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Timme NM, Ardinger CE, Weir SDC, Zelaya-Escobar R, Kruger R, Lapish CC. Non-consummatory behavior signals predict aversion-resistant alcohol drinking in head-fixed mice. Neuropharmacology 2024; 242:109762. [PMID: 37871677 PMCID: PMC10872650 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2023.109762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
A key facet of alcohol use disorder is continuing to drink alcohol despite negative consequences (so called "aversion-resistant drinking"). In this study, we sought to assess the degree to which head-fixed mice exhibit aversion-resistant drinking and to leverage behavioral analysis techniques available in head-fixture to relate non-consummatory behaviors to aversion-resistant drinking. We assessed aversion-resistant drinking in head-fixed female and male C57BL/6 J mice. We adulterated 20% (v/v) alcohol with varying concentrations of the bitter tastant quinine to measure the degree to which mice would continue to drink despite this aversive stimulus. We recorded high-resolution video of the mice during head-fixed drinking, tracked body parts with machine vision tools, and analyzed body movements in relation to consumption. Female and male head-fixed mice exhibited heterogenous levels of aversion-resistant drinking. Additionally, non-consummatory behaviors, such as paw movement and snout movement, were related to the intensity of aversion-resistant drinking. These studies demonstrate that head-fixed mice exhibit aversion-resistant drinking and that non-consummatory behaviors can be used to assess perceived aversiveness in this paradigm. Furthermore, these studies lay the groundwork for future experiments that will utilize advanced electrophysiological techniques to record from large populations of neurons during aversion-resistant drinking to understand the neurocomputational processes that drive this clinically relevant behavior. This article is part of the Special Issue on "PFC circuit function in psychiatric disease and relevant models".
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas M Timme
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA.
| | - Cherish E Ardinger
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Seth D C Weir
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Rachel Zelaya-Escobar
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Rachel Kruger
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Christopher C Lapish
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 635 Barnhill Drive, MSB 5035, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA; Stark Neuroscience Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, 320 W. 15th St, NB 414, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
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Timme NM, Ardinger CE, Weir SDC, Zelaya-Escobar R, Kruger R, Lapish CC. Non-Consummatory Behavior Signals Predict Aversion-Resistant Alcohol Drinking in Head-Fixed Mice. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.06.20.545767. [PMID: 37873153 PMCID: PMC10592797 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.20.545767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
A key facet of alcohol use disorder is continuing to drink alcohol despite negative consequences (so called "aversion-resistant drinking"). In this study, we sought to assess the degree to which head-fixed mice exhibit aversion-resistant drinking and to leverage behavioral analysis techniques available in head-fixture to relate non-consummatory behaviors to aversion-resistant drinking. We assessed aversion-resistant drinking in head-fixed female and male C57BL/6J mice. We adulterated 20% (v/v) alcohol with varying concentrations of the bitter tastant quinine to measure the degree to which mice would continue to drink despite this aversive stimulus. We recorded high-resolution video of the mice during head-fixed drinking, tracked body parts with machine vision tools, and analyzed body movements in relation to consumption. Female and male head-fixed mice exhibited heterogenous levels of aversion-resistant drinking. Additionally, non-consummatory behaviors, such as paw movement and snout movement, were related to the intensity of aversion-resistant drinking. These studies demonstrate that head-fixed mice exhibit aversion-resistant drinking and that non-consummatory behaviors can be used to assess perceived aversiveness in this paradigm. Furthermore, these studies lay the groundwork for future experiments that will utilize advanced electrophysiological techniques to record from large populations of neurons during aversion-resistant drinking to understand the neurocomputational processes that drive this clinically relevant behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas M. Timme
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Cherish E. Ardinger
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Seth D. C. Weir
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Rachel Zelaya-Escobar
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Rachel Kruger
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Christopher C. Lapish
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 635 Barnhill Drive, MSB 5035, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
- Stark Neuroscience Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, 320 W. 15 St, NB 414, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
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Ardinger CE, Lapish CC, Czachowski CL, Grahame NJ. A critical review of front-loading: A maladaptive drinking pattern driven by alcohol's rewarding effects. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2022; 46:1772-1782. [PMID: 36239713 PMCID: PMC9588658 DOI: 10.1111/acer.14924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Front-loading is a drinking pattern in which alcohol intake is skewed toward the onset of reward access. This phenomenon has been reported across several different alcohol self-administration protocols in a wide variety of species, including humans. The hypothesis of the current review is that front-loading emerges in response to the rewarding effects of alcohol and can be used to measure the motivation to consume alcohol. Alternative or additional hypotheses that we consider and contrast with the main hypothesis are that: (1) front-loading is directed at overcoming behavioral and/or metabolic tolerance and (2) front-loading is driven by negative reinforcement. Evidence for each of these explanations is reviewed. We also consider how front-loading has been evaluated statistically in previous research and make recommendations for defining this intake pattern in future studies. Because front-loading may predict long-term maladaptive alcohol drinking patterns leading to the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD), several future directions are proposed to elucidate the relationship between front-loading and AUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cherish E. Ardinger
