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Barr GA, Opendak M, Perry RE, Sarro E, Sullivan RM. Infant pain vs. pain with parental suppression: Immediate and enduring impact on brain, pain and affect. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0290871. [PMID: 37972112 PMCID: PMC10653509 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In the short term, parental presence while a human infant is in pain buffers the immediate pain responses, although emerging evidence suggests repeated social buffering of pain may have untoward long-term effects. METHODS/FINDING To explore the short- and long-term impacts of social buffering of pain, we first measured the infant rat pup's [postnatal day (PN) 8, or 12] response to mild tail shock with the mother present compared to shock alone or no shock. Shock with the mother reduced pain-related behavioral activation and USVs of pups at both ages and reduced Fos expression in the periaqueductal gray, hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, and the amygdala at PN12 only. At PN12, shock with the mother compared to shock alone differentially regulated expression of several hundred genes related to G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and neural development, whereas PN8 pups showed a less robust and less coherent expression pattern. In a second set of experiments, pups were exposed to daily repeated Shock-mother pairings (or controls) at PN5-9 or PN10-14 (during and after pain sensitive period, respectively) and long-term outcome assessed in adults. Shock+mother pairing at PN5-9 reduced adult carrageenan-induced thermal hyperalgesia and reduced Fos expression, but PN10-14 pairings had minimal impact. The effect of infant treatment on adult affective behavior showed a complex treatment by age dependent effect. Adult social behavior was decreased following Shock+mother pairings at both PN5-9 and PN10-14, whereas shock alone had no effect. Adult fear responses to a predator odor were decreased only by PN10-14 treatment and the infant Shock alone and Shock+mother did not differ. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE Overall, integrating these results into our understanding of long-term programming by repeated infant pain experiences, the data suggest that pain experienced within a social context impacts infant neurobehavioral responses and initiates an altered developmental trajectory of pain and affect processing that diverges from experiencing pain alone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gordon A. Barr
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Maya Opendak
- Child Study Center, Center for Early Childhood Health & Development, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, New York, United States of America
| | - Rosemarie E. Perry
- Child Study Center, Center for Early Childhood Health & Development, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, New York, United States of America
| | - Emma Sarro
- Child Study Center, Center for Early Childhood Health & Development, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, New York, United States of America
| | - Regina M. Sullivan
- Child Study Center, Center for Early Childhood Health & Development, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, New York, United States of America
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2
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Milbocker KA, Campbell TS, Collins N, Kim S, Smith IF, Roth TL, Klintsova AY. Glia-Driven Brain Circuit Refinement Is Altered by Early-Life Adversity: Behavioral Outcomes. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:786234. [PMID: 34924972 PMCID: PMC8678604 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.786234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Early-life adversity (ELA), often clinically referred to as "adverse childhood experiences (ACE)," is the exposure to stress-inducing events in childhood that can result in poor health outcomes. ELA negatively affects neurodevelopment in children and adolescents resulting in several behavioral deficits and increasing the risk of developing a myriad of neuropsychiatric disorders later in life. The neurobiological mechanisms by which ELA alters neurodevelopment in childhood have been the focus of numerous reviews. However, a comprehensive review of the mechanisms affecting adolescent neurodevelopment (i.e., synaptic pruning and myelination) is lacking. Synaptic pruning and myelination are glia-driven processes that are imperative for brain circuit refinement during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Failure to optimize brain circuitry between key brain structures involved in learning and memory, such as the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, leads to the emergence of maladaptive behaviors including increased anxiety or reduced executive function. As such, we review preclinical and clinical literature to explore the immediate and lasting effects of ELA on brain circuit development and refinement. Finally, we describe a number of therapeutic interventions best-suited to support adolescent neurodevelopment in children with a history of ELA.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Anna Y. Klintsova
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
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3
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Rivera-Bonet CN, Birn RM, Ladd CO, Meyerand ME, Abercrombie HC. Cortisol effects on brain functional connectivity during emotion processing in women with depression. J Affect Disord 2021; 287:247-254. [PMID: 33799044 PMCID: PMC8128282 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.03.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Revised: 03/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Depression is associated with altered functional connectivity and altered cortisol sensitivity, but the effects of cortisol on functional connectivity in depression are unknown. Previous research shows that brief cortisol augmentation (CORT) has beneficial neurocognitive effects in depression. METHODS We investigated the effects of CORT (20mg oral cortisol) on functional connectivity during emotion processing in women with depression. Participants included 75 women with no depression or a depressive disorder. In a double-blind, crossover study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure effects of CORT vs. placebo on task-based functional connectivity during presentation of emotionally-laden images. We performed psychophysiological interaction (PPI) to test interactions among depression severity, cortisol administration, and task-dependent functional connectivity using the hippocampus and amygdala as seeds. RESULTS During the presentation of negative images, CORT (vs. placebo) increased functional connectivity between the hippocampus and putamen in association with depression severity. During the presentation of positive pictures CORT increased functional connectivity between the hippocampus and middle frontal gyrus as well as superior temporal gyrus in association with depression. LIMITATIONS Because cortisol was pharmacologically manipulated, results cannot be extrapolated to endogenous increases in cortisol levels. The sample did not permit investigation of differences due to race, ethnicity, or sex. Co-morbidities such as anxiety or PTSD were not accounted for. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that CORT has normalizing effects on task-dependent functional connectivity in women with depression during emotion processing. Increasing cortisol availability or signaling may have therapeutic benefits within affective disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rasmus M Birn
- Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Charlotte O Ladd
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Mary E Meyerand
- Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Heather C Abercrombie
- Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
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4
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Farber MJ, Gee DG, Hariri AR. Normative range parenting and the developing brain: A scoping review and recommendations for future research. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 55:2341-2358. [PMID: 33051903 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Revised: 09/04/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Studies of early adversity such as trauma, abuse, and neglect highlight the critical importance of quality caregiving in brain development and mental health. However, the impact of normative range variability in caregiving on such biobehavioral processes remains poorly understood. Thus, we lack an essential foundation for understanding broader, population-representative developmental mechanisms of risk and resilience. Here, we conduct a scoping review of the extant literature centered on the question, "Is variability in normative range parenting associated with variability in brain structure and function?" After removing duplicates and screening by title, abstract, and full-text, 23 records were included in a qualitative review. The most striking outcome of this review was not only how few studies have explored associations between brain development and normative range parenting, but also how little methodological consistency exists across published studies. In light of these limitations, we propose recommendations for future research on normative range parenting and brain development. In doing so, we hope to facilitate evidence-based research that will help inform policies and practices that yield optimal developmental trajectories and mental health as well as extend the literature on the neurodevelopmental impact of early life stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeline J Farber
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NA, USA
| | - Dylan G Gee
- Clinical Affective Neuroscience & Development Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Ahmad R Hariri
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NA, USA
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5
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Norepinephrine, neurodevelopment and behavior. Neurochem Int 2020; 135:104706. [PMID: 32092327 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuint.2020.104706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Neurotransmitters play critical roles in the developing nervous system. Among the neurotransmitters, norepinephrine (NE) is in particular postulated to be an important regulator of brain development. NE is expressed during early stages of development and is known to regulate both the development of noradrenergic neurons and the development of target areas. NE participates in the shaping and the wiring of the nervous system during the critical periods of development, and perturbations in this process can alter the brain's developmental trajectory, which in turn can cause long-lasting and even permanent changes in the brain function and behavior later in life. Here we will briefly review evidence for the role of noradrenergic system in neurodevelopmental processes and will discuss about the potential disruptors of noradrenergic system during development and their behavioral consequences.
