypriotakis G, Versace F. Individual differences in late positive potential amplitude and theta power predict cue-induced eating. ADDICTION NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 7:100106. [PMID: 37711965 PMCID: PMC10501046 DOI: 10.1016/j.addicn.2023.100106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
Cue-induced reward-seeking behaviors are regulated by both the affective and cognitive control systems of the brain. This study aimed at investigating how individual differences in affective and cognitive responses to cues predicting food rewards contribute to the regulation of cue-induced eating. We recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) from 59 adults while they viewed emotional and food-related images that preceded the delivery of food rewards (candies) or non-food objects (beads). We measured the amplitude of the late positive potential (LPP) in response to a variety of motivationally relevant images and power in the theta (4-8 Hz) frequency band after candies or beads were dispensed to the participants. We found that individuals with larger LPP responses to food images than to pleasant images (C>P group) ate significantly more during the experiment than those with the opposite response pattern (P>C group, p < 0.001). Furthermore, we found that individuals with higher theta power after dispensation of the candy than of the bead (θCA>θBE) ate significantly more than those with the opposite response pattern (θBE>θCA, p < 0.001). Finally, we found that the crossed P>C and θBE>θCA group ate less (p < 0.001) than did the other three groups formed by crossing the LPP and theta group assignments, who exhibited similar eating behavior on average (p = 0.662). These findings demonstrate that individual differences in both affective and cognitive responses to reward-related cues underlie vulnerability to cue-induced behaviors, underscoring the need for individualized treatments to mitigate maladaptive behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyla D. Gibney
- Neuroscience Graduate Program MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Behavioral Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - George Kypriotakis
- Department of Behavioral Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Francesco Versace
- Neuroscience Graduate Program MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Behavioral Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
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7
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Gyawali U, Martin DA, Sun F, Li Y, Calu D. Dopamine in the dorsal bed nucleus of stria terminalis signals Pavlovian sign-tracking and reward violations. eLife 2023; 12:e81980. [PMID: 37232554 PMCID: PMC10219648 DOI: 10.7554/elife.81980] [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: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Midbrain and striatal dopamine signals have been extremely well characterized over the past several decades, yet novel dopamine signals and functions in reward learning and motivation continue to emerge. A similar characterization of real-time sub-second dopamine signals in areas outside of the striatum has been limited. Recent advances in fluorescent sensor technology and fiber photometry permit the measurement of dopamine binding correlates, which can divulge basic functions of dopamine signaling in non-striatal dopamine terminal regions, like the dorsal bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (dBNST). Here, we record GRABDA signals in the dBNST during a Pavlovian lever autoshaping task. We observe greater Pavlovian cue-evoked dBNST GRABDA signals in sign-tracking (ST) compared to goal-tracking/intermediate (GT/INT) rats and the magnitude of cue-evoked dBNST GRABDA signals decreases immediately following reinforcer-specific satiety. When we deliver unexpected rewards or omit expected rewards, we find that dBNST dopamine signals encode bidirectional reward prediction errors in GT/INT rats, but only positive prediction errors in ST rats. Since sign- and goal-tracking approach strategies are associated with distinct drug relapse vulnerabilities, we examined the effects of experimenter-administered fentanyl on dBNST dopamine associative encoding. Systemic fentanyl injections do not disrupt cue discrimination but generally potentiate dBNST dopamine signals. These results reveal multiple dBNST dopamine correlates of learning and motivation that depend on the Pavlovian approach strategy employed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Utsav Gyawali
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - David A Martin
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Fangmiao Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Peking University School of Life Sciences; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Yulong Li
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Peking University School of Life Sciences; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Donna Calu
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
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8
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Carmon H, Haley EC, Parikh V, Tronson NC, Sarter M. Neuro-Immune Modulation of Cholinergic Signaling in an Addiction Vulnerability Trait. eNeuro 2023; 10:ENEURO.0023-23.2023. [PMID: 36810148 PMCID: PMC9997697 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0023-23.2023] [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: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Sign-tracking (ST) describes the propensity to approach and contact a Pavlovian reward cue. By contrast, goal-trackers (GTs) respond to such a cue by retrieving the reward. These behaviors index the presence of opponent cognitive-motivational traits, with STs exhibiting attentional control deficits, behavior dominated by incentive motivational processes, and vulnerability for addictive drug taking. Attentional control deficits in STs were previously attributed to attenuated cholinergic signaling, resulting from deficient translocation of intracellular choline transporters (CHTs) into synaptosomal plasma membrane. Here, we investigated a posttranslational modification of CHTs, poly-ubiquitination, and tested the hypothesis that elevated cytokine signaling in STs contributes to CHT modification. We demonstrated that intracellular CHTs, but not plasma membrane CHTs, are highly ubiquitinated in male and female sign-tracking rats when compared with GTs. Moreover, levels of cytokines measured in cortex and striatum, but not spleen, were higher in STs than in GTs. Activation of the innate immune system by systemic administration of the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) elevated ubiquitinated CHT levels in cortex and striatum of GTs only, suggesting ceiling effects in STs. In spleen, LPS increased levels of most cytokines in both phenotypes. In cortex, LPS particularly robustly increased levels of the chemokines CCL2 and CXCL10. Phenotype-specific increases were restricted to GTs, again suggesting ceiling effects in STs. These results indicate that interactions between elevated brain immune modulator signaling and CHT regulation are essential components of the neuronal underpinnings of the addiction vulnerability trait indexed by sign-tracking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna Carmon
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Evan C Haley
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122
| | - Vinay Parikh
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122
| | - Natalie C Tronson
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Martin Sarter
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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Collins V, Bornhoft KN, Wolff A, Sinha S, Saunders BT. Hierarchical cue control of cocaine seeking in the face of cost. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2023; 240:461-476. [PMID: 36069951 PMCID: PMC10131580 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-022-06218-1] [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: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Addiction is characterized by intermittent drug seeking despite rising costs. This behavior is heavily influenced by environmental stimuli that signal drug availability and reinforce drug seeking. OBJECTIVE To establish the relationship between three key aspects of human drug use in rats: the intermittent, binge nature of drug intake, the motivational conflict of drug seeking in the face of escalating negative costs, and the ability of different drug cues to interact to modulate relapse. METHODS Male and female rats were trained to self-administer cocaine on an intermittent access schedule, where brief drug-availability states were signaled by a shift in the ambient lighting of the environment, and cocaine infusions were signaled by a separate proximal discrete cue. Rats then went through a conflict procedure, where foot shock intensity associated with cocaine seeking was escalated until intake was suppressed. We then completed relapse tests where the drug-delivery cue was noncontingently presented alone, or in the context of dynamic drug-availability state transitions. RESULTS Intermittent access spurred psychomotor sensitization and binge-like cocaine intake. The intensity of binge-like drug taking during training was predictive of later drug seeking despite escalating costs during conflict. In relapse tests, the ability of a proximal discrete drug cue to trigger relapse was gated by the presence of a global cue signaling drug-availability state transitions. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that the pattern of drug intake plays a role in many features of addiction, including modifying an individual's willingness to endure high costs associated with drug seeking. Furthermore, our studies indicate that drug-related sensory information can be hierarchically organized to exert a dynamic modulating influence on drug-seeking motivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Val Collins
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Medical Discovery Team On Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Kaisa N Bornhoft
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Medical Discovery Team On Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Amy Wolff
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Medical Discovery Team On Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Sonal Sinha
- Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Benjamin T Saunders
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
- Medical Discovery Team On Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
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Muscarinic antagonists impair multiple aspects of operant discrimination learning and performance. Neurosci Lett 2023; 794:137025. [PMID: 36529388 PMCID: PMC9812939 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2022.137025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Acetylcholine signaling can strengthen associations between environmental cues and reward availability. Diverse subtypes (M1-M5) of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) family may have distinct roles in different learning and memory processes, such as encoding cue-reward associations and consolidating these associations in long-term memory. Using an operant discrimination learning task in which mice are trained to nose poke during a tone to receive a food reward, we found that acquisition of the task requires mAChR signaling in the central nervous system. In addition, post-session injections of a broad mAChR antagonist, scopolamine impaired consolidation of the cue-reward memory. Further, after successful learning of a cue-reward contingency across multiple training sessions, mice that received a single pre-session injection of scopolamine were unable to use the learned cue association to receive rewards. Taken together, these data demonstrate distinct roles for muscarinic signaling in acquisition, consolidation and recall of the operant discrimination learning task. Understanding mechanisms underlying natural reward-related responding may provide insight into other maladaptive forms of reward learning such as addiction.
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11
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Basal Forebrain Chemogenetic Inhibition Converts the Attentional Control Mode of Goal-Trackers to That of Sign-Trackers. eNeuro 2022; 9:ENEURO.0418-22.2022. [PMID: 36635246 PMCID: PMC9794377 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0418-22.2022] [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: 10/07/2022] [Revised: 11/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Sign tracking versus goal tracking in rats indicate vulnerability and resistance, respectively, to Pavlovian cue-evoked addictive drug taking and relapse. Here, we tested hypotheses predicting that the opponent cognitive-behavioral styles indexed by sign tracking versus goal tracking include variations in attentional performance which differentially depend on basal forebrain projection systems. Pavlovian Conditioned Approach (PCA) testing was used to identify male and female sign-trackers (STs) and goal-trackers (GTs), as well as rats with an intermediate phenotype (INTs). Upon reaching asymptotic performance in an operant task requiring the detection of visual signals (hits) as well as the reporting of signal absence for 40 min per session, GTs scored more hits than STs, and hit rates across all phenotypes correlated with PCA scores. STs missed relatively more signals than GTs specifically during the last 15 min of a session. Chemogenetic inhibition of the basal forebrain decreased hit rates in GTs but was without effect in STs. Moreover, the decrease in hits in GTs manifested solely during the last 15 min of a session. Transfection efficacy in the horizontal limb of the diagonal band (HDB), but not substantia innominate (SI) or nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM), predicted the behavioral efficacy of chemogenetic inhibition in GTs. Furthermore, the total subregional transfection space, not transfection of just cholinergic neurons, correlated with performance effects. These results indicate that the cognitive-behavioral phenotype indexed by goal tracking, but not sign tracking, depends on activation of the basal forebrain-frontal cortical projection system and associated biases toward top-down or model-based performance.
