1
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Diehl MM, Moscarello JM, Trask S. Behavioral outputs and overlapping circuits between conditional fear and active avoidance. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2024; 213:107943. [PMID: 38821256 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2024.107943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Revised: 05/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024]
Abstract
Aversive learning can produce a wide variety of defensive behavioral responses depending on the circumstances, ranging from reactive responses like freezing to proactive avoidance responses. While most of this initial learning is behaviorally supported by an expectancy of an aversive outcome and neurally supported by activity within the basolateral amygdala, activity in other brain regions become necessary for the execution of defensive strategies that emerge in other aversive learning paradigms such as active avoidance. Here, we review the neural circuits that support both reactive and proactive defensive behaviors that are motivated by aversive learning, and identify commonalities between the neural substrates of these distinct (and often exclusive) behavioral strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria M Diehl
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
| | | | - Sydney Trask
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA; Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
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2
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Strigo IA, Craig ADB, Simmons AN. Expectation of pain and relief: A dynamical model of the neural basis for pain-trauma co-morbidity. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 163:105750. [PMID: 38849067 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105750] [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: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 05/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is highly co-morbid with chronic pain conditions. When present, PTSD significantly worsens chronic pain outcomes. Likewise, pain contributes to a more severe PTSD as evidenced by greater disability, more frequent use of harmful opioid analgesics and increased pain severity. The biomechanism behind this comorbidity is incompletely understood, however recent work strongly supports the widely-accepted role of expectation, in the entanglement of chronic pain and trauma symptoms. This work has shown that those with trauma have a maladaptive brain response while expecting stress and pain, whereas those with chronic pain may have a notable impairment in brain response while expecting pain relief. This dynamical expectation model of the interaction between neural systems underlying expectation of pain onset (traumatic stress) and pain offset (chronic pain) is biologically viable and may provide a biomechanistic insight into pain-trauma comorbidity. These predictive mechanisms work through interoceptive pathways in the brain critically the insula cortex. Here we highlight how the neural expectation-related mechanisms augment the existing models of pain and trauma to better understand the dynamics of pain and trauma comorbidity. These ideas will point to targeted complementary clinical approaches, based on mechanistically separable neural biophenotypes for the entanglement of chronic pain and trauma symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irina A Strigo
- Emotion and Pain Laboratory, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care Center, 4150 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, 401 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
| | | | - Alan N Simmons
- Center of Excellence in Stress and Mental Health, San Diego Veterans Affairs Health Care Center, 3350 La Jolla Village Dr, San Diego, CA 92161, USA; Stress and Neuroimaging Laboratory, San Diego Veterans Affairs Health Care Center, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, MC 151-B, San Diego, CA 92161, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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3
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Ghane M, Trambaiolli L, Bertocci MA, Martinez-Rivera FJ, Chase HW, Brady T, Skeba A, Graur S, Bonar L, Iyengar S, Quirk GJ, Rasmussen SA, Haber SN, Phillips ML. Specific Patterns of Endogenous Functional Connectivity Are Associated With Harm Avoidance in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Biol Psychiatry 2024; 96:137-146. [PMID: 38336216 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.12.027] [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: 07/07/2023] [Revised: 11/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) show persistent avoidance behaviors, often in the absence of actual threat. Quality-of-life costs and heterogeneity support the need for novel brain-behavior intervention targets. Informed by mechanistic and anatomical studies of persistent avoidance in rodents and nonhuman primates, our goal was to test whether connections within a hypothesized persistent avoidance-related network predicted OCD-related harm avoidance (HA), a trait measure of persistent avoidance. We hypothesized that 1) HA, not an OCD diagnosis, would be associated with altered endogenous connectivity in at least one connection in the network; 2) HA-specific findings would be robust to comorbid symptoms; and 3) reliable findings would replicate in a holdout testing subsample. METHODS Using resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging, cross-validated elastic net for feature selection, and Poisson generalized linear models, we tested which connections significantly predicted HA in our training subsample (n = 73; 71.8% female; healthy control group n = 36, OCD group n = 37); robustness to comorbidities; and replicability in a testing subsample (n = 30; 56.7% female; healthy control group n = 15, OCD group n = 15). RESULTS Stronger inverse connectivity between the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and right basolateral amygdala and stronger positive connectivity between the right ventral anterior insula and left ventral striatum were associated with greater HA across groups. Network connections did not discriminate OCD diagnostic status or predict HA-correlated traits, suggesting sensitivity to trait HA. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex-basolateral amygdala relationship was robust to controlling for comorbidities and medication in individuals with OCD and was also predictive of HA in our testing subsample. CONCLUSIONS Stronger inverse dorsal anterior cingulate cortex-basolateral amygdala connectivity was robustly and reliably associated with HA across groups and in OCD. Results support the relevance of a cross-species persistent avoidance-related network to OCD, with implications for precision-based approaches and treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Merage Ghane
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
| | - Lucas Trambaiolli
- Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Michele A Bertocci
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | | | - Henry W Chase
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Tyler Brady
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Alex Skeba
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Simona Graur
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Lisa Bonar
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Satish Iyengar
- Department of Statistics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Gregory J Quirk
- School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - Steven A Rasmussen
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
| | - Suzanne N Haber
- Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York
| | - Mary L Phillips
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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4
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Wang H, Flores RJ, Yarur HE, Limoges A, Bravo-Rivera H, Casello SM, Loomba N, Enriquez-Traba J, Arenivar M, Wang Q, Ganley R, Ramakrishnan C, Fenno LE, Kim Y, Deisseroth K, Or G, Dong C, Hoon MA, Tian L, Tejeda HA. Prefrontal cortical dynorphin peptidergic transmission constrains threat-driven behavioral and network states. Neuron 2024; 112:2062-2078.e7. [PMID: 38614102 PMCID: PMC11250624 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.03.015] [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: 01/18/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/15/2024]
Abstract
Prefrontal cortical (PFC) circuits provide top-down control of threat reactivity. This includes ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) circuitry, which plays a role in suppressing fear-related behavioral states. Dynorphin (Dyn) has been implicated in mediating negative affect and maladaptive behaviors induced by severe threats and is expressed in limbic circuits, including the vmPFC. However, there is a critical knowledge gap in our understanding of how vmPFC Dyn-expressing neurons and Dyn transmission detect threats and regulate expression of defensive behaviors. Here, we demonstrate that Dyn cells are broadly activated by threats and release Dyn locally in the vmPFC to limit passive defensive behaviors. We further demonstrate that vmPFC Dyn-mediated signaling promotes a switch of vmPFC networks to a fear-related state. In conclusion, we reveal a previously unknown role of vmPFC Dyn neurons and Dyn neuropeptidergic transmission in suppressing defensive behaviors in response to threats via state-driven changes in vmPFC networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huikun Wang
- Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration Unit, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Rodolfo J Flores
- Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration Unit, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Hector E Yarur
- Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration Unit, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Aaron Limoges
- Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration Unit, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; Columbia University - NIH Graduate Partnership Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Hector Bravo-Rivera
- Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration Unit, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sanne M Casello
- Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration Unit, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Niharika Loomba
- Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration Unit, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Juan Enriquez-Traba
- Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration Unit, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Miguel Arenivar
- Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration Unit, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; Brown University - NIH Graduate Partnership Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Queenie Wang
- Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration Unit, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Robert Ganley
- Molecular Genetics Section, Laboratory of Sensory Biology, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Charu Ramakrishnan
- Departments of Bioengineering and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Lief E Fenno
- Departments of Bioengineering and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Yoon Kim
- Departments of Bioengineering and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Karl Deisseroth
- Departments of Bioengineering and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Grace Or
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Chunyang Dong
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Mark A Hoon
- Molecular Genetics Section, Laboratory of Sensory Biology, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Lin Tian
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA; Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Hugo A Tejeda
- Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration Unit, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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5
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Ruble S, Kramer C, West L, Payne K, Ness H, Erickson G, Scott A, Diehl MM. Active avoidance recruits the anterior cingulate cortex regardless of social context in male and female rats. RESEARCH SQUARE 2024:rs.3.rs-3750422. [PMID: 38260416 PMCID: PMC10802695 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3750422/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Actively avoiding danger is necessary for survival. Most research has focused on the behavioral and neurobiological processes when individuals avoid danger alone, under solitary conditions. Therefore, little is known about how social context affects active avoidance. Using a modified version of the platform-mediated avoidance task in rats, we investigated whether the presence of a social partner attenuates conditioned freezing and enhances avoidance learning compared to avoidance learned under solitary conditions. Rats spent a similar percentage of time avoiding during the tone under both conditions; however, rats trained under social conditions exhibited greater freezing during the tone as well as lower rates of darting and food seeking compared to solitary rats. Under solitary conditions, we observed higher levels of avoidance in females compared to males, which was not present in rats trained under social conditions. To gain greater mechanistic insight, we optogenetically inactivated glutamatergic projection neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) following avoidance training. Photoinactivation of ACC neurons reduced expression of avoidance under social conditions both in the presence and absence of the partner. Under solitary conditions, photoinactivation of ACC delayed avoidance in males but blocked avoidance in females. Our findings suggest that avoidance is mediated by the ACC, regardless of social context, and may be dysfunctional in those suffering from trauma-related disorders. Furthermore, sex differences in prefrontal circuits mediating active avoidance warrant further investigation, given that females experience a higher risk of developing anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon Ruble