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6
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Stress-induced plasticity and functioning of ventral tegmental dopamine neurons. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 108:48-77. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2019] [Revised: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 10/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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7
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Perry RE, Rincón-Cortés M, Braren SH, Brandes-Aitken AN, Opendak M, Pollonini G, Chopra D, Raver CC, Alberini CM, Blair C, Sullivan RM. Corticosterone administration targeting a hypo-reactive HPA axis rescues a socially-avoidant phenotype in scarcity-adversity reared rats. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2019; 40:100716. [PMID: 31704654 PMCID: PMC6939642 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Revised: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
It is well-established that children from low-income, under-resourced families are at increased risk of altered social development. However, the biological mechanisms by which poverty-related adversities can “get under the skin” to influence social behavior are poorly understood and cannot be easily ascertained using human research alone. This study utilized a rodent model of “scarcity-adversity,” which encompasses material resource deprivation (scarcity) and reduced caregiving quality (adversity), to explore how early-life scarcity-adversity causally influences social behavior via disruption of developing stress physiology. Results showed that early-life scarcity-adversity exposure increased social avoidance when offspring were tested in a social approach test in peri-adolescence. Furthermore, early-life scarcity-adversity led to blunted hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity as measured via adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (CORT) reactivity following the social approach test. Western blot analysis of brain tissue revealed that glucocorticoid receptor levels in the dorsal (but not ventral) hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex were significantly elevated in scarcity-adversity reared rats following the social approach test. Finally, pharmacological repletion of CORT in scarcity-adversity reared peri-adolescents rescued social behavior. Our findings provide causal support that early-life scarcity-adversity exposure negatively impacts social development via a hypocorticosteronism-dependent mechanism, which can be targeted via CORT administration to rescue social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosemarie E Perry
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - Millie Rincón-Cortés
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute & Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, 1 Park Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA.
| | - Stephen H Braren
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - Annie N Brandes-Aitken
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute & Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, 1 Park Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA.
| | - Gabriella Pollonini
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA.
| | - Divija Chopra
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - C Cybele Raver
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - Cristina M Alberini
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA.
| | - Clancy Blair
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute & Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, 1 Park Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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8
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Junod A, Opendak M, LeDoux JE, Sullivan RM. Development of Threat Expression Following Infant Maltreatment: Infant and Adult Enhancement but Adolescent Attenuation. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:130. [PMID: 31293397 PMCID: PMC6603125 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Early life maltreatment by the caregiver constitutes a major risk factor for the development of later-life psychopathologies, including fear-related pathologies. Here, we used an animal model of early life maltreatment induced by the Scarcity-Adversity Model of low bedding (LB) where the mother is given insufficient bedding for nest building while rat pups were postnatal days (PN) 8-12. To assess effects of maltreatment on the expression of threat-elicited defensive behaviors, animals underwent odor-shock threat conditioning at three developmental stages: late infancy (PN18), adolescence (PN45) or adulthood (>PN75) and tested the next day with odor only presentations (cue test). Results showed that in typically developing rats, the response to threat increases with maturation, although experience with maltreatment in early infancy produced enhanced responding to threat in infancy and adulthood, but a decrease in maltreated adolescents. To better understand the unique features of this decreased threat responding in adolescence, c-Fos expression was assessed within the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) associated with the cued expression of threat learning. Fos counts across amygdala subregions were lower in LB rats compared to controls, while enhanced c-Fos expression was observed in the vmPFC prelimbic cortex (PL). Correlational analysis between freezing behavior and Fos revealed freezing levels were correlated with CeA in controls, although more global correlations were detected in LB-reared rats, including the BA, LA, and CeA. Functional connectivity analysis between brain regions showed that LB reared rats exhibited more diffuse interconnectivity across amygdala subnuclei, compared the more heterogeneous patterns observed in controls. In addition, functional connectivity between the IL and LA switched from positive to negative in abused adolescents. Overall, these results suggest that in adolescence, the unique developmental decrease in fear expression following trauma is associated with distinct changes in regional function and long-range connectivity, reminiscent of pathological brain function. These results suggest that early life maltreatment from the caregiver perturbs the developmental trajectory of threat-elicited behavior. Indeed, it is possible that this form of trauma, where the infant's safety signal or "safe haven" (the caregiver) is actually the source of the threat, produces distinct outcomes across development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anouchka Junod
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Joseph E. LeDoux
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Regina M. Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
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9
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Neurobiology of maternal regulation of infant fear: the role of mesolimbic dopamine and its disruption by maltreatment. Neuropsychopharmacology 2019; 44:1247-1257. [PMID: 30758321 PMCID: PMC6784970 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-019-0340-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2019] [Revised: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Child development research highlights caregiver regulation of infant physiology and behavior as a key feature of early life attachment, although mechanisms for maternal control of infant neural circuits remain elusive. Here we explored the neurobiology of maternal regulation of infant fear using neural network and molecular levels of analysis in a rodent model. Previous research has shown maternal suppression of amygdala-dependent fear learning during a sensitive period. Here we characterize changes in neural networks engaged during maternal regulation and the transition to infant self-regulation. Metabolic mapping of 2-deoxyglucose uptake during odor-shock conditioning in postnatal day (PN)14 rat pups showed that maternal presence blocked fear learning, disengaged mesolimbic circuitry, basolateral amygdala (BLA), and plasticity-related AMPA receptor subunit trafficking. At PN18, when maternal presence only socially buffers threat learning (similar to social modulation in adults), maternal presence failed to disengage the mesolimbic dopaminergic system, and failed to disengage both the BLA and plasticity-related AMPA receptor subunit trafficking. Further, maternal presence failed to block threat learning at PN14 pups following abuse, and mesolimbic dopamine engagement and AMPA were not significantly altered by maternal presence-analogous to compromised maternal regulation of children in abusive relationships. Our results highlight three key features of maternal regulation: (1) maternal presence blocks fear learning and amygdala plasticity through age-dependent suppression of amygdala AMPA receptor subunit trafficking, (2) maternal presence suppresses engagement of brain regions within the mesolimbic dopamine circuit, and (3) early-life abuse compromises network and molecular biomarkers of maternal regulation, suggesting reduced social scaffolding of the brain.
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Alterations in Systemic and Cognitive Glucocorticoid Sensitivity in Depression. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2018; 4:310-320. [PMID: 30686583 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2018.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2018] [Revised: 11/21/2018] [Accepted: 11/27/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Decades of research point to cortisol insensitivity as a biomarker of depression. Despite a vast literature on cortisol's effects on memory, the role of cortisol insensitivity in core psychological features of depression, such as emotional memory biases, is unknown. METHODS Sixty-five premenopausal women with varying levels of depression completed this study involving an at-home low-dose dexamethasone suppression test and four experimental sessions (i.e., two visits for memory encoding of emotionally arousing pictures, each of which was followed 48 hours later by a recall test). Participants received 20 mg of oral cortisol (CORT) or placebo prior to encoding. We tested whether systemic cortisol insensitivity measured with the dexamethasone suppression test predicted cognitive sensitivity to CORT, which was operationalized as the change in negatively biased memory formation for pictures encoded following CORT versus placebo administration. RESULTS Cortisol insensitivity was associated with more severe depression and flatter diurnal cortisol levels. Cortisol insensitivity predicted negative memory bias for pictures encoded during the placebo session and reduction in negative memory bias for pictures encoded during the CORT (compared with placebo) session, even after accounting for psychiatric symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS Our findings replicate research showing that cortisol insensitivity predicts depression severity and flatter diurnal cortisol levels. The results further suggest that systemic cortisol insensitivity is related to negative memory bias and its alleviation by cortisol administration. These novel cognitive findings tie together knowledge regarding endocrine and psychological dysfunction in depression and suggest that boosting cortisol signal may cognitively benefit individuals with cortisol insensitivity.