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12
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Martin DA, Keefer SE, Calu DJ. Investigating discriminative stimulus modulation of opioid seeking after conflict-induced abstinence in sign- and goal-tracking rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2022; 239:3223-3236. [PMID: 35971032 PMCID: PMC10500549 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-022-06204-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Discriminative stimuli (DS) are cues that predict reward availability. DS are resistant to extinction and motivate drug seeking even after long periods of abstinence. Previous studies have demonstrated that sign-tracking (ST) and goal-tracking (GT) differences in Pavlovian approach predict distinct cue-modulated vulnerabilities to cocaine reinstatement. GT rats show heightened reinstatement to contextual and DS, while ST rats show heightened reinstatement to discrete stimuli. Here we examine whether DS modulate reinstatement after electric barrier-induced abstinence and whether tracking-related relapse vulnerabilities generalize to opioid relapse. OBJECTIVES We examine whether DS-modulated reinstatement to fentanyl seeking persists in the presence of reduced adverse consequences after electric barrier-induced abstinence. We also examine whether tracking differences predict the magnitude of DS-modulated reinstatement of fentanyl seeking after electric barrier-induced abstinence. METHODS We used Pavlovian lever autoshaping (PLA) training to determine sign-, goal-, and intermediate tracking groups in male and female Sprague Dawley rats. We then trained rats in a DS model of intermittent fentanyl self-administration, and extinguished drug seeking by imposing an electric barrier of increasing intensity. We then measured the level of DS-modulated reinstatement in the presence of a reduced electric barrier intensity. RESULTS We report that DS strongly modulate fentanyl seeking after electric barrier-induced abstinence. DS-modulation of fentanyl acquisition, electric barrier-induced abstinence, and reinstatement was similar for sign- and goal-tracking groups. CONCLUSIONS Discriminative stimuli powerfully motivate opioid seeking, despite continued aversive consequences. Pavlovian approach differences do not predict the level of DS-modulated reinstatement to fentanyl seeking after conflict-induced abstinence.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Martin
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 20 Penn Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Sara E Keefer
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 20 Penn Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Donna J Calu
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 20 Penn Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
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13
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Morales I. Brain regulation of hunger and motivation: The case for integrating homeostatic and hedonic concepts and its implications for obesity and addiction. Appetite 2022; 177:106146. [PMID: 35753443 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Obesity and other eating disorders are marked by dysregulations to brain metabolic, hedonic, motivational, and sensory systems that control food intake. Classic approaches in hunger research have distinguished between hedonic and homeostatic processes, and have mostly treated these systems as independent. Hindbrain structures and a complex network of interconnected hypothalamic nuclei control metabolic processes, energy expenditure, and food intake while mesocorticolimbic structures are though to control hedonic and motivational processes associated with food reward. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that hedonic and homeostatic brain systems do not function in isolation, but rather interact as part of a larger network that regulates food intake. Incentive theories of motivation provide a useful route to explore these interactions. Adapting incentive theories of motivation can enable researchers to better how motivational systems dysfunction during disease. Obesity and addiction are associated with profound alterations to both hedonic and homeostatic brain systems that result in maladaptive patterns of consumption. A subset of individuals with obesity may experience pathological cravings for food due to incentive sensitization of brain systems that generate excessive 'wanting' to eat. Further progress in understanding how the brain regulates hunger and appetite may depend on merging traditional hedonic and homeostatic concepts of food reward and motivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ileana Morales
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1043, USA.
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14
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Donovan E, Avila C, Klausner S, Parikh V, Fenollar-Ferrer C, Blakely RD, Sarter M. Disrupted Choline Clearance and Sustained Acetylcholine Release In Vivo by a Common Choline Transporter Coding Variant Associated with Poor Attentional Control in Humans. J Neurosci 2022; 42:3426-3444. [PMID: 35232764 PMCID: PMC9034784 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1334-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2021] [Revised: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Transport of choline via the neuronal high-affinity choline transporter (CHT; SLC5A7) is essential for cholinergic terminals to synthesize and release acetylcholine (ACh). In humans, we previously demonstrated an association between a common CHT coding substitution (rs1013940; Ile89Val) and reduced attentional control as well as attenuated frontal cortex activation. Here, we used a CRISPR/Cas9 approach to generate mice expressing the I89V substitution and assessed, in vivo, CHT-mediated choline transport, and ACh release. Relative to wild-type (WT) mice, CHT-mediated clearance of choline in male and female mice expressing one or two Val89 alleles was reduced by over 80% in cortex and over 50% in striatum. Choline clearance in CHT Val89 mice was further reduced by neuronal inactivation. Deficits in ACh release, 5 and 10 min after repeated depolarization at a low, behaviorally relevant frequency, support an attenuated reloading capacity of cholinergic neurons in mutant mice. The density of CHTs in total synaptosomal lysates and neuronal plasma-membrane-enriched fractions was not impacted by the Val89 variant, indicating a selective impact on CHT function. When challenged with a visual disruptor to reveal attentional control mechanisms, Val89 mice failed to adopt a more conservative response bias. Structural modeling revealed that Val89 may attenuate choline transport by altering conformational changes of CHT that support normal transport rates. Our findings support the view that diminished sustained cholinergic signaling capacity underlies perturbed attentional performance in individuals expressing CHT Val89. The CHT Val89 mouse serves as a valuable model to study heritable risk for cognitive disorders arising from cholinergic dysfunction.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Acetylcholine (ACh) signaling depends on the functional capacity of the neuronal choline transporter (CHT). Previous research demonstrated that humans expressing the common CHT coding variant Val89 exhibit attentional vulnerabilities and attenuated fronto-cortical activation during attention. Here, we find that mice engineered to express the Val89 variant exhibit reduced CHT-mediated choline clearance and a diminished capacity to sustain ACh release. Additionally, Val89 mice lack cognitive flexibility in response to an attentional challenge. These findings provide a mechanistic and cognitive framework for interpreting the attentional phenotype associated with the human Val89 variant and establish a model that permits a more invasive interrogation of CNS effects as well as the development of therapeutic strategies for those, including Val89 carriers, with presynaptic cholinergic perturbations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eryn Donovan
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
| | - Cassandra Avila
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
| | - Sarah Klausner
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
| | - Vinay Parikh
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience Program, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122
| | - Cristina Fenollar-Ferrer
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Section of Human Genetics, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
| | - Randy D Blakely
- Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute and Department of Biomedical Science, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, Florida 33458
| | - Martin Sarter
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience Program and Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
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15
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Kuhn BN, Campus P, Klumpner MS, Chang SE, Iglesias AG, Flagel SB. Inhibition of a cortico-thalamic circuit attenuates cue-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior in "relapse prone" male rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2022; 239:1035-1051. [PMID: 34181035 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-05894-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Relapse often occurs when individuals are exposed to stimuli or cues previously associated with the drug-taking experience. The ability of drug cues to trigger relapse is believed to be a consequence of incentive salience attribution, a process by which the incentive value of reward is transferred to the reward-paired cue. Sign-tracker (ST) rats that attribute enhanced incentive value to reward cues are more prone to relapse compared to goal-tracker (GT) rats that primarily attribute predictive value to such cues. OBJECTIVES The neurobiological mechanisms underlying this individual variation in relapse propensity remains largely unexplored. The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) has been identified as a critical node in the regulation of cue-elicited behaviors in STs and GTs, including cue-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior. Here we used a chemogenetic approach to assess whether "top-down" cortical input from the prelimbic cortex (PrL) to the PVT plays a role in mediating individual differences in relapse propensity. RESULTS Chemogenetic inhibition of the PrL-PVT pathway selectively decreased cue-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior in STs, without affecting behavior in GTs. In contrast, cocaine-primed drug-seeking behavior was not affected in either phenotype. Furthermore, when rats were characterized based on a different behavioral phenotype-locomotor response to novelty-inhibition of the PrL-PVT pathway had no effect on either cue- or drug-induced reinstatement. CONCLUSIONS These results highlight an important role for the PrL-PVT pathway in vulnerability to relapse that is consequent to individual differences in the propensity to attribute incentive salience to discrete reward cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brittany N Kuhn
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, 4137 Undergraduate Science Building, 204 Washtenaw Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Paolo Campus
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, 205 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Marin S Klumpner
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, 205 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Stephen E Chang
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, 205 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Amanda G Iglesias
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, 4137 Undergraduate Science Building, 204 Washtenaw Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Shelly B Flagel
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, 4137 Undergraduate Science Building, 204 Washtenaw Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, 205 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, 4250 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA.