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
| | - Cassandra Kramer
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
| | - Lexe West
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
| | - Karissa Payne
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
| | - Halle Ness
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
| | - Greg Erickson
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
| | - Alyssa Scott
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
| | - Maria M. Diehl
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
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López-Moraga A, Luyten L, Beckers T. A history of avoidance does not impact extinction learning in male rats. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2024; 9:11. [PMID: 38402221 PMCID: PMC10894225 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-024-00223-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Pervasive avoidance is one of the central symptoms of all anxiety-related disorders. In treatment, avoidance behaviors are typically discouraged because they are assumed to maintain anxiety. Yet, it is not clear if engaging in avoidance is always detrimental. In this study, we used a platform-mediated avoidance task to investigate the influence of avoidance history on extinction learning in male rats. Our results show that having the opportunity to avoid during fear acquisition training does not significantly influence the extinction of auditory-cued fear in rats subjected to this platform-mediated avoidance procedure, which constitutes a realistic approach/avoidance conflict. This holds true irrespective of whether or not avoidance was possible during the extinction phase. This suggests that imposing a realistic cost on avoidance behavior prevents the adverse effects that avoidance has been claimed to have on extinction. However, avoidance does not appear to have clear positive effects on extinction learning nor on retention either.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alba López-Moraga
- Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Laura Luyten
- Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Tom Beckers
- Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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7
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Cohodes EM, Sisk LM, Keding TJ, Mandell JD, Notti ME, Gee DG. Characterizing experiential elements of early-life stress to inform resilience: Buffering effects of controllability and predictability and the importance of their timing. Dev Psychopathol 2023; 35:2288-2301. [PMID: 37496155 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579423000822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Key theoretical frameworks have proposed that examining the impact of exposure to specific dimensions of stress at specific developmental periods is likely to yield important insight into processes of risk and resilience. Utilizing a sample of N = 549 young adults who provided a detailed retrospective history of their lifetime exposure to numerous dimensions of traumatic stress and ratings of their current trauma-related symptomatology via completion of an online survey, here we test whether an individual's perception of their lifetime stress as either controllable or predictable buffered the impact of exposure on trauma-related symptomatology assessed in adulthood. Further, we tested whether this moderation effect differed when evaluated in the context of early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood stress. Consistent with hypotheses, results highlight both stressor controllability and stressor predictability as buffering the impact of traumatic stress exposure on trauma-related symptomatology and suggest that the potency of this buffering effect varies across unique developmental periods. Leveraging dimensional ratings of lifetime stress exposure to probe heterogeneity in outcomes following stress - and, critically, considering interactions between dimensions of exposure and the developmental period when stress occurred - is likely to yield increased understanding of risk and resilience following traumatic stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily M Cohodes
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Lucinda M Sisk
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Taylor J Keding
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jeffrey D Mandell
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Dylan G Gee
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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8
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Giovanniello J, Bravo-Rivera C, Rosenkranz A, Matthew Lattal K. Stress, associative learning, and decision-making. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2023; 204:107812. [PMID: 37598745 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2023.107812] [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: 03/10/2023] [Revised: 06/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to acute and chronic stress has significant effects on the basic mechanisms of associative learning and memory. Stress can both impair and enhance associative learning depending on type, intensity, and persistence of the stressor, the subject's sex, the context that the stress and behavior is experienced in, and the type of associative learning taking place. In some cases, stress can cause or exacerbate the maladaptive behavior that underlies numerous psychiatric conditions including anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder, and others. Therefore, it is critical to understand how the varied effects of stress, which may normally facilitate adaptive behavior, can also become maladaptive and even harmful. In this review, we highlight several findings of associative learning and decision-making processes that are affected by stress in both human and non-human subjects and how they are related to one another. An emerging theme from this work is that stress biases behavior towards less flexible strategies that may reflect a cautious insensitivity to changing contingencies. We consider how this inflexibility has been observed in different associative learning procedures and suggest that a goal for the field should be to clarify how factors such as sex and previous experience influence this inflexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christian Bravo-Rivera
- Departments of Psychiatry and Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, PR 00935, United States.
| | - Amiel Rosenkranz
- Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, United States.
| | - K Matthew Lattal
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, United States.
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9
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Klune CB, Goodpaster CM, Gongwer MW, Gabriel CJ, Chen R, Jones NS, Schwarz LA, DeNardo LA. Developmentally distinct architectures in top-down circuits. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.08.27.555010. [PMID: 37693480 PMCID: PMC10491090 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.27.555010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Abstract
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a key role in learning, mood and decision making, including in how individuals respond to threats 1-6 . mPFC undergoes a uniquely protracted development, with changes in synapse density, cortical thickness, long-range connectivity, and neuronal encoding properties continuing into early adulthood 7-21 . Models suggest that before adulthood, the slow-developing mPFC cannot adequately regulate activity in faster-developing subcortical centers 22,23 . They propose that during development, the enhanced influence of subcortical systems underlies distinctive behavioural strategies of juveniles and adolescents and that increasing mPFC control over subcortical structures eventually allows adult behaviours to emerge. Yet it has remained unclear how a progressive strengthening of top-down control can lead to nonlinear changes in behaviour as individuals mature 24,25 . To address this discrepancy, here we monitored and manipulated activity in the developing brain as animals responded to threats, establishing direct causal links between frontolimbic circuit activity and the behavioural strategies of juvenile, adolescent and adult mice. Rather than a linear strengthening of mPFC synaptic connectivity progressively regulating behaviour, we uncovered multiple developmental switches in the behavioural roles of mPFC circuits targeting the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc). We show these changes are accompanied by axonal pruning coinciding with functional strengthening of synaptic connectivity in the mPFC-BLA and mPFC-NAc pathways, which mature at different rates. Our results reveal how developing mPFC circuits pass through distinct architectures that may make them optimally adapted to the demands of age-specific challenges.
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10
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Collins B, Biddle M, Wood DR, Boyapati S, Barth M, Jeun C, Knox D. The role of avoidance in modulating single prolonged stress effects on emotional memory in male and female rats. Behav Brain Res 2023; 452:114579. [PMID: 37451551 PMCID: PMC10530017 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114579] [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: 05/09/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
The incidence of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is greater in women than men, but mechanisms via which this difference manifests remain under explored. The single prolonged stress (SPS) rodent model of traumatic stress has been used to identify mechanisms through which traumatic stress leads to deficits in retaining extinction (a core PTSD symptom), but has been mostly utilized in male model systems. Recent studies have observed that SPS leads to changes in persistent fear memory in female rats, though these results are variable. This variability could be driven by changes in behavioral strategy in females during extinction, but this possibility has not been sufficiently explored. To address this, we examined the impact of SPS on freezing and avoidance (a core PTSD symptom) during extinction in male and female rats. In male rats, SPS enhanced acquisition of conditioned freezing, but did not enhance freezing during extinction training or testing. SPS also decreased avoidance during extinction training, but not extinction testing. In female rats, SPS had no impact on conditioned freezing. Avoidance was not observed in control rats, but emerged in SPS/female rats during extinction testing. Furthermore, avoidance was negatively correlated with freezing in female rats (high avoidance associated with lower freezing), but this relationship was disrupted with SPS. The results suggest that introducing avoidance during extinction negates SPS effects on extinction retention in male and female rats, control/female rats engage in avoidance to regulate fear expression, and this relationship is disrupted with SPS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bailey Collins
- Department of Psychological and Brain Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Matthew Biddle
- Department of Psychological and Brain Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Donna R Wood
- Department of Psychological and Brain Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Sushma Boyapati
- Department of Psychological and Brain Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Michelle Barth
- Department of Psychological and Brain Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Celine Jeun
- Department of Psychological and Brain Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Dayan Knox
- Department of Psychological and Brain Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
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Gongwer MW, Klune CB, Couto J, Jin B, Enos AS, Chen R, Friedmann D, DeNardo LA. Brain-Wide Projections and Differential Encoding of Prefrontal Neuronal Classes Underlying Learned and Innate Threat Avoidance. J Neurosci 2023; 43:5810-5830. [PMID: 37491314 PMCID: PMC10423051 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0697-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023] Open
Abstract