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12
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Gee DG, Bath KG, Johnson CM, Meyer HC, Murty VP, van den Bos W, Hartley CA. Neurocognitive Development of Motivated Behavior: Dynamic Changes across Childhood and Adolescence. J Neurosci 2018; 38:9433-9445. [PMID: 30381435 PMCID: PMC6209847 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1674-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2018] [Revised: 09/23/2018] [Accepted: 09/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to anticipate and respond appropriately to the challenges and opportunities present in our environments is critical for adaptive behavior. Recent methodological innovations have led to substantial advances in our understanding of the neurocircuitry supporting such motivated behavior in adulthood. However, the neural circuits and cognitive processes that enable threat- and reward-motivated behavior undergo substantive changes over the course of development, and these changes are less well understood. In this article, we highlight recent research in human and animal models demonstrating how developmental changes in prefrontal-subcortical neural circuits give rise to corresponding changes in the processing of threats and rewards from infancy to adulthood. We discuss how these developmental trajectories are altered by experiential factors, such as early-life stress, and highlight the relevance of this research for understanding the developmental onset and treatment of psychiatric disorders characterized by dysregulation of motivated behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dylan G Gee
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520,
| | - Kevin G Bath
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912
| | - Carolyn M Johnson
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Heidi C Meyer
- Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Vishnu P Murty
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122
| | - Wouter van den Bos
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and
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13
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Santiago AN, Lim KY, Opendak M, Sullivan RM, Aoki C. Early life trauma increases threat response of peri-weaning rats, reduction of axo-somatic synapses formed by parvalbumin cells and perineuronal net in the basolateral nucleus of amygdala. J Comp Neurol 2018; 526:2647-2664. [PMID: 30136731 DOI: 10.1002/cne.24522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2018] [Revised: 07/20/2018] [Accepted: 08/03/2018] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Early life trauma is a risk factor for life-long disorders related to emotional processing, but knowledge underlying its enduring effect is incomplete. This study was motivated by the hypothesis that early life trauma increases amygdala-dependent threat responses via reduction in inhibition by parvalbumin (PV) interneurons and perineuronal nets (PNN) supporting PV cells, thus increasing excitability of the basolateral amygdala (BLA). From postnatal day (PN) 8-12, rat pups of both sexes were reared under normal bedding or under insufficient nest-building materials to induce maternal-to-infant maltreatment trauma (Scarcity-Adversity Model, SAM). At weaning age of PN23, the SAM group exhibited increased threat responses to predator odor. The SAM-induced increase in threat response was recapitulated in normally reared PN22-23 rats that were unilaterally depleted of PNN in the BLA by the enzymes, chondroitinase-ABC plus hyaluronidase at PN19-20. Light and electron microscopic analysis of the BLA revealed that anterior-to-mid levels of SAM group's BLAs exhibited decreased PNN intensity and decreased axo-somatic synapses between PV-to-principal pyramidal-like neurons and PV-to-PV. PV and PNN densities (cells/mm2 ) in the BLA of both control (CON) and SAM groups were still low at PN12 and SAM delayed the ontogenetic rise of PV intensity and PNN density. Moreover, PV cell density in the anterior-to-mid BLA correlated negatively with threat response of CON animals, but not for SAM animals. Thus, reduction of PNN-supported, PV-mediated somatic inhibition of pyramidal cells provides a mechanistic support for the enduring effect of early life maltreatment manifested as increasing innate threat response at weaning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrienne N Santiago
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York.,Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York
| | - Kayla Y Lim
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York
| | - Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York
| | - Chiye Aoki
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York
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14
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Neurobiology of Infant Sensitive Period for Attachment and Its Reinstatement Through Maternal Social Buffering. MINNESOTA SYMPOSIA ON CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/9781119461746.ch2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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15
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Atsak P, Morena M, Schoenmaker C, Tabak E, Oomen CA, Jamil S, Hill MN, Roozendaal B. Glucocorticoid-endocannabinoid uncoupling mediates fear suppression deficits after early - Life stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2018. [PMID: 29524763 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.02.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Early-life stress (ELS) creates life-long vulnerability to stress-related anxiety disorders through altering stress and fear systems in the brain. The endocannabinoid system has emerged as an important regulator of the stress response through a crosstalk with the glucocorticoid system, yet whether it plays a role in the persistent effects of ELS remains unanswered. By combining, behavioral, pharmacological and biochemical approaches in adult male rats, we examined the impact of ELS on the regulation of endocannabinoid function by stress and glucocorticoids. We employed a postnatal limited-nesting/bedding induced ELS between postnatal days 2-9 in rats. Exposure to postnatal ELS compromised the ability of both acute stress and glucocorticoid administration to mobilize the endocannabinoid ligand 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) in the hippocampus of adult male rats. These findings suggest that ELS compromises the coupling of the glucocorticoid and endocannabinoid systems in the hippocampus. Since 2-AG signaling is essential in mediating glucocorticoid-induced suppression of fear recall, we further examined the impact of ELS on the ability of glucocorticoids to suppress fear memory recall. While ELS did not affect normative fear recall, it impaired the ability of glucocorticoids to dampen fear recall. Notably, bypassing glucocorticoids and directly amplifying hippocampal 2-AG signaling with a monoacyl glycerol lipase inhibitor produced a suppression of fear memory recall in animals exposed to ELS. These findings suggest that ELS results in an uncoupling of glucocorticoid-endocannabinoid signaling in the hippocampus, which, in turn, relates to alterations in stress regulation of memory recall. These data provide compelling evidence that ELS-induced deficits in the glucocorticoid-endocannabinoid coupling following stress could predispose susceptibility to stress-related psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piray Atsak
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Maria Morena
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
| | - Chantal Schoenmaker
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Emma Tabak
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Charlotte A Oomen
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Sara Jamil
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Matthew N Hill
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
| | - Benno Roozendaal
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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16
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Kaiser RH, Clegg R, Goer F, Pechtel P, Beltzer M, Vitaliano G, Olson DP, Teicher MH, Pizzagalli DA. Childhood stress, grown-up brain networks: corticolimbic correlates of threat-related early life stress and adult stress response. Psychol Med 2018; 48:1157-1166. [PMID: 28942738 PMCID: PMC5867194 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291717002628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Exposure to threat-related early life stress (ELS) has been related to vulnerability for stress-related disorders in adulthood, putatively via disrupted corticolimbic circuits involved in stress response and regulation. However, previous research on ELS has not examined both the intrinsic strength and flexibility of corticolimbic circuits, which may be particularly important for adaptive stress responding, or associations between these dimensions of corticolimbic dysfunction and acute stress response in adulthood. METHODS Seventy unmedicated women varying in history of threat-related ELS completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan to evaluate voxelwise static (overall) and dynamic (variability over a series of sliding windows) resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of bilateral amygdala. In a separate session and subset of participants (n = 42), measures of salivary cortisol and affect were collected during a social-evaluative stress challenge. RESULTS Higher severity of threat-related ELS was related to more strongly negative static RSFC between amygdala and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and elevated dynamic RSFC between amygdala and rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC). Static amygdala-DLPFC antagonism mediated the relationship between higher severity of threat-related ELS and blunted cortisol response to stress, but increased dynamic amygdala-rACC connectivity weakened this mediated effect and was related to more positive post-stress mood. CONCLUSIONS Threat-related ELS was associated with RSFC within lateral corticolimbic circuits, which in turn was related to blunted physiological response to acute stress. Notably, increased flexibility between the amygdala and rACC compensated for this static disruption, suggesting that more dynamic medial corticolimbic circuits might be key to restoring healthy stress response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roselinde H. Kaiser
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles
| | - Rachel Clegg
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Franziska Goer
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Pia Pechtel
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Miranda Beltzer
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Gordana Vitaliano
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - David P. Olson
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | | | - Diego A. Pizzagalli
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
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17
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Noradrenergic effects on olfactory perception and learning. Brain Res 2018; 1709:33-38. [PMID: 29574010 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2018.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2017] [Revised: 01/17/2018] [Accepted: 03/15/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
We here review modulation of olfactory guided behavioral tasks by noradrenaline. In this review we focus on modulation of the main olfactory system in adult rodents. We detail behavioral paradigms commonly used and discuss how sensory perception and learning can be measured using these paradigms. We then describe neuromodulatory effects on several aspects of olfactory processing, including detection and encoding. We describe how memory duration, specificity and duration are affected by noradrenergic modulation.
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18
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Abstract
Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in youth; however, progress in treatment for childhood anxiety has stalled over the past decade. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project represents a shift toward a dimensional and interdisciplinary approach to psychiatric disorders; this shift can reframe developmental psychopathology for childhood anxiety and facilitate novel advances in its classification and treatment. Here we highlight constructs in the Systems for Social Processes and the Negative Valence System domains of RDoC, as they relate to childhood anxiety disorders. Childhood anxiety relates to both RDoC domains. In terms of social processes, through natural reliance on parents to reduce children's fear, attachment represents one particular social process, which plays a central role in anxiety among youth. In terms of negative valence, considerable research links threat conditioning to pediatric anxiety. Finally, fronto-amygdala circuitry relates to all three entities, as it has been shown to underly both attachment processes and threat learning, while it also has been consistently implicated in anxiety disorders across development. Through integrative and translational approaches, RDoC provides unique opportunities and simultaneous challenges for advancing the understanding and treatment of childhood anxiety disorders.