- Addiction Neuroscience, Department of Psychology and Indiana Alcohol Research CenterIndiana University – Purdue University IndianapolisIndianapolisIndianaUSA
| | - Christopher C. Lapish
- Addiction Neuroscience, Department of Psychology and Indiana Alcohol Research CenterIndiana University – Purdue University IndianapolisIndianapolisIndianaUSA,Stark Neuroscience Research InstituteIndiana University – Purdue University IndianapolisIndianapolisIndianaUSA
| | - Cristine L. Czachowski
- Addiction Neuroscience, Department of Psychology and Indiana Alcohol Research CenterIndiana University – Purdue University IndianapolisIndianapolisIndianaUSA
| | - Nicholas J. Grahame
- Addiction Neuroscience, Department of Psychology and Indiana Alcohol Research CenterIndiana University – Purdue University IndianapolisIndianapolisIndianaUSA
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Psychiatric Illnesses as Disorders of Network Dynamics. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2021; 6:865-876. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2019] [Accepted: 01/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
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Coordinated Prefrontal State Transition Leads Extinction of Reward-Seeking Behaviors. J Neurosci 2021; 41:2406-2419. [PMID: 33531416 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2588-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Revised: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Extinction learning suppresses conditioned reward responses and is thus fundamental to adapt to changing environmental demands and to control excessive reward seeking. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) monitors and controls conditioned reward responses. Abrupt transitions in mPFC activity anticipate changes in conditioned responses to altered contingencies. It remains, however, unknown whether such transitions are driven by the extinction of old behavioral strategies or by the acquisition of new competing ones. Using in vivo multiple single-unit recordings of mPFC in male rats, we studied the relationship between single-unit and population dynamics during extinction learning, using alcohol as a positive reinforcer in an operant conditioning paradigm. To examine the fine temporal relation between neural activity and behavior, we developed a novel behavioral model that allowed us to identify the number, onset, and duration of extinction-learning episodes in the behavior of each animal. We found that single-unit responses to conditioned stimuli changed even under stable experimental conditions and behavior. However, when behavioral responses to task contingencies had to be updated, unit-specific modulations became coordinated across the whole population, pushing the network into a new stable attractor state. Thus, extinction learning is not associated with suppressed mPFC responses to conditioned stimuli, but is anticipated by single-unit coordination into population-wide transitions of the internal state of the animal.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The ability to suppress conditioned behaviors when no longer beneficial is fundamental for the survival of any organism. While pharmacological and optogenetic interventions have shown a critical involvement of the mPFC in the suppression of conditioned responses, the neural dynamics underlying such a process are still largely unknown. Combining novel analysis tools to describe behavior, single-neuron response, and population activity, we found that widespread changes in neuronal firing temporally coordinate across the whole mPFC population in anticipation of behavioral extinction. This coordination leads to a global transition in the internal state of the network, driving extinction of conditioned behavior.
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Emberly E, Seamans JK. Abrupt, Asynchronous Changes in Action Representations by Anterior Cingulate Cortex Neurons during Trial and Error Learning. Cereb Cortex 2020; 30:4336-4345. [PMID: 32239139 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2019] [Revised: 01/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to act on knowledge about the value of stimuli or actions factors into simple foraging behaviors as well as complex forms of decision-making. In striatal regions, action representations are thought to acquire value through a gradual (reinforcement-learning based) process. It is unclear whether this is also true for anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) where neuronal representations tend to change abruptly. We recorded from ensembles of ACC neurons as rats deduced which of 3 levers was rewarded each day. The rat's lever preferences changed gradually throughout the sessions as they eventually came to focus on the rewarded lever. Most individual neurons changed their responses to both rewarded and nonrewarded lever presses abruptly (<2 trials). These transitions occurred asynchronously across the population but peaked near the point where the rats began to focus on the rewarded lever. Because the individual transitions were asynchronous, the overall change at the population level appeared gradual. Abrupt transitions in action representations of ACC neurons may be part of a mechanism that alters choice strategies as new information is acquired.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eldon Emberly
- Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Jeremy K Seamans
- Department of Psychiatry, Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
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