To understand how the brain produces behavior, we must elucidate the relationships between neuronal connectivity and function. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is critical for complex functions including decision-making and mood. mPFC projection neurons collateralize extensively, but the relationships between mPFC neuronal activity and brain-wide connectivity are poorly understood. We performed whole-brain connectivity mapping and fiber photometry to better understand the mPFC circuits that control threat avoidance in male and female mice. Using tissue clearing and light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM), we mapped the brain-wide axon collaterals of populations of mPFC neurons that project to nucleus accumbens (NAc), ventral tegmental area (VTA), or contralateral mPFC (cmPFC). We present DeepTraCE (deep learning-based tracing with combined enhancement), for quantifying bulk-labeled axonal projections in images of cleared tissue, and DeepCOUNT (deep-learning based counting of objects via 3D U-net pixel tagging), for quantifying cell bodies. Anatomical maps produced with DeepTraCE aligned with known axonal projection patterns and revealed class-specific topographic projections within regions. Using TRAP2 mice and DeepCOUNT, we analyzed whole-brain functional connectivity underlying threat avoidance. PL was the most highly connected node with functional connections to subsets of PL-cPL, PL-NAc, and PL-VTA target sites. Using fiber photometry, we found that during threat avoidance, cmPFC and NAc-projectors encoded conditioned stimuli, but only when action was required to avoid threats. mPFC-VTA neurons encoded learned but not innate avoidance behaviors. Together our results present new and optimized approaches for quantitative whole-brain analysis and indicate that anatomically defined classes of mPFC neurons have specialized roles in threat avoidance.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Understanding how the brain produces complex behaviors requires detailed knowledge of the relationships between neuronal connectivity and function. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a key role in learning, mood, and decision-making, including evaluating and responding to threats. mPFC dysfunction is strongly linked to fear, anxiety and mood disorders. Although mPFC circuits are clear therapeutic targets, gaps in our understanding of how they produce cognitive and emotional behaviors prevent us from designing effective interventions. To address this, we developed a high-throughput analysis pipeline for quantifying bulk-labeled fluorescent axons [DeepTraCE (deep learning-based tracing with combined enhancement)] or cell bodies [DeepCOUNT (deep-learning based counting of objects via 3D U-net pixel tagging)] in intact cleared brains. Using DeepTraCE, DeepCOUNT, and fiber photometry, we performed detailed anatomic and functional mapping of mPFC neuronal classes, identifying specialized roles in threat avoidance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael W Gongwer
- Department of Physiology
- Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program
- Medical Scientist Training Program
| | | | | | - Benita Jin
- Department of Physiology
- Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095
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12
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Chou MY, Wong YC, Wang SY, Chi CH, Wang TH, Huang MJ, Huang PH, Li PH, Wang MF. Potential antidepressant effects of a dietary supplement from Huáng qí and its complex in aged senescence-accelerated mouse prone-8 mice. Front Nutr 2023; 10:1235780. [PMID: 37575325 PMCID: PMC10421658 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1235780] [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: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Healthcare is an emerging industry with significant market potential in the 21st century. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the benefits of tube feeding Huáng qí and its complexes for 8 weeks on 3-month-old senescence-accelerated mouse prone-8 (SAMP8) mice, 48 in total, randomly divided into 3 groups including control, Huáng qí extract [820 mg/kg Body weight (BW)/day], and Huáng qí complexes (6.2 mL /kg BW/day), where each group consisted of males (n = 8) and females (n = 8). Behavioral tests (locomotion test and aging score assessment on week 6, the single-trial passive avoidance test on week 7, and the active shuttle avoidance test on week 8) were conducted to evaluate the ability of the mice to learn and remember. In addition, after sacrificing the animals, the blood and organs were measured for antioxidant and aging bioactivities, including malondialdehyde (MDA) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and catalase activities (CAT), and the effects on promoting aging in SAMP8 mice were investigated. The findings showed that Huáng qí enhanced locomotor performance and had anti-aging effects, with positive effects on health, learning, and memory in SAMP-8 mice (p < 0.05), whether applied as a single agent (820 mg/kg BW/day) or as a complex (6.2 mL/kg BW/day) (p < 0.05). Based on existing strengths, a more compelling platform for clinical validation of human clinical evidence will be established to enhance the development and value-added of astragalus-related products while meeting the diversified needs of the functional food market.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Yu Chou
- School of Business, Qanzhou Vocational and Technical University, Jinjiang, China
- International Aging Industry Research & Development Center (AIC), Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Yue-Ching Wong
- Department of Nutrition, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Shih-Yi Wang
- International Aging Industry Research & Development Center (AIC), Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Ching-Hsin Chi
- International Aging Industry Research & Development Center (AIC), Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Teng-Hsu Wang
- PhytoHealth Corporation, Taipei city, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Mao-Jung Huang
- School of General Education, Hsiuping University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Ping-Hsiu Huang
- School of Food, Jiangsu Food and Pharmaceutical Science College, Huai’an, China
| | - Po-Hsien Li
- Department of Food and Nutrition, Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Ming-Fu Wang
- International Aging Industry Research & Development Center (AIC), Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
- Department of Food and Nutrition, Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
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13
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Neural effects of controllability as a key dimension of stress exposure. Dev Psychopathol 2023; 35:218-227. [PMID: 35034670 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579421001498] [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: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Cross-species evidence suggests that the ability to exert control over a stressor is a key dimension of stress exposure that may sensitize frontostriatal-amygdala circuitry to promote more adaptive responses to subsequent stressors. The present study examined neural correlates of stressor controllability in young adults. Participants (N = 56; Mage = 23.74, range = 18-30 years) completed either the controllable or uncontrollable stress condition of the first of two novel stressor controllability tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquisition. Participants in the uncontrollable stress condition were yoked to age- and sex-matched participants in the controllable stress condition. All participants were subsequently exposed to uncontrollable stress in the second task, which is the focus of fMRI analyses reported here. A whole-brain searchlight classification analysis revealed that patterns of activity in the right dorsal anterior insula (dAI) during subsequent exposure to uncontrollable stress could be used to classify participants' initial exposure to either controllable or uncontrollable stress with a peak of 73% accuracy. Previous experience of exerting control over a stressor may change the computations performed within the right dAI during subsequent stress exposure, shedding further light on the neural underpinnings of stressor controllability.
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14
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Johnson SB, Lingg RT, Skog TD, Hinz DC, Romig-Martin SA, Viau V, Narayanan NS, Radley JJ. Activity in a prefrontal-periaqueductal gray circuit overcomes behavioral and endocrine features of the passive coping stress response. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2210783119. [PMID: 36306326 PMCID: PMC9636920 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2210783119] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The question of how the brain links behavioral and biological features of defensive responses has remained elusive. The importance of this problem is underscored by the observation that behavioral passivity in stress coping is associated with elevations in glucocorticoid hormones, and each may carry risks for susceptibility to a host of stress-related diseases. Past work implicates the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in the top-down regulation of stress-related behaviors; however, it is unknown whether such changes have the capacity to buffer against the longer-lasting biological consequences associated with aversive experiences. Using the shock probe defensive burying test in rats to naturalistically measure behavioral and endocrine features of coping, we observed that the active behavioral component of stress coping is associated with increases in activity along a circuit involving the caudal mPFC and midbrain dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (PAG). Optogenetic manipulations of the caudal mPFC-to-dorsolateral PAG pathway bidirectionally modulated active (escape and defensive burying) behaviors, distinct from a rostral mPFC-ventrolateral PAG circuit that instead limited passive (immobility) behavior. Strikingly, under conditions that biased rats toward a passive coping response set, including exaggerated stress hormonal output and increased immobility, excitation of the caudal mPFC-dorsolateral PAG projection significantly attenuated each of these features. These results lend insight into how the brain coordinates response features to overcome passive coping and may be of importance for understanding how activated neural systems promote stress resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shane B. Johnson
- Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
| | - Ryan T. Lingg
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
| | - Timothy D. Skog
- Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
| | - Dalton C. Hinz
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
| | - Sara A. Romig-Martin
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
| | - Victor Viau
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada
| | - Nandakumar S. Narayanan
- Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
- Department of Neurology, Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
| | - Jason J. Radley
- Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
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15
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Papalini S, Neefs L, Beckers T, Oudenhove LV, Vervliet B. Overnight fasting affects avoidance learning and relief. Nutr Neurosci 2022:1-14. [PMID: 35943328 DOI: 10.1080/1028415x.2022.2103068] [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: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES prolonged fasting influences threat and reward processing, two fundamental systems underpinning adaptive behaviors. In animals, overnight fasting sensitizes the mesolimbic-dopaminergic activity governing avoidance, reward, and fearextinction learning. Despite evidence that overnight fasting may also affect reward and fear learning in humans, effects on human avoidance learning have not been studied yet. Here, we examined the effects of 16 h-overnight fasting on instrumental avoidance and relief from threat omission. METHODS to this end, 50 healthy women were randomly assigned to a Fasting (N = 25) or a Re-feeding group (N = 25) and performed an Avoidance-Relief Task. RESULTS we found that fasting decreases unnecessary avoidance during signaled safety; this effect was mediated via a reduction in relief pleasantness during signaled absence of threat. A fasting-induced reduction in relief was also found during fear extinction learning. DISCUSSION we conclude that fasting optimizes avoidance and safety learning. Future studies should test whether these effects also hold for anxious individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Papalini
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Laura Neefs
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Tom Beckers
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology & Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lukas Van Oudenhove
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Laboratory for Brain-Gut Axis Studies, Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders, Department of Chronic Diseases and Metabolism, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Bram Vervliet
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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16
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Ball TM, Gunaydin LA. Measuring maladaptive avoidance: from animal models to clinical anxiety. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:978-986. [PMID: 35034097 PMCID: PMC8938494 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01263-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2021] [Revised: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 12/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Avoiding stimuli that predict danger is required for survival. However, avoidance can become maladaptive in individuals who overestimate threat and thus avoid safe situations as well as dangerous ones. Excessive avoidance is a core feature of anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This avoidance prevents patients from confronting maladaptive threat beliefs, thereby maintaining disordered anxiety. Avoidance is associated with high levels of psychosocial impairment yet is poorly understood at a mechanistic level. Many objective laboratory assessments of avoidance measure adaptive avoidance, in which an individual learns to successfully avoid a truly noxious stimulus. However, anxiety disorders are characterized by maladaptive avoidance, for which there are fewer objective laboratory measures. We posit that maladaptive avoidance behavior depends on a combination of three altered neurobehavioral processes: (1) threat appraisal, (2) habitual avoidance, and (3) trait avoidance tendency. This heterogeneity in underlying processes presents challenges to the objective measurement of maladaptive avoidance behavior. Here we first review existing paradigms for measuring avoidance behavior and its underlying neural mechanisms in both human and animal models, and identify how existing paradigms relate to these neurobehavioral processes. We then propose a new framework to improve the translational understanding of maladaptive avoidance behavior by adapting paradigms to better differentiate underlying processes and mechanisms and applying these paradigms in clinical populations across diagnoses with the goal of developing novel interventions to engage specific identified neurobehavioral targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tali M. Ball