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16
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Madangopal R, Ramsey LA, Weber SJ, Brenner MB, Lennon VA, Drake OR, Komer LE, Tunstall BJ, Bossert JM, Shaham Y, Hope BT. Inactivation of the infralimbic cortex decreases discriminative stimulus-controlled relapse to cocaine seeking in rats. Neuropsychopharmacology 2021; 46:1969-1980. [PMID: 34162997 PMCID: PMC8429767 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01067-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Revised: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Persistent susceptibility to cue-induced relapse is a cardinal feature of addiction. Discriminative stimuli (DSs) are one type of drug-associated cue that signal drug availability (DS+) or unavailability (DS-) and control drug seeking prior to relapse. We previously established a trial-based procedure in rats to isolate DSs from context, conditioned stimuli, and other drug-associated cues during cocaine self-administration and demonstrated DS-controlled cocaine seeking up to 300 abstinence days. The behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying trial-based DS-control of drug seeking have rarely been investigated. Here we show that following discrimination training in our trial-based procedure, the DS+ and DS- independently control the expression and suppression of cocaine seeking during abstinence. Using microinjections of GABAA + GABAB receptor agonists (muscimol + baclofen) in medial prefrontal cortex, we report that infralimbic, but not prelimbic, subregion of medial prefrontal cortex is critical to persistent DS-controlled relapse to cocaine seeking after prolonged abstinence, but not DS-guided discriminated cocaine seeking or DS-controlled cocaine self-admininstration. Finally, using ex vivo whole-cell recordings from pyramidal neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex, we demonstrate that the disruption of DS-controlled cocaine seeking following infralimbic cortex microinjections of muscimol+baclofen is likely a result of suppression of synaptic transmission in the region via a presynaptic mechanism of action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajtarun Madangopal
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Leslie A Ramsey
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Sophia J Weber
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Megan B Brenner
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Veronica A Lennon
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Olivia R Drake
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Lauren E Komer
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Brendan J Tunstall
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Addiction Science, and Toxicology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Jennifer M Bossert
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Yavin Shaham
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Bruce T Hope
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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17
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Clueless about cues: the impact of reward-paired cues on decision making under uncertainty. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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18
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Angelyn H, Loney GC, Meyer PJ. Nicotine Enhances Goal-Tracking in Ethanol and Food Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Paradigms. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:561766. [PMID: 34483813 PMCID: PMC8416423 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.561766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Rationale Nicotine promotes alcohol intake through pharmacological and behavioral interactions. As an example of the latter, nicotine can facilitate approach toward food- and alcohol-associated stimuli ("sign-tracking") in lever-Pavlovian conditioned approach (PavCA) paradigms. However, we recently reported that nicotine can also enhance approach toward locations of reward delivery ("goal-tracking") triggered by ethanol-predictive stimuli when the location of ethanol delivery is non-static (i.e., a retractable sipper bottle). Objective To determine whether the non-static nature of the reward location could have biased the development of goal-tracking in our previous study (Loney et al., 2019); we assessed the effect of nicotine in a lever-PavCA paradigm wherein the location of ethanol delivery was static (i.e., a stationary liquid receptacle). Then, to determine whether nicotine's enhancement of goal-tracking is unique to ethanol-predictive stimuli, we assessed the effect of systemic nicotine on approach triggered by food-predictive stimuli in a lever-PavCA paradigm. Methods Long-Evans rats were used in two PavCA experiments wherein a lever predicted the receipt of ethanol (15% vol/vol; experiment 1) or food (experiment 2) into a stationary receptacle. Prior to testing, rats were administered nicotine (0.4 mg/kg subcutaneously) or saline systemically. Results In both experiments, nicotine increased measures of goal-tracking, but not sign-tracking. Conclusion Nicotine can facilitate approach to reward locations without facilitating approach to reward-predictive stimuli. As such, conceptualization of the mechanisms by which nicotine affects behavior must be expanded to explain an enhancement of goal-tracking by nicotine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hailley Angelyn
- Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States
| | - Gregory C Loney
- Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States
| | - Paul J Meyer
- Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States
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19
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Flagel SB, Robinson TE, Sarter M. Comment on Pohorala et al.: Sign-tracking as a predictor of addiction vulnerability. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2021; 238:2661-2664. [PMID: 34308488 PMCID: PMC9248762 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-05927-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shelly B Flagel
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | - Terry E Robinson
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Martin Sarter
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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20
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Pohořalá V, Enkel T, Bartsch D, Spanagel R, Bernardi RE. Sign- and goal-tracking score does not correlate with addiction-like behavior following prolonged cocaine self-administration. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2021; 238:2335-2346. [PMID: 33950271 PMCID: PMC8292273 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-05858-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE In classical conditioning, sign-tracking reflects behavior directed toward a conditioned stimulus (CS) in expectation of a reward (unconditioned stimulus, US); in contrast, goal-tracking describes behavior directed toward the location of delivery of a US. As cues previously paired with drugs of abuse promote drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior in both animals and humans and thus contribute to the severity of substance abuse, sign-tracking may represent a maladaptive cue-focused behavior that may increase addiction vulnerability as compared to goal-tracking. Recent studies do, in fact, support this possibility. Previous work in this area has focused primarily on paradigms using relatively limited exposure to drug rather than extended drug intake. OBJECTIVES Here, we used the DSM-IV-based 3-criteria (3-CRIT) model and examined whether a relationship exists between sign- or goal-tracking phenotypes and the prevalence of criteria associated with addiction-like behavior following extended cocaine self-administration as measured in this model. METHODS Forty-six male Sprague Dawley rats underwent a Pavlovian conditioned approach (PCA) procedure and were characterized along a continuum as goal-trackers (GTs), intermediates (INTs), or sign-trackers (STs). The animals were subsequently trained to intravenous self-administer cocaine during 45 self-administration (SA) sessions and characterized for the 3 criteria outlined in the model: persistence of drug-seeking, motivation for cocaine-taking, and resistance to punishment. RESULTS We performed correlational analyses on the traits measured, finding no relationships between PCA score and addiction-like characteristics measured using the 3-CRIT model of addiction. However, STs showed significantly greater resistance to punishment than GTs. CONCLUSIONS Phenotyping along a continuum of PCA scores may not be a valid predictor for identifying vulnerability to the addiction-like behaviors examined using the 3-CRIT model. However, PCA phenotype may predict a single feature of the 3-CRIT model, resistance to punishment, among those rats classified as either STs or GTs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronika Pohořalá
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Thomas Enkel
- Department of Molecular Biology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Dusan Bartsch
- Department of Molecular Biology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Rainer Spanagel
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Rick E Bernardi
- Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
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21
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Martinez JL, Zammit MD, West NR, Christian BT, Bhattacharyya A. Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Neurons: Linking Down Syndrome and Alzheimer's Disease. Front Aging Neurosci 2021; 13:703876. [PMID: 34322015 PMCID: PMC8311593 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.703876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Down syndrome (DS, trisomy 21) is characterized by intellectual impairment at birth and Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology in middle age. As individuals with DS age, their cognitive functions decline as they develop AD pathology. The susceptibility to degeneration of a subset of neurons, known as basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCNs), in DS and AD is a critical link between cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration in both disorders. BFCNs are the primary source of cholinergic innervation to the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, as well as the amygdala. They play a critical role in the processing of information related to cognitive function and are directly engaged in regulating circuits of attention and memory throughout the lifespan. Given the importance of BFCNs in attention and memory, it is not surprising that these neurons contribute to dysfunctional neuronal circuitry in DS and are vulnerable in adults with DS and AD, where their degeneration leads to memory loss and disturbance in language. BFCNs are thus a relevant cell target for therapeutics for both DS and AD but, despite some success, efforts in this area have waned. There are gaps in our knowledge of BFCN vulnerability that preclude our ability to effectively design interventions. Here, we review the role of BFCN function and degeneration in AD and DS and identify under-studied aspects of BFCN biology. The current gaps in BFCN relevant imaging studies, therapeutics, and human models limit our insight into the mechanistic vulnerability of BFCNs in individuals with DS and AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose L. Martinez
- Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Matthew D. Zammit
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
- Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Nicole R. West
- Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Bradley T. Christian
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
- Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Anita Bhattacharyya
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
- Department of Cellular and Regenerative Biology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
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22
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Keefer SE, Gyawali U, Calu DJ. Choose your path: Divergent basolateral amygdala efferents differentially mediate incentive motivation, flexibility and decision-making. Behav Brain Res 2021; 409:113306. [PMID: 33887310 PMCID: PMC8189324 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
To survive in a complex environment, individuals form associations between environmental stimuli and rewards to organize and optimize reward seeking behaviors. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) uses these learned associations to inform decision-making processes. In this review, we describe functional projections between BLA and its cortical and striatal targets that promote learning and motivational processes central to decision-making. Specifically, we compare and contrast divergent projections from the BLA to the orbitofrontal (OFC) and to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and examine the roles of these pathways in associative learning, value-guided decision-making, choice behaviors, as well as cue and context-driven drug seeking. Finally, we consider how these projections are involved in disorders of motivation, with a focus on Substance Use Disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara E Keefer
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Utsav Gyawali
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Donna J Calu
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
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23
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Betts GD, Hynes TJ, Winstanley CA. Pharmacological evidence of a cholinergic contribution to elevated impulsivity and risky decision-making caused by adding win-paired cues to a rat gambling task. J Psychopharmacol 2021; 35:701-712. [PMID: 33573446 DOI: 10.1177/0269881120972421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pairing rewards with sensory stimulation, in the form of auditory and visual cues, increases risky decision-making in both rats and humans. Understanding the neurobiological basis of this effect could help explain why electronic gambling machines are so addictive, and inform treatment development for compulsive gambling and gaming. Numerous studies implicate the dopamine system in mediating the motivational influence of reward-paired cues; recent data suggest the cholinergic system also plays a critical role. Previous work also indicates that cholinergic drugs alter decision-making under uncertainty. AIMS We investigated whether the addition of reward-concurrent cues to the rat gambling task (crGT) altered the effects of peripherally administered cholinergic compounds. METHODS Muscarinic and nicotinic agonists and antagonists were administered to 16 male, Long-Evans rats trained on the crGT. Measures of optimal/risky decision-making and motor impulsivity were the main dependent variables of interest. RESULTS The muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine improved decision-making overall, decreasing selection of one of the risky options while increasing choice of the more advantageous options. The muscarinic agonist oxotremorine increased choice latency but did not significantly affect option preference. Neither the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine nor the agonist nicotine affected choice patterns, but mecamylamine decreased premature responding, an index of motor impulsivity. CONCLUSIONS These results contrast sharply from those obtained previously using the uncued rGT, and suggest that the deleterious effects of win-paired cues on decision-making and impulse control may result from elevated cholinergic tone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Graeme D Betts
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Tristan J Hynes
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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It is never as good the second time around: Brain areas involved in salience processing habituate during repeated drug cue exposure in treatment engaged abstinent methamphetamine and opioid users. Neuroimage 2021; 238:118180. [PMID: 34020015 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2020] [Revised: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The brain response to drug-related cues is an important marker in addiction-medicine. However, the temporal dynamics of this response in repeated exposure to cues are not well known. In an fMRI drug cue-reactivity task, the presence of rapid habituation or sensitization was investigated by modeling time and its interaction with condition (drug>neutral) using an initial discovery-sample. Replication of this temporal response was tested in two other clinical populations all abstinent during their early recovery (treatment). Sixty-five male participants (35.8 ± 8.4 years-old) with methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) were recruited as the discovery-sample from an abstinence-based residential treatment program. A linear mixed effects model was used to identify areas with a time-by-condition interaction in the discovery-sample. Replication of these effects was tested in two other samples (29 female with MUD from a different residential program and 22 male with opioid use disorder from the same residential program as the discovery sample). The second replication sample was re-tested within two weeks. In the discovery-sample, clusters within the VMPFC, amygdala and ventral striatum showed both a main effect of condition and a condition-by-time interaction, indicating a habituating response to drug-related but not neutral cues. The estimates for the main effects and interactions were generally consistent between the discovery and replication-samples across all clusters. The re-test data showed a consistent lack of drug > neutral and habituation response within all selected clusters in the second cue-exposure session. The VMPFC, amygdala and ventral striatum show habituation in response to drug-related cues which is consistent among different clinical populations. This habituated response in the first session of cue-exposure and lack of reactivity in the second session of exposure may be important for informing the development of cue-desensitization interventions.
