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Trumpff C, Monzel AS, Sandi C, Menon V, Klein HU, Fujita M, Lee A, Petyuk VA, Hurst C, Duong DM, Seyfried NT, Wingo AP, Wingo TS, Wang Y, Thambisetty M, Ferrucci L, Bennett DA, De Jager PL, Picard M. Psychosocial experiences are associated with human brain mitochondrial biology. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2317673121. [PMID: 38889126 PMCID: PMC11228499 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2317673121] [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: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Psychosocial experiences affect brain health and aging trajectories, but the molecular pathways underlying these associations remain unclear. Normal brain function relies on energy transformation by mitochondria oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos). Two main lines of evidence position mitochondria both as targets and drivers of psychosocial experiences. On the one hand, chronic stress exposure and mood states may alter multiple aspects of mitochondrial biology; on the other hand, functional variations in mitochondrial OxPhos capacity may alter social behavior, stress reactivity, and mood. But are psychosocial exposures and subjective experiences linked to mitochondrial biology in the human brain? By combining longitudinal antemortem assessments of psychosocial factors with postmortem brain (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) proteomics in older adults, we find that higher well-being is linked to greater abundance of the mitochondrial OxPhos machinery, whereas higher negative mood is linked to lower OxPhos protein content. Combined, positive and negative psychosocial factors explained 18 to 25% of the variance in the abundance of OxPhos complex I, the primary biochemical entry point that energizes brain mitochondria. Moreover, interrogating mitochondrial psychobiological associations in specific neuronal and nonneuronal brain cells with single-nucleus RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) revealed strong cell-type-specific associations for positive psychosocial experiences and mitochondria in glia but opposite associations in neurons. As a result, these "mind-mitochondria" associations were masked in bulk RNA-seq, highlighting the likely underestimation of true psychobiological effect sizes in bulk brain tissues. Thus, self-reported psychosocial experiences are linked to human brain mitochondrial phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Trumpff
- Department of Psychiatry, Division of Behavioral Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY10032
| | - Anna S. Monzel
- Department of Psychiatry, Division of Behavioral Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY10032
| | - Carmen Sandi
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, LausanneCH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Vilas Menon
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY10032
| | - Hans-Ulrich Klein
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY10032
| | - Masashi Fujita
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY10032
| | - Annie Lee
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY10032
| | - Vladislav A. Petyuk
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA99354
| | - Cheyenne Hurst
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA30329
| | - Duc M. Duong
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA30329
| | | | - Aliza P. Wingo
- Department of Neurology and Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA30329
| | - Thomas S. Wingo
- Department of Neurology and Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA30329
| | - Yanling Wang
- Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL60612
| | - Madhav Thambisetty
- Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Section, Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, MD21224
| | - Luigi Ferrucci
- Longitudinal Studies Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD20892
| | - David A. Bennett
- Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL60612
| | - Philip L. De Jager
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY10032
| | - Martin Picard
- Department of Psychiatry, Division of Behavioral Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY10032
- Department of Neurology, H. Houston Merritt Center, Columbia Translational Neuroscience Initiative, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY10032
- Division of Behavioral Medicine, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY10032
- Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY10032
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Ehret G, Romand R. Awareness and consciousness in humans and animals – neural and behavioral correlates in an evolutionary perspective. Front Syst Neurosci 2022; 16:941534. [PMID: 35910003 PMCID: PMC9331465 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2022.941534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Awareness or consciousness in the context of stimulus perception can directly be assessed in well controlled test situations with humans via the persons’ reports about their subjective experiences with the stimuli. Since we have no direct access to subjective experiences in animals, their possible awareness or consciousness in stimulus perception tasks has often been inferred from behavior and cognitive abilities previously observed in aware and conscious humans. Here, we analyze published human data primarily on event-related potentials and brain-wave generation during perception and responding to sensory stimuli and extract neural markers (mainly latencies of evoked-potential peaks and of gamma-wave occurrence) indicating that a person became aware or conscious of the perceived stimulus. These neural correlates of consciousness were then applied to sets of corresponding data from various animals including several species of mammals, and one species each of birds, fish, cephalopods, and insects. We found that the neural markers from studies in humans could also successfully be applied to the mammal and bird data suggesting that species in these animal groups can become subjectively aware of and conscious about perceived stimuli. Fish, cephalopod and insect data remained inconclusive. In an evolutionary perspective we have to consider that both awareness of and consciousness about perceived stimuli appear as evolved, attention-dependent options added to the ongoing neural activities of stimulus processing and action generation. Since gamma-wave generation for functional coupling of brain areas in aware/conscious states is energetically highly cost-intensive, it remains to be shown which animal species under which conditions of lifestyle and ecological niche may achieve significant advantages in reproductive fitness by drawing upon these options. Hence, we started our discussion about awareness and consciousness in animals with the question in how far these expressions of brain activity are necessary attributes for perceiving stimuli and responding in an adaptive way.
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Affiliation(s)
- Günter Ehret
- Institute of Neurobiology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- *Correspondence: Günter Ehret,
| | - Raymond Romand
- Faculty of Medicine, Institute de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), University of Strasbourg and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Strasbourg, France
- Raymond Romand,
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