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Lisa A. Gunaydin
- grid.266102.10000 0001 2297 6811Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA ,grid.266102.10000 0001 2297 6811Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA
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17
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Ghafarimoghadam M, Mashayekh R, Gholami M, Fereydani P, Shelley-Tremblay J, Kandezi N, Sabouri E, Motaghinejad M. A review of behavioral methods for the evaluation of cognitive performance in animal models: Current techniques and links to human cognition. Physiol Behav 2022; 244:113652. [PMID: 34801559 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2021] [Revised: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Memory is defined as the ability to store, maintain and retrieve information. Learning is the acquisition of information that changes behavior and memory. Stress, dementia, head trauma, amnesia, Alzheimer's, Huntington, Parkinson's, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) may be mentioned among the diseases in which memory and learning are affected. The task of understanding deficits in memory and learning in humans is daunting due to the complexity of neural and cognitive mechanisms in the nervous system. This job is made more difficult for clinicians and researchers by the fact that many techniques used to research memory are not ethically acceptable or technically feasible for use in humans. Thus, animal models have been necessary alternative for studying normal and disordered learning and memory. This review attempts to bridge these domains to allow biomedical researchers to have a firm grasp of "memory" and "learning" as constructs in humans whereby they may then select the proper animal cognitive test. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION Various tests (open field habituation test, Y-maze test, passive avoidance test, step-down inhibitory avoidance test, active avoidance test, 8-arms radial maze test, Morris water maze test, radial arm water maze, novel object recognition test and gait function test) have been designed to evaluate different kinds of memory. Each of these tests has their strengths and limits. Abnormal results obtained using these tasks in non-human animals indicate malfunctions in memory which may be due to several physiological and psychological diseases of nervous system. Further studies by using the discussed tests can be very beneficial for achieving a therapeutic answer to these diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Ghafarimoghadam
- Department of pharmaceutical chemistry, faculty of pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences branch, Islamic Azad University (IUAPS), Tehran, Iran
| | - Roya Mashayekh
- Department of pharmaceutical chemistry, faculty of pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences branch, Islamic Azad University (IUAPS), Tehran, Iran
| | - Mina Gholami
- School of medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Pardis Fereydani
- Department of pharmaceutical chemistry, faculty of pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences branch, Islamic Azad University (IUAPS), Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Niyoosha Kandezi
- Department of Psychology, University of South Alabama, Alabama, USA
| | - Erfan Sabouri
- Clinical Research Development Center, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran
| | - Majid Motaghinejad
- Chronic Respiratory Disease Research Center (CRDRC), National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
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18
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Gabriel CJ, Zeidler Z, Jin B, Guo C, Goodpaster CM, Kashay AQ, Wu A, Delaney M, Cheung J, DiFazio LE, Sharpe MJ, Aharoni D, Wilke SA, DeNardo LA. BehaviorDEPOT is a simple, flexible tool for automated behavioral detection based on markerless pose tracking. eLife 2022; 11:74314. [PMID: 35997072 PMCID: PMC9398447 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Quantitative descriptions of animal behavior are essential to study the neural substrates of cognitive and emotional processes. Analyses of naturalistic behaviors are often performed by hand or with expensive, inflexible commercial software. Recently, machine learning methods for markerless pose estimation enabled automated tracking of freely moving animals, including in labs with limited coding expertise. However, classifying specific behaviors based on pose data requires additional computational analyses and remains a significant challenge for many groups. We developed BehaviorDEPOT (DEcoding behavior based on POsitional Tracking), a simple, flexible software program that can detect behavior from video timeseries and can analyze the results of experimental assays. BehaviorDEPOT calculates kinematic and postural statistics from keypoint tracking data and creates heuristics that reliably detect behaviors. It requires no programming experience and is applicable to a wide range of behaviors and experimental designs. We provide several hard-coded heuristics. Our freezing detection heuristic achieves above 90% accuracy in videos of mice and rats, including those wearing tethered head-mounts. BehaviorDEPOT also helps researchers develop their own heuristics and incorporate them into the software's graphical interface. Behavioral data is stored framewise for easy alignment with neural data. We demonstrate the immediate utility and flexibility of BehaviorDEPOT using popular assays including fear conditioning, decision-making in a T-maze, open field, elevated plus maze, and novel object exploration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Gabriel
- Department of Physiology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States,UCLA Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Zachary Zeidler
- Department of Physiology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Benita Jin
- Department of Physiology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States,UCLA Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology Program, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Changliang Guo
- Department of Neurology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Caitlin M Goodpaster
- UCLA Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Adrienne Q Kashay
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Anna Wu
- Department of Physiology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Molly Delaney
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Jovian Cheung
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Lauren E DiFazio
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Melissa J Sharpe
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Daniel Aharoni
- Department of Neurology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Scott A Wilke
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Laura A DeNardo
- Department of Physiology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
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19
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Anderson MC, Floresco SB. Prefrontal-hippocampal interactions supporting the extinction of emotional memories: the retrieval stopping model. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:180-195. [PMID: 34446831 PMCID: PMC8616908 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01131-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2021] [Revised: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Neuroimaging has revealed robust interactions between the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus when people stop memory retrieval. Efforts to stop retrieval can arise when people encounter reminders to unpleasant thoughts they prefer not to think about. Retrieval stopping suppresses hippocampal and amygdala activity, especially when cues elicit aversive memory intrusions, via a broad inhibitory control capacity enabling prepotent response suppression. Repeated retrieval stopping reduces intrusions of unpleasant memories and diminishes their affective tone, outcomes resembling those achieved by the extinction of conditioned emotional responses. Despite this resemblance, the role of inhibitory fronto-hippocampal interactions and retrieval stopping broadly in extinction has received little attention. Here we integrate human and animal research on extinction and retrieval stopping. We argue that reconceptualising extinction to integrate mnemonic inhibitory control with learning would yield a greater understanding of extinction's relevance to mental health. We hypothesize that fear extinction spontaneously engages retrieval stopping across species, and that controlled suppression of hippocampal and amygdala activity by the prefrontal cortex reduces fearful thoughts. Moreover, we argue that retrieval stopping recruits extinction circuitry to achieve affect regulation, linking extinction to how humans cope with intrusive thoughts. We discuss novel hypotheses derived from this theoretical synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael C Anderson
- MRC Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Stan B Floresco
- Department of Psychology, and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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20
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Ahmari SE, Rauch SL. The prefrontal cortex and OCD. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:211-224. [PMID: 34400778 PMCID: PMC8617188 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01130-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Revised: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a highly prevalent and severe neuropsychiatric disorder, with an incidence of 1.5-3% worldwide. However, despite the clear public health burden of OCD and relatively well-defined symptom criteria, effective treatments are still limited, spotlighting the need for investigation of the neural substrates of the disorder. Human neuroimaging studies have consistently highlighted abnormal activity patterns in prefrontal cortex (PFC) regions and connected circuits in OCD during both symptom provocation and performance of neurocognitive tasks. Because of recent technical advances, these findings can now be leveraged to develop novel targeted interventions. Here we will highlight current theories regarding the role of the prefrontal cortex in the generation of OCD symptoms, discuss ways in which this knowledge can be used to improve treatments for this often disabling illness, and lay out challenges in the field for future study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne E Ahmari
- Translational Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Scott L Rauch
- Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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21
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Nett KE, LaLumiere RT. Infralimbic cortex functioning across motivated behaviors: Can the differences be reconciled? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 131:704-721. [PMID: 34624366 PMCID: PMC8642304 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2021] [Revised: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 10/02/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The rodent infralimbic cortex (IL) is implicated in higher order executive functions such as reward seeking and flexible decision making. However, the precise nature of its role in these processes is unclear. Early evidence indicated that the IL promotes the extinction and ongoing inhibition of fear conditioning and cocaine seeking. However, evidence spanning other behavioral domains, such as natural reward seeking and habit-based learning, suggests a more nuanced understanding of IL function. As techniques have advanced and more studies have examined IL function, identifying a unifying explanation for its behavioral function has become increasingly difficult. Here, we discuss evidence of IL function across motivated behaviors, including associative learning, drug seeking, natural reward seeking, and goal-directed versus habit-based behaviors, and emphasize how context-specific encoding and heterogeneous IL neuronal populations may underlie seemingly conflicting findings in the literature. Together, the evidence suggests that a major IL function is to facilitate the encoding and updating of contingencies between cues and behaviors to guide subsequent behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelle E Nett
- Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
| | - Ryan T LaLumiere
- Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States; Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
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22