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25
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Systemic nicotine enhances opioid self-administration and modulates the formation of opioid-associated memories partly through actions within the insular cortex. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3321. [PMID: 33558613 PMCID: PMC7870813 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81955-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Habitual use of nicotine containing products increases propensity to misuse prescription opioids and its prevalence is substantially increased in individuals currently involved in opioid-treatment programs. Nicotine enhances self-administration of many classes of drugs in rodents, though evidence for direct effects on opioids is lacking. We sought to measure the effects of nicotine pretreatment on the reinforcing efficacy of opioids in both self-administration and contextual conditioning paradigms. First, we measured the effect of systemic nicotine pretreatment on self-administration of two opioids. Additionally, we measured the degree to which systemic nicotine pretreatment impacts the formation of morphine-associated contextual memories in conditioned taste avoidance and place preference paradigms. Given the involvement of the insula in the maintenance of substance abuse, its importance in nicotine addiction, and findings that insular inactivation impairs contextual drug conditioning, we examined whether nicotine administered directly to the insula could recapitulate the effects of systemic nicotine. We demonstrate that systemic nicotine pretreatment significantly enhances opioid self-administration and alters contextual conditioning. Furthermore, intra-insula nicotine similarly altered morphine contextual conditioning by blocking the formation of taste avoidance at all three morphine doses tested (5.0, 10, and 20 mg/kg), while shifting the dose–response curve of morphine in the place preference paradigm rightward. In conclusion, these data demonstrate that nicotine facilitates opioid intake and is partly acting within the insular cortex to obfuscate aversive opiate memories while potentiating approach to morphine-associated stimuli at higher doses.
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Kochli DE, Keefer SE, Gyawali U, Calu DJ. Basolateral Amygdala to Nucleus Accumbens Communication Differentially Mediates Devaluation Sensitivity of Sign- and Goal-Tracking Rats. Front Behav Neurosci 2020; 14:593645. [PMID: 33324182 PMCID: PMC7723965 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.593645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Rats rely on communication between the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) to express lever directed approach in a Pavlovian lever autoshaping (PLA) task that distinguishes sign- and goal-tracking rats. During PLA, sign-tracking rats preferentially approach an insertable lever cue, while goal-tracking rats approach a foodcup where rewards are delivered. While sign-tracking rats inflexibly respond to cues even after the associated reward is devalued, goal-tracking rats flexibly reduce responding to cues during outcome devaluation. Here, we sought to determine whether BLA-NAc communication, which is necessary for sign, but not goal-tracking, drives a rigid appetitive approach of sign-tracking rats that are insensitive to manipulations of outcome value. Using a contralateral chemogenetic inactivation design, we injected contralateral BLA and NAc core with inhibitory DREADD (hm4Di-mCherry) or control (mCherry) constructs. To determine sign- and goal-tracking groups, we trained rats in five PLA sessions in which brief lever insertion predicts food pellet delivery. We sated rats on training pellets (devalued condition) or chow (valued condition) before systemic clozapine injections (0.1 mg/kg) to inactivate BLA and contralateral NAc during two outcome devaluation probe tests, in which we measured lever and foodcup approach. Contralateral BLA-NAc chemogenetic inactivation promoted a flexible lever approach in sign-tracking rats but disrupted the flexible foodcup approach in goal-tracking rats. Consistent with a prior BLA-NAc disconnection lesion study, we find contralateral chemogenetic inactivation of BLA and NAc core reduces lever, but not the foodcup approach in PLA. Together these findings suggest rigid appetitive associative encoding in BLA-NAc of sign-tracking rats hinders the expression of flexible behavior when outcome value changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E. Kochli
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Sara E. Keefer
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Utsav Gyawali
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Donna J. Calu
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
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Kantak KM, Gauthier JM, Mathieson E, Knyazhanskaya E, Rodriguez-Echemendia P, Man HY. Sex differences in the effects of a combined behavioral and pharmacological treatment strategy for cocaine relapse prevention in an animal model of cue exposure therapy. Behav Brain Res 2020; 395:112839. [PMID: 32750464 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Revised: 07/05/2020] [Accepted: 07/26/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Brief interventions of environmental enrichment (EE) or the glycine transporter-1 inhibitor Org24598 administered with cocaine-cue extinction training were shown previously to inhibit reacquisition of cocaine self-administration in male rats trained to self-administer a moderate 0.3 mg/kg dose of cocaine. Determining how EE and Org24598 synergize in combination in an animal model of cue exposure therapy is novel. Important changes made in this investigation were increasing the cocaine training dose to 1.0 mg/kg and determining sex differences. Adult male and female rats self-administering 1.0 mg/kg cocaine for 35-40 daily sessions exhibited an addiction-like phenotype under a second-order schedule of cocaine delivery and cue presentation. Rats next underwent 6 weekly extinction training sessions for which treatments consisted of EE or NoEE and Vehicle or Org24598 (3.0 mg/kg in males; 3.0 or 7.5 mg/kg in females). Rats then were tested for reacquisition of cocaine self-administration for 15 daily sessions. In males, the combined EE +3.0 mg/kg Org24598 treatment facilitated extinction learning and inhibited reacquisition of cocaine self-administration to a greater extent than no treatment and to individual EE or 3.0 mg/kg Org24598 treatments. In females, EE +7.5 mg/kg Org24598 facilitated extinction learning, but did not inhibit reacquisition of cocaine self-administration. Thus, there were sex differences in the ability of EE + Org24598 administered in conjunction with extinction training to inhibit cocaine relapse in rats exhibiting an addiction-like phenotype. These findings suggest that this multimodal treatment approach might be a feasible option during cue exposure therapy in cocaine-dependent men, but not women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen M Kantak
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, USA; Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, USA.
| | - Jamie M Gauthier
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, USA
| | - Elon Mathieson
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, USA
| | | | | | - Heng-Ye Man
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, USA; Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, USA
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Minogianis EA, Samaha AN. Taking Rapid and Intermittent Cocaine Infusions Enhances Both Incentive Motivation for the Drug and Cocaine-induced Gene Regulation in Corticostriatal Regions. Neuroscience 2020; 442:314-328. [PMID: 32682656 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.05.058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 05/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
A goal in addiction research is to distinguish forms of neuroplasticity that are involved in the transition to addiction from those involved in mere drug taking. Animal models of drug self-administration are essential in this context. Here, we compared in male rats two cocaine self-administration procedures that differ in the extent to which they evoke addiction-like behaviours. We measured both incentive motivation for cocaine using progressive ratio procedures, and cocaine-induced c-fos mRNA expression, a marker of neuronal activity. Rats self-administered intravenous cocaine (0.25 mg/kg/infusion) for seven daily 6-hour sessions. One group had intermittent access (IntA; 6 minutes ON, 26 min OFF × 12) to rapid infusions (delivered over 5 s). This models the temporal kinetics of human cocaine use and produces robust addiction-like behaviour. The other group had Long access (LgA) to slower infusions (90 s). This produces high levels of intake without promoting robust addiction-like behaviour. LgA-90 s rats took twice as much cocaine as IntA-5 s rats did, but IntA-5 s rats showed greater incentive motivation for the drug. Following a final self-administration session, we quantified c-fos mRNA expression in corticostriatal regions. Compared to LgA-90 s rats, IntA-5 s rats had more cocaine-induced c-fos mRNA in the orbitofrontal and prelimbic cortices and the caudate-putamen. Thus, a cocaine self-administration procedure (intermittent intake of rapid infusions) that promotes increased incentive motivation for the drug also enhances cocaine-induced gene regulation in corticostriatal regions. This suggests that increased drug-induced recruitment of these regions could contribute to the neural and behavioural plasticity underlying the transition to addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellie-Anna Minogianis
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Canada
| | - Anne-Noël Samaha
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Canada; Groupe de recherche sur le système nerveux central (GRSNC), Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, 2900 Édouard-Montpetit Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec H3T 1J4, Canada.