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19
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Neural Signaling of Cortisol, Childhood Emotional Abuse, and Depression-Related Memory Bias. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2017; 3:274-284. [PMID: 29486869 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2017] [Accepted: 11/13/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cortisol has potent effects on learning and neuroplasticity, but little is known about its effects on negative memory biases in depression. Animal models show that aversive caregiving alters effects of glucocorticoids (primarily corticosterone in rodents and cortisol in primates) on learning and neuroplasticity into adulthood. METHODS We investigated whether history of childhood emotional abuse (EA) moderated effects of cortisol administration (CORT) versus placebo on emotional memory formation in depression. Participants included 75 unmedicated women with varying levels of depression severity and/or EA history. In a double-blind crossover investigation, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure effects of CORT (vs. placebo) on neural function during emotional memory formation. RESULTS CORT eliminated the well-known relationship between depression severity and negative memory bias, a finding explained by EA severity. For women with a history of severe EA, CORT reduced depression-related negative memory bias and normalized recall for pleasant stimuli. EA severity also moderated CORT effects on neural function: in women with history of severe EA, CORT increased activation in the supplementary motor area during viewing of unpleasant relative to pleasant pictures. Additionally, supplementary motor area activation predicted reduced negative bias for pictures encoded during CORT. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that increasing cortisol signaling may be neurocognitively beneficial in depressed women with a history of maltreatment. The findings corroborate prior research suggesting that presence or absence of adverse caregiving is etiologically important in depression. These findings suggest potential neurocognitive mechanisms of therapeutics targeting cortisol signaling, which show promise in treating affective disorders.
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20
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Stimulation of the Locus Ceruleus Modulates Signal-to-Noise Ratio in the Olfactory Bulb. J Neurosci 2017; 37:11605-11615. [PMID: 29066553 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2026-17.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2017] [Revised: 10/10/2017] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Norepinephrine (NE) has been shown to influence sensory, and specifically olfactory processing at the behavioral and physiological levels, potentially by regulating signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). The present study is the first to look at NE modulation of olfactory bulb (OB) in regards to S/N in vivo We show, in male rats, that locus ceruleus stimulation and pharmacological infusions of NE into the OB modulate both spontaneous and odor-evoked neural responses. NE in the OB generated a non-monotonic dose-response relationship, suppressing mitral cell activity at high and low, but not intermediate, NE levels. We propose that NE enhances odor responses not through direct potentiation of the afferent signal per se, but rather by reducing the intrinsic noise of the system. This has important implications for the ways in which an animal interacts with its olfactory environment, particularly as the animal shifts from a relaxed to an alert behavioral state.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Sensory perception can be modulated by behavioral states such as hunger, fear, stress, or a change in environmental context. Behavioral state often affects neural processing via the release of circulating neurochemicals such as hormones or neuromodulators. We here show that the neuromodulator norepinephrine modulates olfactory bulb spontaneous activity and odor responses so as to generate an increased signal-to-noise ratio at the output of the olfactory bulb. Our results help interpret and improve existing ideas for neural network mechanisms underlying behaviorally observed improvements in near-threshold odor detection and discrimination.
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21
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Santiago A, Aoki C, Sullivan RM. From attachment to independence: Stress hormone control of ecologically relevant emergence of infants' responses to threat. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2017; 14:78-85. [PMID: 28239630 DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Young infant rat pups learn to approach cues associated with pain rather than learning amygdala-dependent fear. This approach response is considered caregiver-seeking and ecologically relevant within the context of attachment. With maturation, increases in the stress hormone corticosterone permit amygdala-dependent fear, which is crucial for survival during independent living. During the developmental transition from attachment to fear learning, maternal presence suppresses corticosterone elevation to block amygdala-dependent fear learning and re-engage the attachment circuitry. Early life trauma disrupts this developmental sequence by triggering a precocious increase of corticosterone, which permits amygdala-dependent threat responses. In this review, we explore the importance of the stress hormone corticosterone in infants' transition from complete dependence on the caregiver to independence, with consideration for environmental influences on threat response ontogeny and mechanistic importance of social buffering of the stress response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrienne Santiago
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10003; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10003; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003
| | - Chiye Aoki
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10003; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10003; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003
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22
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Gee DG. Sensitive Periods of Emotion Regulation: Influences of Parental Care on Frontoamygdala Circuitry and Plasticity. New Dir Child Adolesc Dev 2017; 2016:87-110. [PMID: 27589500 DOI: 10.1002/cad.20166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Early caregiving experiences play a central role in shaping emotional development, stress physiology, and refinement of limbic circuitry. Converging evidence across species delineates a sensitive period of heightened neuroplasticity when frontoamygdala circuitry is especially amenable to caregiver inputs early in life. During this period, parental buffering regulates emotional behaviors and stress physiology as emotion regulation circuitry continues to mature. By contrast, disorganized or poor quality caregiving has profound and lasting consequences on the maturation of frontoamygdala circuitry essential for emotion regulation, even following termination of this early life stressor (e.g., adoption from orphanage). This article highlights how interactions between caregiving experiences and the biological state of the developing brain have broad implications for long-term health.
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23
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Prusator DK, Greenwood-Van Meerveld B. Sex differences in stress-induced visceral hypersensitivity following early life adversity: a two hit model. Neurogastroenterol Motil 2016; 28:1876-1889. [PMID: 27385091 DOI: 10.1111/nmo.12891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2016] [Accepted: 05/29/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Early life adversity (ELA) has been indicated as a risk factor for the development of stress axis dysfunction in adulthood, specifically in females. We previously showed that unpredictable ELA induces visceral hyperalgesia in adult female rats. It remains to be determined whether ELA alters visceral nociceptive responses to stress in adulthood. The current study tested the hypothesis that following ELA, exposure to an adulthood stressor, or second hit, serves as a risk factor for exaggerated stress-induced visceral hypersensitivity that is sex-specific. METHODS Following ELA, adult stress was induced via a single exposure (acute) or repetitive daily exposure, 1 h/day for 7 days (chronic), to water avoidance stress (WAS). KEY RESULTS Acute WAS increased pain behaviors in all adult female rats, however, females that experienced unpredictable ELA exhibited significantly more pain behaviors compared to those exposed to predictable ELA or controls. Following chronic WAS, all adult females exhibited increased pain responses, however, an exaggerated response was observed in rats exposed to unpredictable or predictable ELA compared to controls. Similarly, in adult male rats exposure to acute or chronic WAS increased pain behaviors, however, there were no differences in pain behaviors between ELA groups. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES This study highlights a novel consequence of ELA on stress-induced visceral nociception in adulthood that is sex-specific. More importantly, our study suggests that ELA not only serves as a risk factor for development of chronic pain in adulthood, but also serves as a predisposition for worsening of visceral pain following adult stress in female rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- D K Prusator
- Oklahoma Center for Neuroscience, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - B Greenwood-Van Meerveld
- Oklahoma Center for Neuroscience, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.,VA Medical Center, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.,Department of Physiology, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
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24
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Effects of Neonatal Methamphetamine and Stress on Brain Monoamines and Corticosterone in Preweanling Rats. Neurotox Res 2016; 31:269-282. [PMID: 27817108 DOI: 10.1007/s12640-016-9680-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2016] [Revised: 10/17/2016] [Accepted: 10/20/2016] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Neonatal exposure to methamphetamine (MA) and developmental chronic stress significantly alter neurodevelopmental profiles that show a variety of long-term physiological and behavioral effects. In the current experiment, Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to one of two housing conditions along with MA. Rats were given 0 (saline), 5, or 7.5 mg/kg MA, four times per day from postnatal day (P)11 to 15 or P11 to 20. Half of the litters were reared in cages with standard bedding and half with no bedding. Separate litters were assessed at P15 or P20 for organ weights (adrenals, spleen, thymus); corticosterone; and monoamine assessments (dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine) and their metabolites within the neostriatum, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Findings show neonatal MA altered monoamines, corticosterone, and organ characteristics alone, and as a function of developmental age and stress compared with controls. These alterations may in part be responsible for MA and early life stress-induced long-term learning and memory deficits.