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Lguensat A, Boudjafad Z, Giorla E, Bennis M, Baunez C, Garcia R, Ba-M'hamed S. Repeated ethanol exposure following avoidance conditioning impairs avoidance extinction and modifies conditioning-associated prefrontal dendritic changes in a mouse model of post-traumatic stress disorder. Eur J Neurosci 2021; 54:7710-7732. [PMID: 34670326 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15499] [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: 04/06/2021] [Revised: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 10/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder is complicated by the presence of alcohol use disorder comorbidity. Little is known about the underlying brain mechanisms. We have recently shown, in mice, that the post-traumatic stress disorder-like phenotype is characterised by the increase and decrease in total dendritic number and length in the prelimbic and infralimbic areas of the medial prefrontal cortex, respectively. Here, we examined whether repeated ethanol exposure would exacerbate these changes and whether this would be associated with difficulty to extinguish passive avoidance behaviour, as an indicator of treatment resistance. We also analysed whether other known trauma-associated changes, like increased or decreased corticosterone and decreased brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels, would also be exacerbated. Male mice underwent trauma exposure (1.5-mA footshock), followed, 8 days later, by a conditioned place preference training with ethanol. Tests for fear sensitization, passive avoidance, anxiety-like behaviour, extinction acquisition and relapse susceptibility were used to assess behaviour changes. Plasma corticosterone and brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels and prefrontal dendritic changes were subsequently measured. Trauma-susceptible mice exposed to ethanol acquired a strong place preference and behaved differently from those not exposed to ethanol, with delayed avoidance extinction and higher avoidance relapse vulnerability. Ethanol potentiated trauma-associated dendritic changes in the prelimbic area and suppressed trauma-associated dendritic changes in the infralimbic area. However, ethanol had no effect on trauma-induced increased corticosterone and decreased brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels. These data suggest that the modification of prefrontal trauma-related changes, due to alcohol use, can characterise, and probably support, treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asmae Lguensat
- Laboratoire de Pharmacologie, Neurobiologie, Anthropologie et Environnement, Université Cadi Ayyad, Marrakesh, Morocco.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France
| | - Zineb Boudjafad
- Laboratoire de Pharmacologie, Neurobiologie, Anthropologie et Environnement, Université Cadi Ayyad, Marrakesh, Morocco
| | - Elodie Giorla
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France
| | - Mohamed Bennis
- Laboratoire de Pharmacologie, Neurobiologie, Anthropologie et Environnement, Université Cadi Ayyad, Marrakesh, Morocco
| | - Christelle Baunez
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France
| | - René Garcia
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France.,Graduate School of Life and Health Sciences, Université Côte d'Azur, Nice, France
| | - Saadia Ba-M'hamed
- Laboratoire de Pharmacologie, Neurobiologie, Anthropologie et Environnement, Université Cadi Ayyad, Marrakesh, Morocco
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23
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Cooper SE, Dunsmoor JE. Fear conditioning and extinction in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A systematic review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 129:75-94. [PMID: 34314751 PMCID: PMC8429207 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.07.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Revised: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Laboratory experiments using fear conditioning and extinction protocols help lay the groundwork for designing, testing, and optimizing innovative treatments for anxiety-related disorders. Yet, there is limited basic research on fear conditioning and extinction in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This is surprising because exposure-based treatments based on associative learning principles are among the most popular and effective treatment options for OCD. Here, we systematically review and critically assess existing aversive conditioning and extinction studies of OCD. Across 12 studies, there was moderate evidence that OCD is associated with abnormal acquisition of conditioned responses that differ from comparison groups. There was relatively stronger evidence of OCD's association with impaired extinction processes. This included multiple studies finding elevated conditioned responses during extinction learning and poorer threat/safety discrimination during recall, although a minority of studies yielded results inconsistent with this conclusion. Overall, the conditioning model holds value for OCD research, but more work is necessary to clarify emerging patterns of results and increase clinical translational utility to the level seen in other anxiety-related disorders. We detail limitations in the literature and suggest next steps, including modeling OCD with more complex conditioning methodology (e.g., semantic/conceptual generalization, avoidance) and improving individual-differences assessment with dimensional techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel E Cooper
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
| | - Joseph E Dunsmoor
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
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24
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Campese VD. The lesser evil: Pavlovian-instrumental transfer & aversive motivation. Behav Brain Res 2021; 412:113431. [PMID: 34175357 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2021] [Revised: 06/13/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
While our understanding of appetitive motivation includes accounts of rich cognitive phenomena, such as choice, sensory-specificity and outcome valuation, the same is not true in aversive processes. A highly sophisticated picture has emerged of Pavlovian fear conditioning and extinction, but progress in aversive motivation has been somewhat limited to these fundamental behaviors. Many differences between appetitive and aversive stimuli permit different kinds of analyses; a widely used procedure in appetitive studies that can expand the scope of aversive motivation is Pavlovian-instrumental transfer (PIT). Recently, this motivational transfer effect has been used to examine issues pertaining to sensory-specificity and the nature of defensive control in avoidance learning. Given enduring controversies and unresolved criticisms surrounding avoidance research, PIT offers a valuable, well-controlled procedure with which to similarly probe this form of motivation. Furthermore, while avoidance itself can be criticized as artificial, PIT can be an effective model for how skills learned through avoidance can be practically applied to encounters with threatening or fearful stimuli and stress. Despite sensory-related challenges presented by the limited aversive unconditioned stimuli typically used in research, transfer testing can nevertheless provide valuable information on the psychological nature of this historically controversial phenomenon.
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25
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Papalini S, Beckers T, Claes L, Vervliet B. The drive for thinness: Towards a mechanistic understanding of avoidance behaviors in a non-clinical population. Behav Res Ther 2021; 142:103868. [PMID: 33971547 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2020] [Revised: 04/12/2021] [Accepted: 04/18/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Fear of weight gain is a cardinal feature of eating disorders, including Anorexia Nervosa (AN). This fear motivates behaviors aimed at avoiding weight gain, such as restricting food intake. Of note, avoidance in AN is not confined to food-related items but extends to intense emotional states. Despite the presence of several forms of excessive avoidance in AN, little is known about the mechanisms underpinning avoidance behavior in AN. In the present exploratory study, we investigated whether university students with an elevated desire to avoid weight gain (as measured through self-reported Drive for Thinness, DT) show deficits in generic avoidance learning. Two-hundred and seventy-five female students filled in the Eating Disorder Inventory-II (EDI-II) and performed a food-unrelated avoidance task. Generalized and linear mixed models (GLMM) revealed that students scoring higher on the DT scale of the EDI-II showed more ineffective avoidance, suggesting a tendency for excessive avoidance in at-risk individuals for AN. Similar results might extend to other eating disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Papalini
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium.
| | - T Beckers
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium; Research Unit Behaviour, Health and Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - L Claes
- Research Unit Behaviour, Health and Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - B Vervliet
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium
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26
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Bouton ME, Maren S, McNally GP. BEHAVIORAL AND NEUROBIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF PAVLOVIAN AND INSTRUMENTAL EXTINCTION LEARNING. Physiol Rev 2021; 101:611-681. [PMID: 32970967 PMCID: PMC8428921 DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00016.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 152] [Impact Index Per Article: 50.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
This article reviews the behavioral neuroscience of extinction, the phenomenon in which a behavior that has been acquired through Pavlovian or instrumental (operant) learning decreases in strength when the outcome that reinforced it is removed. Behavioral research indicates that neither Pavlovian nor operant extinction depends substantially on erasure of the original learning but instead depends on new inhibitory learning that is primarily expressed in the context in which it is learned, as exemplified by the renewal effect. Although the nature of the inhibition may differ in Pavlovian and operant extinction, in either case the decline in responding may depend on both generalization decrement and the correction of prediction error. At the neural level, Pavlovian extinction requires a tripartite neural circuit involving the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus. Synaptic plasticity in the amygdala is essential for extinction learning, and prefrontal cortical inhibition of amygdala neurons encoding fear memories is involved in extinction retrieval. Hippocampal-prefrontal circuits mediate fear relapse phenomena, including renewal. Instrumental extinction involves distinct ensembles in corticostriatal, striatopallidal, and striatohypothalamic circuits as well as their thalamic returns for inhibitory (extinction) and excitatory (renewal and other relapse phenomena) control over operant responding. The field has made significant progress in recent decades, although a fully integrated biobehavioral understanding still awaits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark E Bouton
- Department of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
| | - Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Gavan P McNally
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
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27
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Pittig A, Boschet JM, Glück VM, Schneider K. Elevated costly avoidance in anxiety disorders: Patients show little downregulation of acquired avoidance in face of competing rewards for approach. Depress Anxiety 2021; 38:361-371. [PMID: 33258530 DOI: 10.1002/da.23119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Revised: 10/26/2020] [Accepted: 11/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pathological avoidance is a transdiagnostic characteristic of anxiety disorders. Avoidance conditioning re-emerged as a translational model to examine mechanisms and treatment of avoidance. However, its validity for anxiety disorders remains unclear. METHODS This study tested for altered avoidance in patients with anxiety disorders compared to matched controls (n = 40/group) using instrumental conditioning assessing low-cost avoidance (avoiding a single aversive outcome) and costly avoidance (avoidance conflicted with gaining rewards). Autonomic arousal and threat expectancy were assessed as indicators of conditioned fear. Associations with dimensional symptom severity were examined. RESULTS Patients and controls showed frequent low-cost avoidance without group differences. Controls subsequently inhibited avoidance to gain rewards, which was amplified when aversive outcomes discontinued. In contrast, patients failed to reduce avoidance when aversive and positive outcomes competed (elevated costly avoidance) and showed limited reduction when aversive outcomes discontinued (persistent costly avoidance). Interestingly, elevated costly avoidance was not linked to higher conditioned fear in patients. Moreover, individual data revealed a bimodal distribution of costly avoidance: Some patients showed persistent avoidance, others showed little to no avoidance. Persistent versus low avoiders did not differ in other task-related variables, response to gains and losses in absence of threat, sociodemographic data, or clinical characteristics. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that anxious psychopathology is associated with a deficit to inhibit avoidance in presence of competing positive outcomes. This offers novel perspectives for research on mechanisms and treatment of anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andre Pittig
- Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.,Center of Mental Health, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Juliane M Boschet
- Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Valentina M Glück
- Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Kristina Schneider
- Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.,Center of Mental Health, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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28
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The role of context in persistent avoidance and the predictive value of relief. Behav Res Ther 2021; 138:103816. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Revised: 01/07/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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29
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Bravo-Rivera H, Rubio Arzola P, Caban-Murillo A, Vélez-Avilés AN, Ayala-Rosario SN, Quirk GJ. Characterizing Different Strategies for Resolving Approach-Avoidance Conflict. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:608922. [PMID: 33716644 PMCID: PMC7947632 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.608922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability of animals to maximize benefits and minimize costs during approach-avoidance conflicts is an important evolutionary tool, but little is known about the emergence of specific strategies for conflict resolution. Accordingly, we developed a simple approach-avoidance conflict task in rats that pits the motivation to press a lever for sucrose against the motivation to step onto a distant platform to avoid a footshock delivered at the end of a 30 s tone (sucrose is available only during the tone). Rats received conflict training for 16 days to give them a chance to optimize their strategy by learning to properly time the expression of both behaviors across the tone. Rats unexpectedly separated into three distinct subgroups: those pressing early in the tone and avoiding later (Timers, 49%); those avoiding throughout the tone (Avoidance-preferring, 32%); and those pressing throughout the tone (Approach-preferring, 19%). The immediate early gene cFos revealed that Timers showed increased activity in the ventral striatum and midline thalamus relative to the other two subgroups, Avoidance-preferring rats showed increased activity in the amygdala, and Approach-preferring rats showed decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex. This pattern is consistent with low fear and high behavioral flexibility in Timers, suggesting the potential of this task to reveal the neural mechanisms of conflict resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hector Bravo-Rivera
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - Patricia Rubio Arzola
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - Albit Caban-Murillo
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - Adriana N. Vélez-Avilés
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - Shantée N. Ayala-Rosario
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - Gregory J. Quirk
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
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30
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Abstract
OCD has lagged behind other psychiatric illnesses in the identification of molecular treatment targets, due in part to a lack of significant findings in genome-wide association studies. However, while progress in this area is being made, OCD's symptoms of obsessions, compulsions, and anxiety can be deconstructed into distinct neural functions that can be dissected in animal models. Studies in rodents and non-human primates have highlighted the importance of cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic circuits in OCD pathophysiology, and emerging studies in human post-mortem brain tissue point to glutamatergic synapse abnormalities as a potential cellular substrate for observed dysfunctional behaviors. In addition, accumulated evidence points to a potential role for neuromodulators including serotonin and dopamine in both OCD pathology and treatment. Here, we review current efforts to use animal models for the identification of molecules, cell types, and circuits relevant to OCD pathophysiology. We start by describing features of OCD that can be modeled in animals, including circuit abnormalities and genetic findings. We then review different strategies that have been used to study OCD using animal model systems, including transgenic models, circuit manipulations, and dissection of OCD-relevant neural constructs. Finally, we discuss how these findings may ultimately help to develop new treatment strategies for OCD and other related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brittany L Chamberlain
- Department of Psychiatry, Translational Neuroscience Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.,Center for Neuroscience Program and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Susanne E Ahmari
- Department of Psychiatry, Translational Neuroscience Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. .,Center for Neuroscience Program and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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31
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McLaughlin AE, Diehl GW, Redish AD. Potential roles of the rodent medial prefrontal cortex in conflict resolution between multiple decision-making systems. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY 2020; 158:249-281. [PMID: 33785147 PMCID: PMC8211383 DOI: 10.1016/bs.irn.2020.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian decision-making is mediated by the interaction of multiple, neurally and computationally separable decision systems. Having multiple systems requires a mechanism to manage conflict and converge onto the selection of singular actions. A long history of evidence has pointed to the prefrontal cortex as a central component in processing the interactions between distinct decision systems and resolving conflicts among them. In this chapter we review four theories of how that interaction might occur and identify how the medial prefrontal cortex in the rodent may be involved in each theory. We then present experimental predictions implied by the neurobiological data in the context of each theory as a starting point for future investigation of medial prefrontal cortex and decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amber E McLaughlin
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Geoffrey W Diehl
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - A David Redish
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
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32
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Basal Ganglia Output Has a Permissive Non-Driving Role in a Signaled Locomotor Action Mediated by the Midbrain. J Neurosci 2020; 41:1529-1552. [PMID: 33328292 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1067-20.2020] [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: 05/04/2020] [Revised: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The basal ganglia are important for movement and reinforcement learning. Using mice of either sex, we found that the main basal ganglia GABAergic output in the midbrain, the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr), shows movement-related neural activity during the expression of a negatively reinforced signaled locomotor action known as signaled active avoidance; this action involves mice moving away during a warning signal to avoid a threat. In particular, many SNr neurons deactivate during active avoidance responses. However, whether SNr deactivation has an essential role driving or regulating active avoidance responses is unknown. We found that optogenetic excitation of SNr or striatal GABAergic fibers that project to an area in the pedunculopontine tegmentum (PPT) within the midbrain locomotor region abolishes signaled active avoidance responses, while optogenetic inhibition of SNr cells (mimicking the SNr deactivation observed during an active avoidance behavior) serves as an effective conditioned stimulus signal to drive avoidance responses by disinhibiting PPT neurons. However, preclusion of SNr deactivation, or direct inhibition of SNr fibers in the PPT, does not impair the expression of signaled active avoidance, indicating that SNr output does not drive the expression of a signaled locomotor action mediated by the midbrain. Consistent with a permissive regulatory role, SNr output provides information about the state of the ongoing action to downstream structures that mediate the action.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT During signaled active avoidance behavior, subjects move away to avoid a threat when directed by an innocuous sensory stimulus. Excitation of GABAergic cells in the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr), the main output of the basal ganglia, blocks signaled active avoidance, while inhibition of SNr cells is an effective stimulus to drive active avoidance. Interestingly, many SNr cells inhibit their firing during active avoidance responses, suggesting that SNr inhibition could be driving avoidance responses by disinhibiting downstream areas. However, interfering with the modulation of SNr cells does not impair the behavior. Thus, SNr may regulate the active avoidance movement in downstream areas that mediate the behavior, but does not drive it.
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33
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Manning EE, Bradfield LA, Iordanova MD. Adaptive behaviour under conflict: Deconstructing extinction, reversal, and active avoidance learning. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 120:526-536. [PMID: 33035525 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.09.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Revised: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
In complex environments, organisms must respond adaptively to situations despite conflicting information. Under natural (i.e. non-laboratory) circumstances, it is rare that cues or responses are consistently paired with a single outcome. Inconsistent pairings are more common, as are situations where cues and responses are associated with multiple outcomes. Such inconsistency creates conflict, and a response that is adaptive in one scenario may not be adaptive in another. Learning to adjust responses accordingly is important for species to survive and prosper. Here we review the behavioural and brain mechanisms of responding under conflict by focusing on three popular behavioural procedures: extinction, reversal learning, and active avoidance. Extinction involves adapting from reinforcement to non-reinforcement, reversal learning involves swapping the reinforcement of cues or responses, and active avoidance involves performing a response to avoid an aversive outcome, which may conflict with other defensive strategies. We note that each of these phenomena relies on somewhat overlapping neural circuits, suggesting that such circuits may be critical for the general ability to respond appropriately under conflict.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth E Manning
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Suite 223, 450 Technology Drive, Pittsburgh, PA, 15224, USA; School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, MS306, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia.
| | - Laura A Bradfield
- Centre for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, University of Technology Sydney (St. Vincent's Campus), 405 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010, Australia; St. Vincent's Centre for Applied Medical Research, St. Vincent's Hospital Sydney Limited, 405 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010, Australia.
| | - Mihaela D Iordanova
- Department of Psychology/Centre for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
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34
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Carvalho FR, Nóbrega CDR, Martins AT. Mapping gene expression in social anxiety reveals the main brain structures involved in this disorder. Behav Brain Res 2020; 394:112808. [PMID: 32707139 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Revised: 06/24/2020] [Accepted: 07/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is characterized by emotional and attentional biases as well as distorted negative self-beliefs. According this, we proposed to identify the brain structures and hub genes involved in SAD. An analysis in Pubmed and TRANSFAC was conducted and 72 genes were identified. Using Microarray data, from Allen Human Brain Atlas, it was possible to identify three modules of co-expressed genes from our gene set (R package WGCNA). Higher mean gene expression was found in cortico-medial group, basomedial nucleus, ATZ in amygdala and in head and tail of the caudate nucleus, nucleus accumbens and putamen in striatum. Our enrichment analysis identified the followed hub genes: DRD2, HTR1A, JUN, SP1 and HDAC4. We suggest that SAD is explained by delayed extinction of circuitry for conditioned fear. Caused by reduced activation of the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems,due diminished expectation of reward during social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipe Ricardo Carvalho
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Medicine, University of Algarve, Portugal; University of Algarve Campus De Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal.
