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Valyear MD, Brown A, Deyab G, Villaruel FR, Lahlou S, Caporicci-Dinucci N, Chaudhri N. Augmenting glutamatergic, but not dopaminergic, activity in the nucleus accumbens shell disrupts responding to a discrete alcohol cue in an alcohol context. Eur J Neurosci 2024; 59:1500-1518. [PMID: 38185906 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16231] [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: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
Discrete alcohol cues and contexts are relapse triggers for people with alcohol use disorder exerting particularly powerful control over behaviour when they co-occur. Here, we investigated the neural substrates subserving the capacity for alcohol-associated contexts to elevate responding to an alcohol-predictive conditioned stimulus (CS). Specifically, rats were trained in a distinct 'alcohol context' to respond by entering a fluid port during a discrete auditory CS that predicted the delivery of alcohol and were familiarized with a 'neutral context' wherein alcohol was never available. When conditioned CS responding was tested by presenting the CS without alcohol, we found that augmenting glutamatergic activity in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell by microinfusing α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) reduced responding to an alcohol CS in an alcohol, but not neutral, context. Further, AMPA microinfusion robustly affected behaviour, attenuating the number, duration and latency of CS responses selectively in the alcohol context. Although dopaminergic inputs to the NAc shell were previously shown to be necessary for CS responding in an alcohol context, here, chemogenetic excitation of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons and their inputs to the NAc shell did not affect CS responding. Critically, chemogenetic excitation of VTA dopamine neurons affected feeding behaviour and elevated c-fos immunoreactivity in the VTA and NAc shell, validating the chemogenetic approach. These findings enrich our understanding of the substrates underlying Pavlovian responding for alcohol and reveal that the capacity for contexts to modulate responding to discrete alcohol cues is delicately underpinned by the NAc shell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milan D Valyear
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Alexa Brown
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Ghislaine Deyab
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Franz R Villaruel
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Soraya Lahlou
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Nina Caporicci-Dinucci
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Nadia Chaudhri
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Moorman DE, Aston-Jones G. Prelimbic and infralimbic medial prefrontal cortex neuron activity signals cocaine seeking variables across multiple timescales. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2023; 240:575-594. [PMID: 36464693 PMCID: PMC10406502 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-022-06287-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES The prefrontal cortex is critical for execution and inhibition of reward seeking. Neural manipulation of rodent medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) subregions differentially impacts execution and inhibition of cocaine seeking. Dorsal, or prelimbic (PL), and ventral, or infralimbic (IL) mPFC are implicated in cocaine seeking or extinction of cocaine seeking, respectively. This differentiation is not seen across all studies, indicating that further research is needed to understand specific mPFC contributions to drug seeking. METHODS We recorded neuronal activity in mPFC subregions during cocaine self-administration, extinction, and cue- and cocaine-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking. RESULTS Both PL and IL neurons were phasically responsive around lever presses during cocaine self-administration, and activity in both areas was reduced during extinction. During both cue- and, to a greater extent, cocaine-induced reinstatement, PL neurons exhibited significantly elevated responses, in line with previous studies demonstrating a role for the region in relapse. The enhanced PL signaling in cocaine-induced reinstatement was driven by strong excitation and inhibition in different groups of neurons. Both of these response types were stronger in PL vs. IL neurons. Finally, we observed tonic changes in activity in all tasks phases, reflecting both session-long contextual modulation as well as minute-to-minute activity changes that were highly correlated with brain cocaine levels and motivation associated with cocaine seeking. CONCLUSIONS Although some differences were observed between PL and IL neuron activity across sessions, we found no evidence of a go/stop dichotomy in PL/IL function. Instead, our results demonstrate temporally heterogeneous prefrontal signaling during cocaine seeking and extinction in both PL and IL, revealing novel and complex functions for both regions during these behaviors. This combination of findings argues that mPFC neurons, in both PL and IL, provide multifaceted contributions to the regulation of drug seeking and addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- David E Moorman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences & Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA.
| | - Gary Aston-Jones
- Brain Health Institute, Rutgers University and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
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Valyear MD, Britt JP. A new circuit underlying the renewal of appetitive Pavlovian responses: Commentary on Brown and Chaudhri (2022). Eur J Neurosci 2023; 57:780-783. [PMID: 36700576 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Milan D Valyear
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Jonathan Philip Britt
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
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Valyear MD, LeCocq MR, Brown A, Villaruel FR, Segal D, Chaudhri N. Learning processes in relapse to alcohol use: lessons from animal models. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2023; 240:393-416. [PMID: 36264342 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-022-06254-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Alcohol use is reliably preceded by discrete and contextual stimuli which, through diverse learning processes, acquire the capacity to promote alcohol use and relapse to alcohol use. OBJECTIVE We review contemporary extinction, renewal, reinstatement, occasion setting, and sex differences research within a conditioning framework of relapse to alcohol use to inform the development of behavioural and pharmacological therapies. KEY FINDINGS Diverse learning processes and corresponding neurobiological substrates contribute to relapse to alcohol use. Results from animal models indicate that cortical, thalamic, accumbal, hypothalamic, mesolimbic, glutamatergic, opioidergic, and dopaminergic circuitries contribute to alcohol relapse through separable learning processes. Behavioural therapies could be improved by increasing the endurance and generalizability of extinction learning and should incorporate whether discrete cues and contexts influence behaviour through direct excitatory conditioning or occasion setting mechanisms. The types of learning processes that most effectively influence responding for alcohol differ in female and male rats. CONCLUSION Sophisticated conditioning experiments suggest that diverse learning processes are mediated by distinct neural circuits and contribute to relapse to alcohol use. These experiments also suggest that gender-specific behavioural and pharmacological interventions are a way towards efficacious therapies to prevent relapse to alcohol use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milan D Valyear
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada. .,Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Ave. Dr. Penfield, Room N8/5, Montréal, QC, H3A 1B1, Canada.