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25
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Remmes J, Bodden C, Richter SH, Lesting J, Sachser N, Pape HC, Seidenbecher T. Impact of Life History on Fear Memory and Extinction. Front Behav Neurosci 2016; 10:185. [PMID: 27757077 PMCID: PMC5047906 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2016] [Accepted: 09/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral profiles are strongly shaped by an individual's whole life experience. The accumulation of negative experiences over lifetime is thought to promote anxiety-like behavior in adulthood (“allostatic load hypothesis”). In contrast, the “mismatch hypothesis” of psychiatric disease suggests that high levels of anxiety-like behavior are the result of a discrepancy between early and late environment. The aim of the present study was to investigate how different life histories shape the expression of anxiety-like behavior and modulate fear memory. In addition, we aimed to clarify which of the two hypotheses can better explain the modulation of anxiety and fear. For this purpose, male mice grew up under either adverse or beneficial conditions during early phase of life. In adulthood they were further subdivided in groups that either matched or mismatched the condition experienced before, resulting in four different life histories. The main results were: (i) Early life benefit followed by late life adversity caused decreased levels of anxiety-like behavior. (ii) Accumulation of adversity throughout life history led to impaired fear extinction learning. Late life adversity as compared to late life benefit mainly affected extinction training, while early life adversity as compared to early life benefit interfered with extinction recall. Concerning anxiety-like behavior, the results do neither support the allostatic load nor the mismatch hypothesis, but rather indicate an anxiolytic effect of a mismatched early beneficial and later adverse life history. In contrast, fear memory was strongly affected by the accumulation of adverse experiences over the lifetime, therefore supporting allostatic load hypothesis. In summary, this study highlights that anxiety-like behavior and fear memory are differently affected by specific combinations of adverse or beneficial events experienced throughout life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasmin Remmes
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
| | - Carina Bodden
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Department of Behavioural Biology, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster, Germany
| | - Jörg Lesting
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
| | - Norbert Sachser
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Department of Behavioural Biology, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
| | - Hans-Christian Pape
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
| | - Thomas Seidenbecher
- Institute of Physiology I, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-UniversityMünster, Germany
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26
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Jones CE, Monfils MH. Post-retrieval extinction in adolescence prevents return of juvenile fear. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016; 23:567-75. [PMID: 27634147 PMCID: PMC5026207 DOI: 10.1101/lm.043281.116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2016] [Accepted: 07/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Traumatic experiences early in life can contribute to the development of mood and anxiety disorders that manifest during adolescence and young adulthood. In young rats exposed to acute fear or stress, alterations in neural development can lead to enduring behavioral abnormalities. Here, we used a modified extinction intervention (retrieval+extinction) during late adolescence (post-natal day 45 [p45]), in rats, to target auditory Pavlovian fear associations acquired as juveniles (p17 and p25). The effects of adolescent intervention were examined by assessing freezing as adults during both fear reacquisition and social transmission of fear from a cagemate. Rats underwent testing or training at three time points across development: juvenile (p17 or p25), adolescent (p45), and adult (p100). Retrieval+extinction during late adolescence prevented social reinstatement and recovery over time of fears initially acquired as juveniles (p17 and p25, respectively). Adolescence was the only time point tested here where retrieval+extinction prevented fear recall of associations acquired 20+ days earlier.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn E Jones
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1043, USA
| | - Marie-H Monfils
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1043, USA
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27
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Opendak M, Sullivan RM. Unique neurobiology during the sensitive period for attachment produces distinctive infant trauma processing. Eur J Psychotraumatol 2016; 7:31276. [PMID: 27837581 PMCID: PMC5106868 DOI: 10.3402/ejpt.v7.31276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2016] [Revised: 06/28/2016] [Accepted: 07/31/2016] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Trauma has neurobehavioral effects when experienced at any stage of development, but trauma experienced in early life has unique neurobehavioral outcomes related to later life psychiatric sequelae. Recent evidence has further highlighted the context of infant trauma as a critical variable in determining its immediate and enduring consequences. Trauma experienced from an attachment figure, such as occurs in cases of caregiver child maltreatment, is particularly detrimental. METHODS Using data primarily from rodent models, we review the literature on the interaction between trauma and attachment in early life, which highlights the role of the caregiver's presence in engagement of attachment brain circuitry and suppressing threat processing by the amygdala. We then consider how trauma with and without the caregiver produces long-term changes in emotionality and behavior, and suggest that these experiences initiate distinct pathways to pathology. RESULTS Together these data suggest that infant trauma processing and its enduring effects are impacted by both the immaturity of brain areas for processing trauma and the unique functioning of the early-life brain, which is biased toward processing information within the attachment circuitry. CONCLUSION An understanding of developmental differences in trauma processing as well as the critical role of the caregiver in further altering early life brain processing of trauma is important for developing age-relevant treatment and interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA.,Child Study Center, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA;
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA.,Child Study Center, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
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28
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Ehrlich DE, Josselyn SA. Plasticity-related genes in brain development and amygdala-dependent learning. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2015; 15:125-43. [PMID: 26419764 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2015] [Revised: 09/12/2015] [Accepted: 09/14/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Learning about motivationally important stimuli involves plasticity in the amygdala, a temporal lobe structure. Amygdala-dependent learning involves a growing number of plasticity-related signaling pathways also implicated in brain development, suggesting that learning-related signaling in juveniles may simultaneously influence development. Here, we review the pleiotropic functions in nervous system development and amygdala-dependent learning of a signaling pathway that includes brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), extracellular signaling-related kinases (ERKs) and cyclic AMP-response element binding protein (CREB). Using these canonical, plasticity-related genes as an example, we discuss the intersection of learning-related and developmental plasticity in the immature amygdala, when aversive and appetitive learning may influence the developmental trajectory of amygdala function. We propose that learning-dependent activation of BDNF, ERK and CREB signaling in the immature amygdala exaggerates and accelerates neural development, promoting amygdala excitability and environmental sensitivity later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- D E Ehrlich
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, Neuroscience Institute, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology, NYU Langone School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - S A Josselyn
- Program in Neurosciences & Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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29
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Abstract
Strong evidence indicates that reciprocal connections between the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) support fundamental aspects of emotional behavior in adulthood. However, this circuitry is slow to develop in humans, exhibiting immaturity in childhood. The argument is made that the development of this circuitry in humans is intimately associated with caregiving, such that parental availability during childhood provides important and enduring scaffolding of neuroaffective processes that ultimately form of the nature of the adult phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nim Tottenham
- a Department of Psychology , Columbia University , New York , NY , USA
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30
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Abstract
Strong evidence indicates that reciprocal connections between the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) support fundamental aspects of emotional behavior in adulthood. However, this circuitry is slow to develop in humans, exhibiting immaturity in childhood. The argument is made that the development of this circuitry in humans is intimately associated with caregiving, such that parental availability during childhood provides important and enduring scaffolding of neuroaffective processes that ultimately form of the nature of the adult phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nim Tottenham
- a Department of Psychology , Columbia University , New York , NY , USA
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Paradoxical neurobehavioral rescue by memories of early-life abuse: the safety signal value of odors learned during abusive attachment. Neuropsychopharmacology 2015; 40:906-14. [PMID: 25284320 PMCID: PMC4330504 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2014.266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2014] [Revised: 09/21/2014] [Accepted: 09/22/2014] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Caregiver-associated cues, including those learned in abusive attachment, provide a sense of safety and security to the child. Here, we explore how cues associated with abusive attachment, such as maternal odor, can modify the enduring neurobehavioral effects of early-life abuse. Two early-life abuse models were used: a naturalistic paradigm, where rat pups were reared by an abusive mother; and a more controlled paradigm, where pups underwent peppermint odor-shock conditioning that produces an artificial maternal odor through engagement of the attachment circuit. Animals were tested for maternal odor preference in infancy, forced swim test (FST), social behavior, and sexual motivation in adulthood-in the presence or absence of maternal odors (natural or peppermint). Amygdala odor-evoked local field potentials (LFPs) via wireless electrodes were also examined in response to the maternal odors in adulthood. Both early-life abuse models induced preference for the maternal odors in infancy. In adulthood, these early-life abuse models produced FST deficits and decreased social behavior, but did not change sexual motivation. Presentation of the maternal odors rescued FST and social behavior deficits induced by early-life abuse and enhanced sexual motivation in all animals. In addition, amygdala LFPs from both abuse animal models showed unique activation within the gamma frequency (70-90 Hz) bands in response to the specific maternal odor present during early-life abuse. These results suggest that attachment-related cues learned during infancy have a profound ability to rescue neurobehavioral dysregulation caused by early-life abuse. Paradoxically, abuse-associated cues seem to acquire powerful and enduring antidepressive properties and alter amygdala modulation.