| | - Clévio David Rodrigues Nóbrega
- Center for Biomedicine Research (CBMR), University of Algarve, Portugal; Department of Biomedical Sciences and Medicine, University of Algarve, Portugal; Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC); University of Algarve Campus De Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
| | - Ana Teresa Martins
- Center for Biomedicine Research (CBMR), University of Algarve, Portugal; Department of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Algarve, Portugal; University of Algarve Campus De Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
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35
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Bennett MP, Roche B, Dymond S, Baeyens F, Vervliet B, Hermans D. Transitions from avoidance: Reinforcing competing behaviours reduces generalised avoidance in new contexts. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2020; 73:2119-2131. [PMID: 32686989 PMCID: PMC7672781 DOI: 10.1177/1747021820943148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Generalised avoidance behaviours are a common diagnostic feature of anxiety-related disorders and a barrier to affecting changes in anxiety during therapy. However, strategies to mitigate generalised avoidance are under-investigated. Even less attention is given to reducing the category-based generalisation of avoidance. We therefore investigated the potential of an operant-based approach. Specifically, it was examined whether reinforcing competing (non-avoidance) behaviours to threat-predictive cues would interfere with the expression of generalised avoidance. Using a matching-to-sample task, artificial stimulus categories were established using physically dissimilar nonsense shapes. A member of one category (conditioned stimulus; CS1) was then associated with an aversive outcome in an Acquisition context, unless an avoidance response was made. Next, competing behaviours were reinforced in response to the CS1 in new contexts. Finally, we tested for the generalisation of avoidance to another member of the stimulus category (generalisation stimulus; GS1) in both a Novel context and the Acquisition context. The selective generalisation of avoidance to GS1 was observed, but only in the Acquisition context. In the Novel context, the generalisation of avoidance to GSs was significantly reduced. A comparison group (Experiment 2), which did not learn any competing behaviours, avoided GS1 in both contexts. These findings suggest that reinforcing competing behavioural responses to threat-predictive cues can lead to reductions in generalised avoidance. This study is among the first study to demonstrate sustained reductions in generalised avoidance resulting from operant-based protocols, and the clinical and research implications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc P Bennett
- Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK
| | - Bryan Roche
- National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland
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36
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Martínez-Rivera FJ, Sánchez-Navarro MJ, Huertas-Pérez CI, Greenberg BD, Rasmussen SA, Quirk GJ. Prolonged avoidance training exacerbates OCD-like behaviors in a rodent model. Transl Psychiatry 2020; 10:212. [PMID: 32620740 PMCID: PMC7334221 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-020-00892-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2019] [Revised: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by compulsive behaviors that often resemble avoidance of perceived danger. OCD can be treated with exposure-with-response prevention (ERP) therapy in which patients are exposed to triggers but are encouraged to refrain from compulsions, to extinguish compulsive responses. The compulsions of OCD are strengthened by many repeated exposures to triggers, but little is known about the effects of extended repetition of avoidance behaviors on extinction. Here we assessed the extent to which overtraining of active avoidance affects subsequent extinction-with-response prevention (Ext-RP) as a rodent model of ERP, in which rats are extinguished to triggers, while the avoidance option is prevented. Male rats conditioned for 8d or 20d produced similar avoidance behavior to a tone paired with a shock, however, the 20d group showed a severe impairment of extinction during Ext-RP, as well as heightened anxiety. Furthermore, the majority of overtrained (20d) rats (75%) exhibited persistent avoidance following Ext-RP. In the 8d group, only a minority of rats (37%) exhibited persistent avoidance, and this was associated with elevated activity (c-Fos) in the prelimbic cortex and nucleus accumbens. In the 20d group, the minority of non-persistent rats (25%) showed elevated activity in the insular-orbital cortex and paraventricular thalamus. Lastly, extending the duration of Ext-RP prevented the deleterious effects of overtraining on extinction and avoidance. These rodent findings suggest that repeated expression of compulsion-like behaviors biases individuals toward persistent avoidance and alters avoidance circuits, thereby reducing the effectiveness of current extinction-based therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Freddyson J Martínez-Rivera
- Departments of Psychiatry and Anatomy & Neurobiology, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, 00936, USA.
- Nash family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
| | - Marcos J Sánchez-Navarro
- Departments of Psychiatry and Anatomy & Neurobiology, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, 00936, USA
| | - Carlos I Huertas-Pérez
- Departments of Psychiatry and Anatomy & Neurobiology, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, 00936, USA
| | - Benjamin D Greenberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Butler Hospital and the Providence VA Medical Center, Providence, RI, 02906, USA
| | - Steven A Rasmussen
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Butler Hospital and the Providence VA Medical Center, Providence, RI, 02906, USA
| | - Gregory J Quirk
- Departments of Psychiatry and Anatomy & Neurobiology, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, 00936, USA
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37
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Geramita MA, Yttri EA, Ahmari SE. The two‐step task, avoidance, and OCD. J Neurosci Res 2020; 98:1007-1019. [DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2019] [Revised: 01/02/2020] [Accepted: 01/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A. Geramita
- Department of Psychiatry University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh PA USA
- Department of Biological Sciences Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh PA USA
- Center for Neural Basis of Cognition University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh PA USA
| | - Eric A. Yttri
- Department of Biological Sciences Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh PA USA
- Center for Neural Basis of Cognition University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh PA USA
| | - Susanne E. Ahmari
- Department of Psychiatry University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh PA USA
- Center for Neural Basis of Cognition University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh PA USA
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38
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Cohodes EM, Kitt ER, Baskin-Sommers A, Gee DG. Influences of early-life stress on frontolimbic circuitry: Harnessing a dimensional approach to elucidate the effects of heterogeneity in stress exposure. Dev Psychobiol 2020; 63:153-172. [PMID: 32227350 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2019] [Revised: 01/17/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Early-life stress confers profound and lasting risk for developing cognitive, social, emotional, and physical health problems. The effects of stress on the developing brain contribute to this risk, with frontolimbic circuitry particularly susceptible to early experiences, possibly due to its innervation with glucocorticoid receptors and the timing of frontolimbic circuit maturation. To date, the majority of studies on stress and frontolimbic circuitry have employed a categorical approach, comparing stress-exposed versus non-stress-exposed youth. However, there is vast heterogeneity in the nature of stress exposure and in outcomes. Recent forays into understanding the psychobiological effects of stress have employed a dimensional approach focused on experiential, environmental, and temporal factors that influence the association between stress and subsequent vulnerability. This review highlights empirical findings that inform a dimensional approach to understanding the effects of stress on frontolimbic circuitry. We identify the timing, type, severity, controllability, and predictability of stress, and the degree to which a caregiver is involved, as specific features of stress that may play a substantial role in differential outcomes. We propose a framework for the effects of these features of stress on frontolimbic development that may partially determine how heterogeneity in stress exposure influences this circuitry and, ultimately, mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily M Cohodes
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | | | - Dylan G Gee
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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39
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Bravo-Rivera C, Sotres-Bayon F. From Isolated Emotional Memories to Their Competition During Conflict. Front Behav Neurosci 2020; 14:36. [PMID: 32226364 PMCID: PMC7080848 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 02/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Aversive or rewarding experiences are remembered better than those of lesser survival significance. These emotional memories, whether negative or positive, leave traces in the brain which can later be retrieved and strongly influence how we perceive, how we form associations with environmental stimuli and, ultimately, guide our decision-making. In this review aticle, we outline what constitutes an emotional memory by focusing on threat- and reward-related memories and describe how they are formed in the brain during learning and reformed during retrieval. Finally, we discuss how the field is moving from understanding emotional memory brain circuits separately, towards studying how these two opposing brain systems interact to guide choices during conflict. Here, we outline two novel tasks in rodents that model opposing binary choices (approach or avoid) guided by competing emotional memories. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a major integration hub of emotional information which is also known to be critical for decision-making. Consequently, brain circuits that involve this brain region may be key for understanding how the retrieval of emotional memories flexibly orchestrates adaptive choice behavior. Because several mental disorders (e.g., drug addiction and depression) are characterized by deficits in decision-making in the face of conflicting emotional memories (maladaptively giving more weight to one memory over the other), the development of choice-based animal models for emotional regulation could give rise to new approaches for the treatment of these disorders in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Francisco Sotres-Bayon
- Institute of Cell Physiology-Neuroscience, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
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40
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Cabib S, Campus P, Conversi D, Orsini C, Puglisi-Allegra S. Functional and Dysfunctional Neuroplasticity in Learning to Cope with Stress. Brain Sci 2020; 10:E127. [PMID: 32102272 PMCID: PMC7071431 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10020127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2020] [Revised: 02/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In this brief review, we present evidence of the primary role of learning-associated plasticity in the development of either adaptive or maladaptive coping strategies. Successful interactions with novel stressors foster plasticity within the neural circuits supporting acquisition, consolidation, retrieval, and extinction of instrumental learning leading to development of a rich repertoire of flexible and context-specific adaptive coping responses, whereas prolonged or repeated exposure to inescapable/uncontrollable stressors fosters dysfunctional plasticity within the learning circuits leading to perseverant and inflexible maladaptive coping strategies. Finally, the results collected using an animal model of genotype-specific coping styles indicate the engagement of different molecular networks and the opposite direction of stress effects (reduced vs. enhanced gene expression) in stressed animals, as well as different behavioral alterations, in line with differences in the symptoms profile associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Cabib
- Department of Psychology, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, 00185 Rome, Italy; (D.C.); (C.O.); (S.P.-A.)
- Department of Experimental Neurosciences, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00143 Rome, Italy
| | - Paolo Campus
- Department of Psychiatry and Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA;
| | - David Conversi
- Department of Psychology, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, 00185 Rome, Italy; (D.C.); (C.O.); (S.P.-A.)
| | - Cristina Orsini
- Department of Psychology, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, 00185 Rome, Italy; (D.C.); (C.O.); (S.P.-A.)