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Checking responses of goal- and sign-trackers are differentially affected by threat in a rodent analog of obsessive-compulsive disorder. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020; 27:190-200. [PMID: 32295839 PMCID: PMC7164513 DOI: 10.1101/lm.050260.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2019] [Accepted: 01/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), functional behaviors such as checking that a door is locked become dysfunctional, maladaptive, and debilitating. However, it is currently unknown how aversive and appetitive motivations interact to produce functional and dysfunctional behavior in OCD. Here we show a double dissociation in the effects of anxiogenic cues and sensitivity to rewarding stimuli on the propensity to develop functional and dysfunctional checking behavior in a rodent analog of OCD, the observing response task (ORT). While anxiogenic manipulations of perceived threat (presentation of threat-associated contextual cues) and actual threat (punishment of incorrect responding on the ORT) enhanced functional checking, dysfunctional checking was unaffected. In contrast, rats that had previously been identified as “sign-trackers” on an autoshaping task—and therefore were highly sensitive to the incentive salience of appetitive environmental cues—selectively showed elevated levels of dysfunctional checking under a range of conditions, but particularly so under conditions of uncertainty. These data indicate that functional and dysfunctional checking are dissociable and supported by aversive and appetitive motivational processes, respectively. While functional checking is modulated by perceived and actual threat, dysfunctional checking recruits appetitive motivational processes, possibly akin to the “incentive habits” that contribute to drug-seeking in addiction.
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Colaizzi JM, Flagel SB, Joyner MA, Gearhardt AN, Stewart JL, Paulus MP. Mapping sign-tracking and goal-tracking onto human behaviors. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 111:84-94. [PMID: 31972203 PMCID: PMC8087151 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.01.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Revised: 01/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
As evidenced through classic Pavlovian learning mechanisms, environmental cues can become incentivized and influence behavior. These stimulus-outcome associations are relevant in everyday life but may be particularly important for the development of impulse control disorders including addiction. Rodent studies have elucidated specific learning profiles termed 'sign-tracking' and 'goal-tracking' which map onto individual differences in impulsivity and other behaviors associated with impulse control disorders' etiology, course, and relapse. Whereas goal-trackers are biased toward the outcome, sign-trackers fixate on features that are associated with but not necessary for achieving an outcome; a pattern of behavior that often leads to escalation of reward-seeking that can be maladaptive. The vast majority of the sign- and goal-tracking research has been conducted using rodent models and very few have bridged this concept into the domain of human behavior. In this review, we discuss the attributes of sign- and goal-tracking profiles, how these are manifested neurobiologically, and how these distinct learning styles could be an important tool for clinical interventions in human addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janna M Colaizzi
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 S Yale Ave, Tulsa, OK, USA.
| | - Shelly B Flagel
- University of Michigan Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, 205 Zina Pitcher Pl, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Michelle A Joyner
- University of Michigan, Department of Psychology, 530 Church St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Ashley N Gearhardt
- University of Michigan, Department of Psychology, 530 Church St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | | | - Martin P Paulus
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 S Yale Ave, Tulsa, OK, USA
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Keefer SE, Bacharach SZ, Kochli DE, Chabot JM, Calu DJ. Effects of Limited and Extended Pavlovian Training on Devaluation Sensitivity of Sign- and Goal-Tracking Rats. Front Behav Neurosci 2020; 14:3. [PMID: 32116587 PMCID: PMC7010919 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Individual differences in Pavlovian approach predict differences in devaluation sensitivity. Recent studies indicate goal-tracking (GT) rats are sensitive to outcome devaluation while sign-tracking (ST) rats are not. With extended training in Pavlovian lever autoshaping (PLA), GT rats display more lever-directed behavior, typical of ST rats, suggesting they may become insensitive to devaluation with more Pavlovian training experience. Here, we use a within-subject satiety-induced outcome devaluation procedure to test devaluation sensitivity after limited and extended PLA training in GT and ST rats. We trained rats in PLA to determine GT and ST groups. Then, we sated rats on either the training pellets (devalued condition) or homecage chow (valued condition) prior to brief non-reinforced test sessions after limited (sessions 5/6) and extended (sessions 17/18) PLA training. GT rats decreased conditioned responding under devalued relative to valued conditions after both limited and extended training, demonstrating they are sensitive to satiety devaluation regardless of the amount of PLA training. While ST rats were insensitive to satiety devaluation after limited training, their lever directed behavior became devaluation sensitive after extended training. To determine whether sign-tracking rats also displayed sensitivity to illness-induced outcome devaluation after extended training, we trained a separate cohort of rats in extended PLA and devalued the outcome with lithium chloride injections after pellet consumption in the homecage. ST rats failed to decrease conditioned responding after illness-induced outcome devaluation, while Non-ST rats (GT and intermediates) were sensitive to illness-induced outcome devaluation after extended training. Together, our results confirm devaluation sensitivity is stable in GT rats across training and devaluation approaches. Extended training unmasks devaluation sensitivity in ST rats after satiety, but not illness-induced devaluation, suggesting ST rats respond appropriately by decreasing responding to cues during state-dependent but not inference-based devaluation. The differences in behavioral flexibility across tracking groups and devaluation paradigms have translational relevance for the understanding state- vs. inference-based reward devaluation as it pertains to drug addiction vulnerability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara E Keefer
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Sam Z Bacharach
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.,Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Daniel E Kochli
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Jules M Chabot
- Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, United States
| | - Donna J Calu
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.,Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
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María-Ríos CE, Morrow JD. Mechanisms of Shared Vulnerability to Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Substance Use Disorders. Front Behav Neurosci 2020; 14:6. [PMID: 32082127 PMCID: PMC7006033 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Accepted: 01/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychoactive substance use is a nearly universal human behavior, but a significant minority of people who use addictive substances will go on to develop an addictive disorder. Similarly, though ~90% of people experience traumatic events in their lifetime, only ~10% ever develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Substance use disorders (SUD) and PTSD are highly comorbid, occurring in the same individual far more often than would be predicted by chance given the respective prevalence of each disorder. Some possible reasons that have been proposed for the relationship between PTSD and SUD are self-medication of anxiety with drugs or alcohol, increased exposure to traumatic events due to activities involved in acquiring illegal substances, or addictive substances altering the brain's stress response systems to make users more vulnerable to PTSD. Yet another possibility is that some people have an intrinsic vulnerability that predisposes them to both PTSD and SUD. In this review, we integrate clinical and animal data to explore these possible etiological links between SUD and PTSD, with an emphasis on interactions between dopaminergic, adrenocorticotropic, GABAergic, and glutamatergic neurobehavioral mechanisms that underlie different emotional learning styles.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jonathan D. Morrow
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
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33
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Phillips KB, Sarter M. Addiction vulnerability and the processing of significant cues: Sign-, but not goal-, tracker perceptual sensitivity relies on cue salience. Behav Neurosci 2020; 134:133-143. [PMID: 31916796 DOI: 10.1037/bne0000353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The identification of broadly defined psychological traits that bestow vulnerability for the manifestation of addiction-like behaviors can guide the discovery of the neuronal mechanisms underlying the propensity for drug taking. Sign-tracking behavior in rats (STs) signifies the presence of a trait that predicts a relatively greater behavioral control of Pavlovian drug and reward cues than in rats that exhibit goal-tracking behavior (GTs). We previously demonstrated that relatively poor cholinergic-attentional control in STs is an essential component of the trait indexed by sign-tracking and that this trait aspect contributes to the relatively greater power of drug cues to control the behavior of STs. Here we addressed the possibility that STs and GTs employ fundamentally different psychological mechanisms for the detection of cues in attention-demanding contexts. Rats were trained to perform an operant Sustained Attention Task. As task training advanced to the stage that taxed attentional control, the relative brightness of visual target signals significantly influenced detection performance in STs but not GTs. This finding suggests that STs, but not GTs, rely on bottom-up, cue salience-driven mechanisms to detect cues. GTs may be able to resist behavioral control by Pavlovian drug cues by utilizing goal-directed decisional processes that minimize the influence of the salience of drug cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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Eagle DM, Schepisi C, Chugh S, Desai S, Han SYS, Huang T, Lee JJ, Sobala C, Ye W, Milton AL, Robbins TW. Dissociable dopaminergic and pavlovian influences in goal-trackers and sign-trackers on a model of compulsive checking in OCD. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2020; 237:3569-3581. [PMID: 32886158 PMCID: PMC7683452 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-020-05636-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Checking is a functional behaviour that provides information to guide behaviour. However, in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), checking may escalate to dysfunctional levels. The processes underpinning the transition from functional to dysfunctional checking are unclear but may be associated with individual differences that support the development of maladaptive behaviour. We examined one such predisposition, sign-tracking to a pavlovian conditioned stimulus, which we previously found associated with dysfunctional checking. How sign-tracking interacts with another treatment with emerging translational validity for OCD-like checking, chronic administration of the dopamine D2 receptor agonist quinpirole, is unknown. OBJECTIVES We tested how functional and dysfunctional checking in the rat observing response task (ORT) was affected by chronic quinpirole administration in non-autoshaped controls and autoshaped animals classified as sign-trackers or goal-trackers. METHODS Sign-trackers or goal-trackers were trained on the ORT before the effects of chronic quinpirole administration on checking were assessed. Subsequently, the effects on checking of different behavioural challenges, including reward omission and the use of unpredictable reinforcement schedules, were tested. RESULTS Prior autoshaping increased checking. Sign-trackers and goal-trackers responded differently to quinpirole sensitization, reward omission and reinforcement uncertainty. Sign-trackers showed greater elevations in dysfunctional checking, particularly during uncertainty. By contrast, goal-trackers predominantly increased functional checking responses, possibly in response to reduced discrimination accuracy in the absence of cues signalling which lever was currently active. CONCLUSIONS The results are discussed in terms of how pavlovian associations influence behaviour that becomes compulsive in OCD and how this may be dependent on striatal dopamine D2 receptors.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. M. Eagle
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - C. Schepisi
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK ,grid.7841.aSapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - S. Chugh
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - S. Desai
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - S. Y. S. Han
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - T. Huang
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - J. J. Lee
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK ,grid.5337.20000 0004 1936 7603University of Bristol, Bristol, UK ,grid.83440.3b0000000121901201University College London, London, UK
| | - C. Sobala
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - W. Ye
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK ,grid.4991.50000 0004 1936 8948Oxford University Clinical Academic Graduate School, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - A. L. Milton
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - T. W. Robbins
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
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Cofresí RU, Bartholow BD, Piasecki TM. Evidence for incentive salience sensitization as a pathway to alcohol use disorder. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 107:897-926. [PMID: 31672617 PMCID: PMC6878895 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2019] [Revised: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The incentive salience sensitization (ISS) theory of addiction holds that addictive behavior stems from the ability of drugs to progressively sensitize the brain circuitry that mediates attribution of incentive salience (IS) to reward-predictive cues and its behavioral manifestations. In this article, we establish the plausibility of ISS as an etiological pathway to alcohol use disorder (AUD). We provide a comprehensive and critical review of evidence for: (1) the ability of alcohol to sensitize the brain circuitry of IS attribution and expression; and (2) attribution of IS to alcohol-predictive cues and its sensitization in humans and non-human animals. We point out gaps in the literature and how these might be addressed. We also highlight how individuals with different alcohol subjective response phenotypes may differ in susceptibility to ISS as a pathway to AUD. Finally, we discuss important implications of this neuropsychological mechanism in AUD for psychological and pharmacological interventions attempting to attenuate alcohol craving and cue reactivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto U Cofresí
- University of Missouri, Department of Psychological Sciences, Columbia, MO 65211, United States.