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Rincón-Cortés M, Barr GA, Mouly AM, Shionoya K, Nuñez BS, Sullivan RM. Enduring good memories of infant trauma: rescue of adult neurobehavioral deficits via amygdala serotonin and corticosterone interaction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:881-6. [PMID: 25561533 PMCID: PMC4311810 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1416065112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Children form a strong attachment to their caregiver--even when that caretaker is abusive. Paradoxically, despite the trauma experienced within this relationship, the child develops a preference for trauma-linked cues--a phenomenon known as trauma bonding. Although infant trauma compromises neurobehavioral development, the mechanisms underlying the interaction between infant trauma bonding (i.e., learned preference for trauma cues) and the long-term effects of trauma (i.e., depressive-like behavior, amygdala dysfunction) are unknown. We modeled infant trauma bonding by using odor-shock conditioning in rat pups, which engages the attachment system and produces a life-long preference for the odor that was paired with shock. In adulthood, this trauma-linked odor rescues depressive-like behavior and amygdala dysfunction, reduces corticosterone (CORT) levels, and exerts repair-related changes at the molecular level. Amygdala microarray after rescue implicates serotonin (5-HT) and glucocorticoids (GCs), and a causal role was verified through microinfusions. Blocking amygdala 5-HT eliminates the rescue effect; increasing amygdala 5-HT and blocking systemic CORT mimics it. Our findings suggest that infant trauma cues share properties with antidepressants and safety signals and provide insight into mechanisms by which infant trauma memories remain powerful throughout life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Millie Rincón-Cortés
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY 10962; Neuroscience and Physiology, Sackler Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The Child Study Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, NY 10016;
| | - Gordon A Barr
- Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104; Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
| | - Anne Marie Mouly
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, University Lyon1, F-69366 Lyon, France; and
| | - Kiseko Shionoya
- Division of Cell Biology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping 58183, Sweden
| | - Bestina S Nuñez
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY 10962
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY 10962; Neuroscience and Physiology, Sackler Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The Child Study Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, NY 10016;
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Abstract
Stress is a powerful modulator of brain structure and function. While stress is beneficial for survival, inappropriate stress dramatically increases the risk of physical and mental health problems, particularly when experienced during early developmental periods. Here we focus on the neurobiology of the infant rat's odor learning system that enables neonates to learn and approach the maternal odor and describe the unique role of the stress hormone corticosterone in modulating this odor approach learning across development. During the first nine postnatal days, this odor approach learning of infant rats is supported by a wide range of sensory stimuli and ensures attachment to the mother's odor, even when interactions with her are occasionally associated with pain. With maturation and the emergence of a stress- or pain-induced corticosterone response, this odor approach learning terminates and a more adult-like amygdala-dependent fear/avoidance learning emerges. Strikingly, the odor approach and attenuated fear learning of older pups can be re-established by the presence of the mother, due to her ability to suppress her pups' corticosterone release and amygdala activity. This suggests that developmental changes in stress responsiveness and the stimuli that produce a stress response might be critically involved in optimally adapting the pup's attachment system to its respective ecological niche.
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Sarro EC, Wilson DA, Sullivan RM. Maternal regulation of infant brain state. Curr Biol 2014; 24:1664-1669. [PMID: 24980504 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2014] [Revised: 05/23/2014] [Accepted: 06/06/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Patterns of neural activity are critical for sculpting the immature brain, and disrupting this activity is believed to underlie neurodevelopmental disorders [1-3]. Neural circuits undergo extensive activity-dependent postnatal structural and functional changes [4-6]. The different forms of neural plasticity [7-9] underlying these changes have been linked to specific patterns of spatiotemporal activity. Since maternal behavior is the mammalian infant's major source of sensory-driven environmental stimulation and the quality of this care can dramatically affect neurobehavioral development [10], we explored, for the first time, whether infant cortical activity is influenced directly by interactions with the mother within the natural nest environment. We recorded spontaneous neocortical local field potentials in freely behaving infant rats during natural interactions with their mother on postnatal days ∼12-19. We showed that maternal absence from the nest increased cortical desynchrony. Further isolating the pup by removing littermates induced further desynchronization. The mother's return to the nest reduced this desynchrony, and nipple attachment induced a further reduction but increased slow-wave activity. However, maternal simulation of pups (e.g., grooming and milk ejection) consistently produced rapid, transient cortical desynchrony. The magnitude of these maternal effects decreased with age. Finally, systemic blockade of noradrenergic beta receptors led to reduced maternal regulation of infant cortical activity. Our results demonstrate that during early development, mother-infant interactions can immediately affect infant brain activity, in part via a noradrenergic mechanism, suggesting a powerful influence of the maternal behavior and presence on circuit development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma C Sarro
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA; Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Langone School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA.
| | - Donald A Wilson
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA; Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Langone School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA; Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Langone School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA
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Perry R, Sullivan RM. Neurobiology of attachment to an abusive caregiver: short-term benefits and long-term costs. Dev Psychobiol 2014; 56:1626-34. [PMID: 24771610 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2013] [Accepted: 03/27/2014] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Childhood maltreatment is associated with adverse brain development and later life psychiatric disorders, with maltreatment from the caregiver inducing a particular vulnerability to later life psychopathologies. Here we review two complementary rodent models of early life abuse, which are used to examine the infant response to trauma within attachment and the developmental trajectories that lead to later life neurobehavioral deficits. These rodent models include being reared with an abusive mother, and a more controlled attachment-learning paradigm using odor-shock conditioning to produce a new maternal odor. In both of these rodent models, pups learn a strong attachment and preference to the maternal odor. However, both models produce similar enduring neurobehavioral deficits, which emerge with maturation. Importantly, cues associated with our models of abuse serve as paradoxical safety signals, by normalizing enduring neurobehavioral deficits following abuse. Here we review these models and explore implications for human interventions for early life maltreatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosemarie Perry
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY; Neuroscience and Physiology, NYU Sackler Institute, New York, NY; Child Study Center, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY; NYU Neuroscience Institute, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY
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Daskalakis NP, Diamantopoulou A, Claessens SEF, Remmers E, Tjälve M, Oitzl MS, Champagne DL, de Kloet ER. Early experience of a novel-environment in isolation primes a fearful phenotype characterized by persistent amygdala activation. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2014; 39:39-57. [PMID: 24275003 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.09.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2013] [Accepted: 09/19/2013] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Prolonged maternal separation (MS) activates the neonate's hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis causing elevated basal and stress-induced corticosterone levels that may initiate amygdala-dependent fear learning. Here we test the hypothesis that the adult fearful phenotype is programmed by the pup's stressful experience during prolonged MS rather than by prolonged maternal absence per se. For this purpose, Wistar rat pups were exposed, on postnatal-day (pnd) 3, to: (i) repeated-MS in home-environment (HOME-SEP), 8h-MS daily for three days with the pups remaining together in the home-cage; (ii) repeated-MS in a novel-environment (NOVEL-SEP), with the same separation procedure, but now the pups were individually housed in a novel-environment during the 8h dam's absence; (iii) repeated handling, which consisted of daily brief (15 min instead of 8h) MS in the home-altogether or in a novel-environment individually (HOME-HAN and NOVEL-HAN, respectively); (iv) no-separation/no-handling (NON-SEP/NON-HAN) control condition, in which pups were left undisturbed in their home-cage. Compared to HOME-SEP rats, the NOVEL-SEP rats showed one day after the last MS enhanced stress-induced amygdala c-Fos expression and ACTH-release, despite of reduced adrenal corticosterone secretion. The higher amygdala c-Fos expression, ACTH-release and reduced corticosterone output observed postnatally, persisted into adulthood of the NOVEL-SEP animals. Behaviorally, NOVEL-SEP juvenile rats displayed deficits in social play, had intact spatial memory in the peri-pubertal period and showed more contextual fear memory compared to HOME-SEP in adulthood. Finally, NOVEL-HAN, compared to HOME-HAN, displayed increased stress-induced corticosterone output, no deficits in social play and reduced contextual fear. In conclusion, programming of an adult fearful phenotype linked to amygdala priming develops if pups are repeatedly isolated from peers in a novel-environment, while away from the dam for a prolonged period of time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolaos P Daskalakis
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands; Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands; Traumatic Stress Studies Division & Laboratory of Molecular Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA; Mental Health Care Center, PTSD Clinical Research Program and Laboratory of Clinical Neuroendocrinology and Neurochemistry, James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, USA.