- Department of Experimental Neurosciences, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00143 Rome, Italy
| | - Stefano Puglisi-Allegra
- Department of Psychology, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, 00185 Rome, Italy; (D.C.); (C.O.); (S.P.-A.)
- IRCCS Neuromed, via Atinense 18, 86077 Pozzilli (IS), Italy
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41
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Zona Incerta GABAergic Output Controls a Signaled Locomotor Action in the Midbrain Tegmentum. eNeuro 2020; 7:ENEURO.0390-19.2020. [PMID: 32041743 PMCID: PMC7053170 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0390-19.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2019] [Revised: 01/27/2020] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The zona incerta is a subthalamic nucleus proposed to link sensory stimuli with motor responses to guide behavior, but its functional role is not well established. Using mice of either sex, we studied the effect of manipulating zona incerta GABAergic cells on the expression of a signaled locomotor action, known as signaled active avoidance. We found that modulation of GABAergic zona incerta cells, but not of cells in the adjacent thalamic reticular nucleus (NRT), fully controls the expression of signaled active avoidance responses. Inhibition of zona incerta GABAergic cells drives active avoidance responses, while excitation of these cells blocks signaled active avoidance mainly by inhibiting cells in the midbrain pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPT). The zona incerta regulates signaled locomotion in the midbrain.
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42
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Glogan E, Gatzounis R, Meulders M, Meulders A. Generalization of instrumentally acquired pain-related avoidance to novel but similar movements using a robotic arm-reaching paradigm. Behav Res Ther 2020; 124:103525. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.103525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Revised: 10/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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43
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Hollander MD, de Jong J, Onghena P, Vlaeyen JW. Generalization of exposure in vivo in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type I. Behav Res Ther 2020; 124:103511. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.103511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Revised: 09/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/03/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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44
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Diehl MM, Bravo-Rivera C, Quirk GJ. The study of active avoidance: A platform for discussion. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 107:229-237. [PMID: 31509767 PMCID: PMC6936221 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Revised: 07/19/2019] [Accepted: 09/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Traditional active avoidance tasks have advanced the field of aversive learning and memory for decades and are useful for studying simple avoidance responses in isolation; however, these tasks have limited clinical relevance because they do not model several key features of clinical avoidance. In contrast, platform-mediated avoidance (PMA) more closely resembles clinical avoidance because the response i) is associated with an unambiguous safe location, ii) is not associated with an artificial termination of the warning signal, and iii) is associated with a decision-based appetitive cost. Recent findings on the neuronal circuits of PMA have confirmed that amygdala-striatal circuits are essential for avoidance. In PMA, however, the prelimbic cortex facilitates the avoidance response early during the warning signal, perhaps through disinhibition of the striatum. Future studies on avoidance should account for additional factors such as sex differences and social interactions that will advance our understanding of maladaptive avoidance contributing to neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria M Diehl
- Departments of Psychiatry and Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, PR, 00936, Puerto Rico; Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506 United States
| | | | - Gregory J Quirk
- Departments of Psychiatry and Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, PR, 00936, Puerto Rico.
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45
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Nishi Y, Osumi M, Nobusako S, Takeda K, Morioka S. Avoidance Behavioral Difference in Acquisition and Extinction of Pain-Related Fear. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:236. [PMID: 31680893 PMCID: PMC6797557 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2019] [Accepted: 09/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Fear of movement-related pain leads to two types of avoidance behavior: excessive avoidance and pain-inhibited movement. Excessive avoidance is an absence of movement by fear, and pain-inhibited movements involve a change in motor behavior for the purpose of protecting the painful part. Here, we sought to clarify the acquisition process and adaptation of fear for each avoidance behavior. Thirty-one female and 13 male (age 20.9 ± 2.1 years) subjects could decide persistent behaviors: approach with an intense pain stimulus, pain-inhibited movement with weak pain stimulus, or excessive avoidance with no pain in acquisition and test phases. In the subsequent extinction phase, the pain stimulus was omitted. Subjects were divided into an approach group (n = 24), a pain-inhibited movement group (n = 10), and an excessive avoidance group (n = 10) by cluster analysis. The response latencies in approach and pain-inhibited movement groups were not affected by conditioned pain. The subjects in the excessive avoidance group exhibited delayed response latencies, and their high-fear responses remained in the acquisition, test, and extinction phases. In addition, the excessive avoidance group showed high harm avoidance and high trait anxiety. This study demonstrated that differences in pain-related avoidance behaviors are affected by psychological traits. Pain-related excessive avoidance behavior indicated a maladaptive fear, but pain-inhibited movement did not.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuki Nishi
- Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kio University, Nara, Japan
| | - Michihiro Osumi
- Neurorehabilitation Research Center, Kio University, Nara, Japan
| | - Satoshi Nobusako
- Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kio University, Nara, Japan.,Neurorehabilitation Research Center, Kio University, Nara, Japan
| | - Kenta Takeda
- Department of Rehabilitation for the Movement Functions, Research Institute, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Saitama, Japan
| | - Shu Morioka
- Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kio University, Nara, Japan.,Neurorehabilitation Research Center, Kio University, Nara, Japan
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46
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Thibeault KC, Kutlu MG, Sanders C, Calipari ES. Cell-type and projection-specific dopaminergic encoding of aversive stimuli in addiction. Brain Res 2019; 1713:1-15. [PMID: 30580012 PMCID: PMC6506354 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2018.12.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Revised: 11/26/2018] [Accepted: 12/16/2018] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Drug addiction is a major public health concern across the world for which there are limited treatment options. In order to develop new therapies to correct the behavioral deficits that result from repeated drug use, we need to understand the neural circuit dysfunction that underlies the pathophysiology of the disorder. Because the initial reinforcing effects of drugs are dependent on increases in dopamine in reward-related brain regions such as the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, a large focus of addiction research has centered on the dysregulation of this system and its control of positive reinforcement and motivation. However, in addition to the processing of positive, rewarding stimuli, there are clear deficits in the encoding and valuation of information about potential negative outcomes and how they control decision making and motivation. Further, aversive stimuli can motivate or suppress behavior depending on the context in which they are encountered. We propose a model where rewarding and aversive information guides the execution of specific motivated actions through mesocortical and mesolimbic dopamine acting on D1- and D2- receptor containing neuronal populations. Volitional drug exposure alters the processing of rewarding and aversive stimuli through remodeling of these dopaminergic circuits, causing maladaptive drug seeking, self-administration in the face of negative consequences, and drug craving. Together, this review discusses the dysfunction of the circuits controlling different types of aversive learning as well as how these guide specific discrete behaviors, and provides a conceptual framework for how they should be considered in preclinical addiction models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly C Thibeault
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Munir Gunes Kutlu
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Christina Sanders
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Erin S Calipari
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.
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Circuits That Mediate Expression of Signaled Active Avoidance Converge in the Pedunculopontine Tegmentum. J Neurosci 2019; 39:4576-4594. [PMID: 30936242 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0049-19.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2019] [Revised: 03/16/2019] [Accepted: 03/26/2019] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
An innocuous sensory stimulus that reliably signals an upcoming aversive event can be conditioned to elicit locomotion to a safe location before the aversive outcome ensues. The neural circuits that mediate the expression of this signaled locomotor action, known as signaled active avoidance, have not been identified. While exploring sensorimotor midbrain circuits in mice of either sex, we found that excitation of GABAergic cells in the substantia nigra pars reticulata blocks signaled active avoidance by inhibiting cells in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPT), not by inhibiting cells in the superior colliculus or thalamus. Direct inhibition of putative-glutamatergic PPT cells, excitation of GABAergic PPT cells, or excitation of GABAergic afferents in PPT, abolish signaled active avoidance. Conversely, excitation of putative-glutamatergic PPT cells, or inhibition of GABAergic PPT cells, can be tuned to drive avoidance responses. The PPT is an essential junction for the expression of signaled active avoidance gated by nigral and other synaptic afferents.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT When a harmful situation is signaled by a sensory stimulus (e.g., street light), subjects typically learn to respond with active or passive avoidance responses that circumvent the threat. During signaled active avoidance behavior, subjects move away to avoid a threat signaled by a preceding innocuous stimulus. We identified a part of the midbrain essential to process the signal and avoid the threat. Inhibition of neurons in this area eliminates avoidance responses to the signal but preserves escape responses caused by presentation of the threat. The results highlight an essential part of the neural circuits that mediate signaled active avoidance behavior.
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49
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Decoding neuropathic pain severity using distinct patterns of corticolimbic metabotropic glutamate receptor 5. Neuroimage 2019; 190:303-312. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2018] [Revised: 06/08/2018] [Accepted: 07/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
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50
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Shumake J, Jones C, Auchter A, Monfils MH. Data-driven criteria to assess fear remission and phenotypic variability of extinction in rats. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0035. [PMID: 29352033 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Fear conditioning is widely employed to examine the mechanisms that underlie dysregulations of the fear system. Various manipulations are often used following fear acquisition to attenuate fear memories. In rodent studies, freezing is often the main output measure to quantify 'fear'. Here, we developed data-driven criteria for defining a standard benchmark that indicates remission from conditioned fear and for identifying subgroups with differential treatment responses. These analyses will enable a better understanding of individual differences in treatment responding.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Of mice and mental health: facilitating dialogue between basic and clinical neuroscientists'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Shumake
- Institute for Mental Health Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.,Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Carolyn Jones
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Allison Auchter
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Marie-Hélène Monfils
- Institute for Mental Health Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA .,Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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