| | - Bruce D Bartholow
- University of Missouri, Department of Psychological Sciences, Columbia, MO 65211, United States
| | - Thomas M Piasecki
- University of Missouri, Department of Psychological Sciences, Columbia, MO 65211, United States
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36
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Kuhn BN, Kalivas PW, Bobadilla AC. Understanding Addiction Using Animal Models. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:262. [PMID: 31849622 PMCID: PMC6895146 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Drug addiction is a neuropsychiatric disorder with grave personal consequences that has an extraordinary global economic impact. Despite decades of research, the options available to treat addiction are often ineffective because our rudimentary understanding of drug-induced pathology in brain circuits and synaptic physiology inhibits the rational design of successful therapies. This understanding will arise first from animal models of addiction where experimentation at the level of circuits and molecular biology is possible. We will review the most common preclinical models of addictive behavior and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each. This includes non-contingent models in which animals are passively exposed to rewarding substances, as well as widely used contingent models such as drug self-administration and relapse. For the latter, we elaborate on the different ways of mimicking craving and relapse, which include using acute stress, drug administration or exposure to cues and contexts previously paired with drug self-administration. We further describe paradigms where drug-taking is challenged by alternative rewards, such as appetitive foods or social interaction. In an attempt to better model the individual vulnerability to drug abuse that characterizes human addiction, the field has also established preclinical paradigms in which drug-induced behaviors are ranked by various criteria of drug use in the presence of negative consequences. Separation of more vulnerable animals according to these criteria, along with other innate predispositions including goal- or sign-tracking, sensation-seeking behavior or impulsivity, has established individual genetic susceptibilities to developing drug addiction and relapse vulnerability. We further examine current models of behavioral addictions such as gambling, a disorder included in the DSM-5, and exercise, mentioned in the DSM-5 but not included yet due to insufficient peer-reviewed evidence. Finally, after reviewing the face validity of the aforementioned models, we consider the most common standardized tests used by pharmaceutical companies to assess the addictive potential of a drug during clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Peter W. Kalivas
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
| | - Ana-Clara Bobadilla
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
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Wright VL, Georgiou P, Bailey A, Heal DJ, Bailey CP, Wonnacott S. Inhibition of alpha7 nicotinic receptors in the ventral hippocampus selectively attenuates reinstatement of morphine-conditioned place preference and associated changes in AMPA receptor binding. Addict Biol 2019; 24:590-603. [PMID: 29667304 PMCID: PMC6563460 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Revised: 01/31/2018] [Accepted: 03/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Recurrent relapse is a major problem in treating opiate addiction. Pavlovian conditioning plays a role in recurrent relapse whereby exposure to cues learned during drug intake can precipitate relapse to drug taking. α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) have been implicated in attentional aspects of cognition and mechanisms of learning and memory. In this study we have investigated the role of α7 nAChRs in morphine-conditioned place preference (morphine-CPP). CPP provides a model of associative learning that is pertinent to associative aspects of drug dependence. The α7 nAChR antagonist methyllycaconitine (MLA; 4 mg/kg s.c.) had no effect on the acquisition, maintenance, reconsolidation or extinction of morphine-CPP but selectively attenuated morphine-primed reinstatement of CPP, in both mice and rats. Reinstatement of morphine-CPP in mice was accompanied by a selective increase in [3 H]-AMPA binding (but not in [3 H]-MK801 binding) in the ventral hippocampus that was prevented by prior treatment with MLA. Administration of MLA (6.7 μg) directly into the ventral hippocampus of rats prior to a systemic priming dose of morphine abolished reinstatement of morphine-CPP, whereas MLA delivered into the dorsal hippocampus or prefrontal cortex was without effect. These results suggest that α7 nAChRs in the ventral hippocampus play a specific role in the retrieval of associative drug memories following a period of extinction, making them potential targets for the prevention of relapse.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Polymnia Georgiou
- Faculty of Health and Medical SciencesUniversity of SurreyUK
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Maryland School of MedicineBaltimoreMDUSA
| | - Alexis Bailey
- Faculty of Health and Medical SciencesUniversity of SurreyUK
- Institute of Medical and Biomedical EducationSt George's University of LondonUK
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Guerrero-Bautista R, Do Couto BR, Hidalgo JM, Cárceles-Moreno FJ, Molina G, Laorden ML, Núñez C, Milanés MV. Modulation of stress- and cocaine prime-induced reinstatement of conditioned place preference after memory extinction through dopamine D3 receptor. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2019; 92:308-320. [PMID: 30707990 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2019.01.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2018] [Revised: 01/11/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Accumulating evidence indicates that dopamine (DA) D3 receptor (DAD3R) antagonists appear highly promising in attenuating cocaine reward and relapse in preclinical models of addiction. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the selective DAD3R antagonist SB-277011-A on the reinstatement of cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) produced by a priming dose of cocaine, by social defeat stress and by two kinds of physiological stressors (restraint and tail pinch) in male adult mice. We also explored reinstatement-related plasma corticosterone levels (as marker of stress response) and the effects of blocking DAD3R. Administration of SB-277011-A (24 or 48 mg/kg i.p.) did not modify conditioned reinstatement of cocaine seeking triggered by cocaine prime. By contrast, we found that the vulnerability to reinstatement of the CPP of defeated animals that have undergone CPP extinction was abolished by the DAD3R antagonist (24 mg/kg) given 30 min before the test session. Reactivation of the CPP response produced by physiological stress stimuli was also attenuated by SB-277011-A (48 mg/kg i.p.). On the other hand, the blockade of DAD3R significantly prevented the increased corticosterone release during reinstatement of cocaine-induced CPP that was seen in social defeated animals, in mice suffering physiological stress and after cocaine prime. Present results demonstrate a modulation by DAD3R of the reactivation of the incentive value of cocaine-associated cues induced by social and physiological stress stimuli, which was associated to a glucocorticoid-dependent mechanism. Our results also point to a possible potential therapeutic use of selective DAD3R antagonists for the prevention of stress-induced cocaine-seeking and relapse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rocío Guerrero-Bautista
- Group of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain; Murcia Research Institute of Health Sciences (IMIB-Arrixaca), Avda. Buenavista, 30120 Murcia, Spain
| | - Bruno Ribeiro Do Couto
- Department of Anatomy and Psychobiology, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - Juana M Hidalgo
- Group of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain; Murcia Research Institute of Health Sciences (IMIB-Arrixaca), Avda. Buenavista, 30120 Murcia, Spain
| | - Francisco José Cárceles-Moreno
- Group of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | | | - M Luisa Laorden
- Group of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain; Murcia Research Institute of Health Sciences (IMIB-Arrixaca), Avda. Buenavista, 30120 Murcia, Spain
| | - Cristina Núñez
- Group of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain; Murcia Research Institute of Health Sciences (IMIB-Arrixaca), Avda. Buenavista, 30120 Murcia, Spain.
| | - M Victoria Milanés
- Group of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain; Murcia Research Institute of Health Sciences (IMIB-Arrixaca), Avda. Buenavista, 30120 Murcia, Spain.