| | - Anastasia Diamantopoulou
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands; Laboratory of Biology-Biochemistry, Faculty of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, University of Athens, Greece; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sanne E F Claessens
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Elisa Remmers
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Marika Tjälve
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Melly S Oitzl
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Danielle L Champagne
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - E Ronald de Kloet
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands; Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Lucion AB, Bortolini MC. Mother-pup interactions: rodents and humans. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2014; 5:17. [PMID: 24616713 PMCID: PMC3935307 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2014.00017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2013] [Accepted: 02/08/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
In order to survive after birth, mammalian infants need a caretaker, usually the mother. Several behavioral strategies have evolved to guarantee the transition from a period of intense caregiving to offspring independence. Here, we examine a selection of literature on the genetic, epigenetic, physiological, and behavioral factors relating to development and mother-infant interactions. We intend to show the utility of comparisons between rodent and human models for deepening knowledge regarding this key relationship. Particular attention is paid to the following factors: the distinct developmental stages of the mother-pup relationship as relating to behavior; examples of key genetic components of mammalian mother-infant interactions, specifically those coding for the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin; and the possible functions of gene imprinting in mediating interactions between genetics and environment in the mother-infant relationship. As early mother-infant attachment seems to establish the basic parameters for later social interactions, ongoing investigations in this area are essential. We propose the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in order to better understand the network of genes, gene regulation, neuropeptide action, physiological processes, and feedback loops essential to understand the complex behaviors of mother-infant interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aldo B. Lucion
- Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- *Correspondence: Aldo B. Lucion, Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Sarmento Leite 500, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 90050-170, Brazil e-mail:
| | - Maria Cátira Bortolini
- Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
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Rincón-Cortés M, Sullivan RM. Early life trauma and attachment: immediate and enduring effects on neurobehavioral and stress axis development. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2014; 5:33. [PMID: 24711804 PMCID: PMC3968754 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2014.00033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2013] [Accepted: 03/05/2014] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Over half a century of converging clinical and animal research indicates that early life experiences induce enduring neuroplasticity of the HPA-axis and the developing brain. This experience-induced neuroplasticity is due to alterations in the frequency and intensity of stimulation of pups' sensory systems (i.e., olfactory, somatosensory, gustatory) embedded in mother-infant interactions. This stimulation provides "hidden regulators" of pups' behavioral, physiological, and neural responses that have both immediate and enduring consequences, including those involving the stress response. While variation in stimulation can produce individual differences and adaptive behaviors, pathological early life experiences can induce maladaptive behaviors, initiate a pathway to pathology, and increase risk for later-life psychopathologies, such as mood and affective disorders, suggesting that infant-attachment relationships program later-life neurobehavioral function. Recent evidence suggests that the effects of maternal presence or absence during this sensory stimulation provide a major modulatory role in neural and endocrine system responses, which have minimal impact on pups' immediate neurobehavior but a robust impact on neurobehavioral development. This concept is reviewed here using two complementary rodent models of infant trauma within attachment: infant paired-odor-shock conditioning (mimicking maternal odor attachment learning) and rearing with an abusive mother that converge in producing a similar behavioral phenotype in later-life including depressive-like behavior as well as disrupted HPA-axis and amygdala function. The importance of maternal social presence on pups' immediate and enduring brain and behavior suggests unique processing of sensory stimuli in early life that could provide insight into the development of novel strategies for prevention and therapeutic interventions for trauma experienced with the abusive caregiver.
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Affiliation(s)
- Millie Rincón-Cortés
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sackler Institute for Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, New York, NY, USA
- New York University Child Study Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- *Correspondence: Millie Rincón-Cortés, Sullivan Laboratory, New York University Child Study Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, 1 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA e-mail:
| | - Regina M. Sullivan
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sackler Institute for Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, New York, NY, USA
- New York University Child Study Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
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Quinn JJ, Skipper RA, Claflin DI. Infant stress exposure produces persistent enhancement of fear learning across development. Dev Psychobiol 2013; 56:1008-16. [PMID: 24264998 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2013] [Accepted: 10/27/2013] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that early life stress experiences persistently impact subsequent physiological, cognitive, and emotional responses. In cases of trauma, these early experiences can result in anxiety disorders such as phobias and posttraumatic stress disorder. In the present paper, we examined the effects of infant footshock stress exposure at postnatal day (PND) 17 on subsequent contextual fear conditioning at postnatal days 18 (Experiment 1), 24 (Experiment 2), or 90 (Experiment 3). In each experiment, PND17 footshock stress exposure enhanced later fear conditioning, indicating that the stress enhancement of fear learning (SEFL) persists throughout development. Memory for the original stress exposure context was gradually forgotten, with significant fear expression evident at PND20, and a complete lack of fear expression in that same context at PND90. These data suggest that the stress-enhancing component of infant fear learning is dissociable from the infant contextual fear memory per se. In other words, early life stress produces persistent effects on subsequent cognition that are independent of the memory for that early life event.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer J Quinn
- Department of Psychology, Center for Neuroscience and Behavior, Miami University, 100 Psychology Building, 90N. Patterson Ave., Oxford, OH, 45056.
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40
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Sarro EC, Sullivan RM, Barr G. Unpredictable neonatal stress enhances adult anxiety and alters amygdala gene expression related to serotonin and GABA. Neuroscience 2013; 258:147-61. [PMID: 24240029 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.10.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2013] [Revised: 10/21/2013] [Accepted: 10/28/2013] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Anxiety-related disorders are among the most common psychiatric illnesses, thought to have both genetic and environmental causes. Early-life trauma, such as abuse from a caregiver, can be predictable or unpredictable, each resulting in increased prevalence and severity of a unique set of disorders. In this study, we examined the influence of early unpredictable trauma on both the behavioral expression of adult anxiety and gene expression within the amygdala. Neonatal rats were exposed to unpaired odor-shock conditioning for 5 days, which produces deficits in adult behavior and amygdala dysfunction. In adulthood, we used the Light/Dark box test to measure anxiety-related behaviors, measuring the latency to enter the lit area and quantified urination and defecation. The amygdala was then dissected and a microarray analysis was performed to examine changes in gene expression. Animals that had received early unpredictable trauma displayed significantly longer latencies to enter the lit area and more defecation and urination. The microarray analysis revealed over-represented genes related to learning and memory, synaptic transmission and trans-membrane transport. Gene ontology and pathway analysis identified highly represented disease states related to anxiety phenotypes, including social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder. Addiction-related genes were also overrepresented in this analysis. Unpredictable shock during early development increased anxiety-like behaviors in adulthood with concomitant changes in genes related to neurotransmission, resulting in gene expression patterns similar to anxiety-related psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- E C Sarro
- Child Study Center, Center for Early Childhood Health & Development, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10010, United States; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, 140 Old Orangeburg Road, Orangeburg, NY 10962, United States.