| | - Mandy R LeCocq
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Alexa Brown
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Franz R Villaruel
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Diana Segal
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Nadia Chaudhri
- Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
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Brown A, Chaudhri N. Optogenetic stimulation of infralimbic cortex projections to the paraventricular thalamus attenuates context-induced renewal. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 57:762-779. [PMID: 36373226 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Contexts associated with prior reinforcement can renew extinguished conditioned responding. The prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic (IL) cortices are thought to mediate the expression and suppression of conditioned responding, respectively. Evidence suggests that PL inputs to the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) drive the expression of cue-induced reinstatement of drug seeking and that IL inputs to the PVT mediate fear extinction retrieval. However, the role of these projections in renewal of appetitive Pavlovian conditioned responding is unknown. We trained male and female Long-Evans rats to associate a conditioned stimulus (CS; 10 s white noise) with delivery of a 10% sucrose unconditioned stimulus (US; .2 ml/CS) to a fluid port in a distinct context (Context A). We then extinguished responding by presenting the CS without the US in a different context (Context B). At test, rats were returned to Context A, and optogenetic stimulation was delivered to either the IL-to-PVT or PL-to-PVT pathway during CS presentations. Optically stimulating the IL-to-PVT, but not the PL-to-PVT pathway, attenuated ABA renewal of CS port entries, and this effect was similar in males and females. Further, rats self-administered optical stimulation of the IL-to-PVT but not the PL-to-PVT pathway suggesting that activation of the IL-to-PVT pathway is reinforcing. The effectiveness of optical stimulation parameters to activate neurons in the IL, PL and PVT was confirmed using Fos immunohistochemistry. These findings provide evidence for novel neural mechanisms in renewal of responding to a sucrose-predictive CS, as well as more generally in contextual processing and appetitive associative learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexa Brown
- Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Nadia Chaudhri
- Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Armstrong A, Rosenthal H, Stout N, Richard JM. Reinstatement of Pavlovian responses to alcohol cues by stress. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2023; 240:531-545. [PMID: 36227353 PMCID: PMC9931652 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-022-06255-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Stress may contribute to relapse to alcohol use in part by enhancing reactivity to cues previously paired with alcohol. Yet, standard models of stress-induced reinstatement generally use contingent presentations of alcohol-paired cues to reinforce instrumental behaviors, making it difficult to isolate the ability of cues to invigorate alcohol-seeking. OBJECTIVE Here we sought to test the impact of stress on behavioral responses to alcohol-paired cues, using a model of stress-induced reinstatement of Pavlovian conditioned approach, inspired by Nadia Chaudhri's work on context-induced reinstatement. METHODS Long Evans rats were trained to associate one auditory cue with delivery of alcohol or sucrose and an alternative auditory cue with no reward. Following extinction training, rats were exposed to a stressor prior to being re-exposed to the cues under extinction conditions. We assessed the effects of yohimbine, intermittent footshock and olfactory cues paired with social defeat on responses to alcohol-paired cues and the effects of yohimbine on responses to sucrose-paired cues. RESULTS The pharmacological stressor, yohimbine, enhanced alcohol seeking in a Pavlovian setting, but not in a cue-selective manner. Intermittent footshock and social defeat cues did not enhance alcohol seeking in this paradigm. CONCLUSIONS While yohimbine elicited reinstatement of reward-seeking in a Pavlovian setting, these effects may be unrelated to activation of stress systems or to interactions with specific cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Armstrong
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Hailey Rosenthal
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Nakura Stout
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Jocelyn M Richard
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55415, USA.
- Medical Discovery Team On Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55415, USA.
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Brown A, Villaruel FR, Chaudhri N. Neural correlates of recall and extinction in a rat model of appetitive Pavlovian conditioning. Behav Brain Res 2023; 440:114248. [PMID: 36496079 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Extinction is a fundamental form of inhibitory learning that is important for adapting to changing environmental contingencies. While numerous studies have investigated the neural correlates of extinction using Pavlovian fear conditioning and appetitive operant reward-seeking procedures, less is known about the neural circuitry mediating the extinction of appetitive Pavlovian responding. Here, we aimed to generate an extensive brain activation map of extinction learning in a rat model of appetitive Pavlovian conditioning. Male Long-Evans rats were trained to associate a conditioned stimulus (CS; 20 s white noise) with the delivery of a 10% sucrose unconditioned stimulus (US; 0.3 ml/CS) to a fluid port. Control groups also received CS presentations, but sucrose was delivered either during the inter-trial interval or in the home-cage. After conditioning, 1 or 6 extinction sessions were conducted in which the CS was presented but sucrose was withheld. We performed Fos immunohistochemistry and network connectivity analyses on a set of cortical, striatal, thalamic, and amygdalar brain regions. Neural activity in the prelimbic cortex, ventral orbitofrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens core, and paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus was greater during recall relative to extinction. Conversely, prolonged extinction following 6 sessions induced increased neural activity in the infralimbic cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, and nucleus accumbens shell compared to home-cage controls. All these structures were similarly recruited during recall on the first extinction session. These findings provide novel evidence for the contribution of brain areas and neural networks that are differentially involved in the recall versus extinction of appetitive Pavlovian conditioned responding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexa Brown
- Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
| | - Franz R Villaruel
- Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Nadia Chaudhri
- Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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