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Koshy Cherian A, Kucinski A, Wu R, de Jong IEM, Sarter M. Co-treatment with rivastigmine and idalopirdine reduces the propensity for falls in a rat model of falls in Parkinson's disease. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2019; 236:1701-1715. [PMID: 30607479 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-018-5150-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2018] [Accepted: 12/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Falls in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are associated with cognitive, specifically attentional impairments and with losses in cholinergic projection systems. We previously established an animal model of the combined basal forebrain cholinergic-striatal dopaminergic losses of PD fallers (Dual Lesioned, DL, rats) and demonstrated that treating DL rats with an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI), donepezil, together with a 5HT6 receptor antagonist, idalopirdine, reduced fall frequency and improved associated aspects of the performance of DL rats traversing rotating rods. OBJECTIVES Here, we employed a longer and more taxing rotating beam apparatus to determine the potential therapeutic efficacy of idalopirdine when combined with the pseudo-irreversible, and thus relatively long-acting, AChE- and butyrylcholinesterase- (BuChE) inhibitor rivastigmine. RESULTS As before, vehicle-treated DL rats fell more frequently, committed more slips, and exhibited more movement stoppages than intact control rats. Repeated intermittent administration of rivastigmine and idalopirdine significantly improved the performance of DL rats. Rivastigmine alone also produced strong trends for reducing falls and slips. The combination treatment was more effective than rivastigmine alone in reducing stoppages and stoppage-associated falls. As before, idalopirdine treatment alone was ineffective. CONCLUSIONS These results extend the prediction that the combined treatment with idalopirdine and an AChEI improves complex movement control and reduces the propensity for falls in patients with movement disorders. Because of the importance of finding better treatments for gait and balance deficits in PD, the present results may further motivate a clinical exploration of the usefulness of this combination treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ajeesh Koshy Cherian
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Aaron Kucinski
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Ryan Wu
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | | | - Martin Sarter
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
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Enkel T, Bartsch D, Bähner F. Sign- and goal-tracking rats show differences in various executive functions: Authors. Behav Brain Res 2019; 371:111979. [PMID: 31141726 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.111979] [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: 03/27/2019] [Revised: 05/10/2019] [Accepted: 05/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Sign tracking (ST) is a complex Pavlovian trait that is known to impact instrumental behaviour. Recent work suggests that this trait also correlates with altered top-down executive control relative to goal tracking (GT) rats. This raises the question as to the extent to which both phenotypes differ in executive functions. Moreover, it is unclear which cognitive processes might cause potential differences between ST and GT rats. We therefore compared the behaviour of ST and GT rats in several assays, such as outcome devaluation, attentional set shifting and reversal learning, conditional responding, as well as delayed alternation to measure different aspects of executive functioning. Goal-directed behaviour per se was not different between ST and GT rats in the outcome devaluation task. ST rats performed slightly better than GT rats in one condition of the set shifting task (place->cue shift) and the delayed alternation task, but did not perform as well in the conditional responding task. Thus, differential behavioural performance between ST and GT rats was dependent on the specific task context. Further, we found evidence that the differences in executive functions are likely related to increased incentive salience attribution and impulsive action in ST rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Enkel
- Department of Molecular Biology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
| | - Dusan Bartsch
- Department of Molecular Biology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Florian Bähner
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; Department of Theoretical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
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The transition to cocaine addiction: the importance of pharmacokinetics for preclinical models. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2019; 236:1145-1157. [PMID: 30820634 PMCID: PMC6592776 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-019-5164-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2018] [Accepted: 01/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
A key question in addiction research concerns how, in some individuals, initial recreational or casual patterns of drug use may change brain and psychological function in ways that promote a transition to the problematic patterns of use that define substance use disorders (addiction). In preclinical studies, this is modeled using self-administration procedures. However, most cocaine self-administration procedures produce continuously high brain concentrations of drug, whereas in people, bouts of use are thought to be more intermittent. Here, we ask whether such temporal pharmacokinetic factors matter, by comparing and contrasting the neuropsychological consequences of intermittent vs. long access cocaine self-administration experience. It turns out, the temporal pattern of cocaine use has profound effects on a number of outcomes. First, despite much less total drug consumption, intermittent access to cocaine is more effective in producing addiction-like behavior. Second, intermittent and long access cocaine self-administration change the brain in very different ways to influence motivated behavior. We argue that intermittent access self-administration procedures might be better suited than traditional self-administration procedures for isolating drug-induced changes in neuropsychological function that contribute to the transition to cocaine addiction.
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Kucinski A, Kim Y, Sarter M. Basal forebrain chemogenetic inhibition disrupts the superior complex movement control of goal-tracking rats. Behav Neurosci 2019; 133:121-134. [PMID: 30688488 DOI: 10.1037/bne0000290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Sign- and goal-tracking behavior signifies the influence of opposed cognitive-motivational styles, with the former being characterized by a tendency for approaching and contacting reward cues, including a readiness for attending, bottom-up, to salient cues, and a relatively greater vulnerability for developing and maintaining addiction-like behaviors. We previously demonstrated that these styles also impact the cognitive-motor interactions that are taxed during traversal of dynamic surfaces, with goal-trackers (GTs) making less movement errors and falling less frequently than sign-trackers (STs). The present experiment tested the hypothesis that complex movement control in GTs, but not STs, depends on activation of the basal forebrain projection system to telencephalic regions. Chemogenetic inhibition of the basal forebrain increased movement errors and falls in GTs during traversal of a rotating zigzag rod but had no significant effect on the relatively lower performance of STs. Neurochemical evidence confirmed the efficacy of the inhibitory designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drug (DREADD). Administration of clozapine-N-oxide (CNO) had no significant effect in GTs not expressing the DREADD. These results indicate that GTs, but not STs, activate the basal forebrain projection system to mediate their relatively superior ability for complex movement control. STs may also serve as an animal model in research on the role of basal forebrain systems in aging- and Parkinson's disease-associated falls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Youngsoo Kim
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program
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Boskovic Z, Meier S, Wang Y, Milne M, Onraet T, Tedoldi A, Coulson E. Regulation of cholinergic basal forebrain development, connectivity, and function by neurotrophin receptors. Neuronal Signal 2019; 3:NS20180066. [PMID: 32269831 PMCID: PMC7104233 DOI: 10.1042/ns20180066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Revised: 01/15/2019] [Accepted: 01/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Cholinergic basal forebrain (cBF) neurons are defined by their expression of the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) and tropomyosin-related kinase (Trk) neurotrophin receptors in addition to cholinergic markers. It is known that the neurotrophins, particularly nerve growth factor (NGF), mediate cholinergic neuronal development and maintenance. However, the role of neurotrophin signalling in regulating adult cBF function is less clear, although in dementia, trophic signalling is reduced and p75NTR mediates neurodegeneration of cBF neurons. Here we review the current understanding of how cBF neurons are regulated by neurotrophins which activate p75NTR and TrkA, B or C to influence the critical role that these neurons play in normal cortical function, particularly higher order cognition. Specifically, we describe the current evidence that neurotrophins regulate the development of basal forebrain neurons and their role in maintaining and modifying mature basal forebrain synaptic and cortical microcircuit connectivity. Understanding the role neurotrophin signalling plays in regulating the precision of cholinergic connectivity will contribute to the understanding of normal cognitive processes and will likely provide additional ideas for designing improved therapies for the treatment of neurological disease in which cholinergic dysfunction has been demonstrated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoran Boskovic
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Sonja Meier
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Yunpeng Wang
- Faculty of Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- College of Forensic Science, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi, China
| | - Michael R. Milne
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Tessa Onraet
- Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Angelo Tedoldi
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Elizabeth J. Coulson
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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Madangopal R, Tunstall BJ, Komer LE, Weber SJ, Hoots JK, Lennon VA, Bossert JM, Epstein DH, Shaham Y, Hope BT. Discriminative stimuli are sufficient for incubation of cocaine craving. eLife 2019; 8:e44427. [PMID: 30801248 PMCID: PMC6417857 DOI: 10.7554/elife.44427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2018] [Accepted: 02/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In abstinent drug addicts, cues formerly associated with drug-taking experiences gain relapse-inducing potency ('incubate') over time. Animal models of incubation may help develop treatments to prevent relapse, but these models have ubiquitously focused on the role of conditioned stimuli (CSs) signaling drug delivery. Discriminative stimuli (DSs) are unique in that they exert stimulus-control over both drug taking and drug seeking behavior and are difficult to extinguish. For this reason, incubation of the excitatory effects of DSs that signal drug availability, not yet examined in preclinical studies, could be relevant to relapse prevention. We trained rats to self-administer cocaine (or palatable food) under DS control, then investigated DS-controlled incubation of craving, in the absence of drug-paired CSs. DS-controlled cocaine (but not palatable food) seeking incubated over 60 days of abstinence and persisted up to 300 days. Understanding the neural mechanisms of this DS-controlled incubation holds promise for drug relapse treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajtarun Madangopal
- Neuronal Ensembles in Addiction Section, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Brendan J Tunstall
- Neurobiology of Addiction Section, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Lauren E Komer
- Neuronal Ensembles in Addiction Section, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Sophia J Weber
- Neuronal Ensembles in Addiction Section, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Jennifer K Hoots
- Neurobiology of Relapse Section, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Veronica A Lennon
- Neuronal Ensembles in Addiction Section, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Jennifer M Bossert
- Neurobiology of Relapse Section, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - David H Epstein
- Real-world Assessment, Prediction, and Treatment Unit, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Yavin Shaham
- Neurobiology of Relapse Section, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Bruce T Hope
- Neuronal Ensembles in Addiction Section, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthBaltimoreUnited States
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Kucinski A, Lustig C, Sarter M. Addiction vulnerability trait impacts complex movement control: Evidence from sign-trackers. Behav Brain Res 2018; 350:139-148. [PMID: 29705686 PMCID: PMC6506847 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.04.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2018] [Revised: 04/25/2018] [Accepted: 04/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive-motivational vulnerability traits are associated with increased risk for substance addiction and relapse. Sign-tracking (ST) behavior in rats is associated with poor attentional control, mediated by an unresponsive basal forebrain cholinergic system, and an increased risk for substance addiction/relapse. A separate literature links poor attentional control and cholinergic losses to increased fall risk in Parkinson's disease. Here we tested the hypothesis that the relatively inferior attentional control of STs extends to complex movement control and a propensity for falls. STs were found to fall more often than goal-trackers (GTs) while traversing a straight rotating rod and, similar to human fallers, when taxed by a secondary task. Furthermore, STs fell more often while traversing a rotating zig-zag rod. GTs exhibited fewer falls from this rod by avoiding entry to the rotating zig-zag sections when in, or rotating toward, a difficult traversal state. Goal-tracking rats approached risky movement situations using strategies indicative of superior top-down control. These results suggest that the impact of opponent cognitive-cholinergic traits extends to complex movement control, and that impairments in the cognitive-motor interface are likely to be comorbid with addiction vulnerability. Sign-tracking indexes an endophenotype that may increase the risk for a wide range of neurobehavioral disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron Kucinski
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Cindy Lustig
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Martin Sarter
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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Pitchers KK, Sarter M, Robinson TE. The hot 'n' cold of cue-induced drug relapse. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 25:474-480. [PMID: 30115769 PMCID: PMC6097766 DOI: 10.1101/lm.046995.117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 05/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Environmental cues associated with rewards can acquire motivational properties. However, there is considerable variation in the extent to which a reward cue gains motivational control over behavior, depending on the individual and the form of the cue. When a discrete cue is paired with food reward, it acquires greater control over motivated behavior in some rats (sign-trackers, STs) than others (goal-trackers, GTs) as indicated by the propensity to approach the cue, the willingness to work to obtain it, and its ability to reinstate reward-seeking behavior. Here, we review studies that employ this ST/GT animal model to investigate characteristics of individuals that are especially susceptible to reward cue-elicited behavior and the involvement of dopamine and acetylcholine neuromodulator systems in the susceptibility to cue-induced drug relapse. First, we discuss individual differences in the attribution of incentive salience to different forms of reward cues and the involvement of the mesolimbic dopamine system. We then discuss individual differences in cognitive/attentional control and the contributions of the cholinergic system in processing reward cues. It is suggested that in STs a propensity to attribute motivational properties to a drug cue is combined with poor attentional control in the face of these cues, making them particularly vulnerable to transition from casual/experimental patterns of drug use to addiction and to cue-induced relapse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyle K Pitchers
- Department of Psychology (Biopsychology) and Neuroscience Program, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
| | - Martin Sarter
- Department of Psychology (Biopsychology) and Neuroscience Program, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
| | - Terry E Robinson
- Department of Psychology (Biopsychology) and Neuroscience Program, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
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Transient inactivation of the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus enhances cue-induced reinstatement in goal-trackers, but not sign-trackers. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2018; 235:999-1014. [PMID: 29285634 PMCID: PMC5871598 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-017-4816-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) has been shown to mediate cue-motivated behaviors, such as sign- and goal-tracking, as well as reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior. However, the role of the PVT in mediating individual variation in cue-induced drug-seeking behavior remains unknown. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to determine if inactivation of the PVT differentially mediates cue-induced drug-seeking behavior in sign-trackers and goal-trackers. METHODS Rats were characterized as sign-trackers (STs) or goal-trackers (GTs) based on their Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior. Rats were then exposed to 15 days of cocaine self-administration, followed by a 2-week forced abstinence period and then extinction training. Rats then underwent tests for cue-induced reinstatement and general locomotor activity, prior to which they received an infusion of either saline (control) or baclofen/muscimol (B/M) to inactivate the PVT. RESULTS Relative to control animals of the same phenotype, GTs show a robust increase in cue-induced drug-seeking behavior following PVT inactivation, whereas the behavior of STs was not affected. PVT inactivation did not affect locomotor activity in either phenotype. CONCLUSION In GTs, the PVT appears to inhibit the expression of drug-seeking, presumably by attenuating the incentive value of the drug cue. Thus, inactivation of the PVT releases this inhibition in GTs, resulting in an increase in cue-induced drug-seeking behavior. PVT inactivation did not affect cue-induced drug-seeking behavior in STs, suggesting that the role of the PVT in encoding the incentive motivational value of drug cues differs between STs and GTs.
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Sarter M, Phillips KB. The neuroscience of cognitive-motivational styles: Sign- and goal-trackers as animal models. Behav Neurosci 2018; 132:1-12. [PMID: 29355335 DOI: 10.1037/bne0000226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive-motivational styles describe predominant patterns of processing or biases that broadly influence human cognition and performance. Here we focus on the impact of cognitive-motivational styles on the response to cues predicting the availability of food or addictive drugs. An individual may preferably conduct an analysis of the motivational significance of reward cues, with the result that such cues per se are perceived as rewarding and worth approaching and working for. Alternatively, a propensity for a "cold" analysis of the behavioral utility of a reward cue may yield search behavior for food or drugs but not involve cue approach. Animal models for studying the neuronal mechanisms mediating such styles have originated from research concerning behavioral indices that predict differential vulnerability to addiction-like behaviors. Rats classified as sign- or goal-trackers (STs, GTs) were found to have opposed attentional biases (bottom-up or cue-driven attention vs. top-down or goal-driven attentional control) that are mediated primarily via relatively unresponsive versus elevated levels of cholinergic neuromodulation in the cortex. The capacity for cholinergic neuromodulation in STs is limited by a neuronal choline transporter (CHT) that fails to support increases in cholinergic activity. Moreover, in contrast to STs, the frontal dopamine system in GTs does not respond to the presence of drug cues and, thus, biases against cue-oriented behavior. The opponent cognitive-motivational styles that are indexed by sign- and goal-tracking bestow different cognitive-behavioral vulnerabilities that may contribute to the manifestation of a wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Sarter
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Michigan
| | - Kyra B Phillips
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Michigan
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Nasser HM, Lafferty DS, Lesser EN, Bacharach SZ, Calu DJ. Disconnection of basolateral amygdala and insular cortex disrupts conditioned approach in Pavlovian lever autoshaping. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2018; 147:35-45. [PMID: 29169849 PMCID: PMC5972554 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2017.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2017] [Revised: 10/20/2017] [Accepted: 11/18/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Previously established individual differences in appetitive approach and devaluation sensitivity observed in goal- and sign-trackers may be attributed to differences in the acquisition, modification, or use of associative information in basolateral amygdala (BLA) pathways. Here, we sought to determine the extent to which communication of associative information between BLA and anterior portions of insular cortex (IC) supports ongoing Pavlovian conditioned approach behaviors in sign- and goal-tracking rats, in the absence of manipulations to outcome value. We hypothesized that the BLA mediates goal-, but not sign- tracking approach through interactions with the IC, a brain region involved in supporting flexible behavior. We first trained rats in Pavlovian lever autoshaping to determine their sign- or goal-tracking tendency. During alternating test sessions, we gave unilateral intracranial injections of vehicle or a cocktail of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor agonists, baclofen and muscimol, unilaterally into the BLA and contralaterally or ipsilaterally into the IC prior to reinforced lever autoshaping sessions. Consistent with our hypothesis we found that contralateral inactivation of BLA and IC increased the latency to approach the food cup and decreased the number of food cup contacts in goal-trackers. While contralateral inactivation of BLA and IC did not affect the total number of lever contacts in sign-trackers, this manipulation increased the latency to approach the lever. Ipsilateral inactivation of BLA and IC did not impact approach behaviors in Pavlovian lever autoshaping. These findings, contrary to our hypothesis, suggest that communication between BLA and IC maintains a representation of initially learned appetitive associations that commonly support the initiation of Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior regardless of whether it is directed at the cue or the location of reward delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen M Nasser
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Danielle S Lafferty
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Ellen N Lesser
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Sam Z Bacharach
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Donna J Calu
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
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Adolescent cannabinoid exposure effects on natural reward seeking and learning in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2018; 235:121-134. [PMID: 29022083 PMCID: PMC5790819 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-017-4749-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2017] [Accepted: 09/19/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Adolescence is characterized by endocannabinoid (ECB)-dependent refinement of neural circuits underlying emotion, learning, and motivation. As a result, adolescent cannabinoid receptor stimulation (ACRS) with phytocannabinoids or synthetic agonists like "Spice" cause robust and persistent changes in both behavior and circuit architecture in rodents, including in reward-related regions like medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens (NAc). OBJECTIVES AND METHODS Here, we examine persistent effects of ACRS with the cannabinoid receptor 1/2 specific agonist WIN55-212,2 (WIN; 1.2 mg/kg/day, postnatal day (PD) 30-43), on natural reward-seeking behaviors and ECB system function in adult male Long Evans rats (PD 60+). RESULTS WIN ACRS increased palatable food intake, and altered attribution of incentive salience to food cues in a sign-/goal-tracking paradigm. ACRS also blunted hunger-induced sucrose intake, and resulted in increased anandamide and oleoylethanolamide levels in NAc after acute food restriction not seen in controls. ACRS did not affect food neophobia or locomotor response to a novel environment, but did increase preference for exploring a novel environment. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate that ACRS causes long-term increases in natural reward-seeking behaviors and ECB system function that persist into adulthood, potentially increasing liability to excessive natural reward seeking later in life.
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