| | - R M Sullivan
- Child Study Center, Center for Early Childhood Health & Development, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10010, United States; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, 140 Old Orangeburg Road, Orangeburg, NY 10962, United States
| | - G Barr
- The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, United States
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Sevelinges Y, Mouly AM, Raineki C, Moriceau S, Forest C, Sullivan RM. Adult depression-like behavior, amygdala and olfactory cortex functions are restored by odor previously paired with shock during infant's sensitive period attachment learning. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2013; 1:77-87. [PMID: 21037982 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2010.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Maltreatment from the caregiver induces vulnerability to later life psychopathologies, yet attraction and comfort is sometimes provided by cues associated with early life maltreatment. We used a rat model of early life maltreatment with odor-0.5 mA shock conditioning to produce depressive-like behaviors and questioned whether stimuli associated with maltreatment would restore emotional neurobehavioral function to control levels. Pups received daily novel odor-0.5 mA shock conditioning from postnatal day 8 to 12. This procedure produces a new maternal odor that controls pups' attachment behaviors. In adulthood, either with or without the infant odor, animals received a Forced Swim Test, Sucrose Preference Test or assessment of amygdala and olfactory system functioning using field potential signal evoked by olfactory bulb paired-pulse electrical stimulation. Following neonatal odor-shock pairings, but not unpaired controls, adults without the odor present showed increased depression-like behavior in the Forced Swim Test and Sucrose Preference Test and a deficit in paired-pulse inhibition in amygdala and piriform (olfactory) cortex. All effects were brought to control levels when the infant conditioned odor was presented during behavioral and neural tests. The ability of cues associated with early life maltreatment to normalize behavior and amygdala activity suggests these cues provide adaptive value in adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yannick Sevelinges
- Laboratoire Neurosciences Sensorielles, Comportement, Cognition, UMR 5020, CNRS-Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France
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Tottenham N, Hare TA, Millner A, Gilhooly T, Zevin JD, Casey BJ. Elevated amygdala response to faces following early deprivation. Dev Sci 2012; 14:190-204. [PMID: 21399712 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.00971.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 307] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
A functional neuroimaging study examined the long-term neural correlates of early adverse rearing conditions in humans as they relate to socio-emotional development. Previously institutionalized (PI) children and a same-aged comparison group were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing an Emotional Face Go/Nogo task. PI children showed heightened activity of the amygdala, a region that supports emotional learning and reactivity to emotional stimuli, and corresponding decreases in cortical regions that support perceptual and cognitive functions. Amygdala activity was associated with decreased eye-contact as measured by eye-tracking methods and during a live dyadic interaction. The association between early rearing environment and subsequent eye-contact was mediated by amygdala activity. These data support the hypothesis that early adversity alters human brain development in a way that can persist into childhood, and they offer insight into the socio-emotional disturbances in human behavior following early adversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Tottenham
- Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA.
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Raineki C, Cortés MR, Belnoue L, Sullivan RM. Effects of early-life abuse differ across development: infant social behavior deficits are followed by adolescent depressive-like behaviors mediated by the amygdala. J Neurosci 2012; 32:7758-65. [PMID: 22649253 PMCID: PMC3488459 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.5843-11.2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2011] [Revised: 02/21/2012] [Accepted: 02/24/2012] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Abuse during early life, especially from the caregiver, increases vulnerability to develop later-life psychopathologies such as depression. Although signs of depression are typically not expressed until later life, signs of dysfunctional social behavior have been found earlier. How infant abuse alters the trajectory of brain development to produce pathways to pathology is not completely understood. Here we address this question using two different but complementary rat models of early-life abuse from postnatal day 8 (P8) to P12: a naturalistic paradigm, where the mother is provided with insufficient bedding for nest building; and a more controlled paradigm, where infants undergo olfactory classical conditioning. Amygdala neural assessment (c-Fos), as well as social behavior and forced swim tests were performed at preweaning (P20) and adolescence (P45). Our results show that both models of early-life abuse induce deficits in social behavior, even during the preweaning period; however, depressive-like behaviors were observed only during adolescence. Adolescent depressive-like behavior corresponds with an increase in amygdala neural activity in response to forced swim test. A causal relationship between the amygdala and depressive-like behavior was suggested through amygdala temporary deactivation (muscimol infusions), which rescued the depressive-like behavior in the forced swim test. Our results indicate that social behavior deficits in infancy could serve as an early marker for later psychopathology. Moreover, the implication of the amygdala in the ontogeny of depressive-like behaviors in infant abused animals is an important step toward understanding the underlying mechanisms of later-life mental disease associated with early-life abuse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlis Raineki
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Child Study Center, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, Orangeburg, New York 10962
| | - Millie Rincón Cortés
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Child Study Center, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, Orangeburg, New York 10962
| | - Laure Belnoue
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Child Study Center, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, Orangeburg, New York 10962
| | - Regina M. Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Child Study Center, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, Orangeburg, New York 10962
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Landers MS, Sullivan RM. The development and neurobiology of infant attachment and fear. Dev Neurosci 2012; 34:101-14. [PMID: 22571921 DOI: 10.1159/000336732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 132] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2011] [Accepted: 01/17/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Survival of altricial infants depends on attachment to the caregiver - a process that requires infants to identify, learn, remember, and approach their attachment figure. Here we review the neurobiology of attachment in infant rats where learning about the caregiver is supported by a specialized attachment neural circuitry to promote the infant-caregiver relationship. Specifically, the attachment circuit relies on infants acquiring learned preferences to the maternal odor, and this behavior is supported by the hyperfunctioning locus coeruleus and generous amounts of norepinephrine to produce experience-induced changes in the olfactory bulb and anterior piriform cortex. Infants also possess a reduced ability to acquire learned aversions or fear, and this behavior is facilitated through attenuated amygdala plasticity to block fear learning. Presumably, this attachment circuitry constrains the infant animal to express only learned preferences regardless of the quality of care received. As pups mature, and begin to travel in and out of the nest, the specialized attachment learning becomes contextually confined to when pups are with the mother. Thus, when outside the nest, these older pups show learning more typical of adult learning, presumably to prepare for independent life outside the nest. The quality of attachment can alter this circuitry, with early life stress prematurely terminating the pups' access to the attachment system through premature functional activation of the amygdala. Overall, the attachment circuit appears to have a dual function: to keep pups close to the caregiver but also to shape pups' behavior to match the environment and define long-term emotion and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margo S Landers
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, N.Y., USA
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Miller MM, Morrison JH, McEwen BS. Basal anxiety-like behavior predicts differences in dendritic morphology in the medial prefrontal cortex in two strains of rats. Behav Brain Res 2012; 229:280-8. [PMID: 22285422 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.01.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2011] [Revised: 01/09/2012] [Accepted: 01/12/2012] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Basal differences in the brain may account for why some individuals are more vulnerable to stress than others. Although trait anxiety behavior varies greatly in human populations, most animal models of anxiety disorders tend to focus on the development of anxiety after a stressful experience. In this study, adult male Sprague-Dawley and Lewis rats were grouped according to baseline anxiety-like behavior in the open field, measured by time spent and distance traveled in the center. Individuals that fell one standard deviation above and below the mean, approximately the top and bottom 15%, were selected for the Low and High Anxiety groups. Pyramidal neurons from layer II/III of the prelimbic region of the medial prefrontal cortex were iontophoretically loaded with Lucifer yellow dye and reconstructed. In both strains, animals in the High Anxiety group had smaller apical dendrites than those in the Low Anxiety group. No difference was found in basal dendrites. Sholl analysis revealed a strain difference in the distribution of dendritic material between anxiety groups. These results illustrate significant variability in dendritic morphology in the prefrontal cortex of healthy adult male rats prior to experimental manipulation that correlates with baseline levels of anxiety-like behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melinda M Miller
- Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, Box 165, 1230 York Ave, New York, NY 10065, USA.
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Diamantopoulou A, Stamatakis A, Panagiotaropoulos T, Stylianopoulou F. Reward or its denial during the neonatal period affects adult spatial memory and hippocampal phosphorylated cAMP response element-binding protein levels of both the neonatal and adult rat. Neuroscience 2011; 181:89-99. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2011] [Revised: 03/01/2011] [Accepted: 03/01/2011] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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Crews D. Epigenetic modifications of brain and behavior: theory and practice. Horm Behav 2011; 59:393-8. [PMID: 20633562 PMCID: PMC3401366 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2010] [Revised: 06/25/2010] [Accepted: 07/06/2010] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Evolutionary change is a product of selection. Selection operates on the phenotype, and its consequences are manifest in representation of the genotype in successive generations. Of particular interest to both evolutionary and behavioral biologists is the newly emerging field of epigenetics and behavior. Two broad categories of epigenetic modifications must be distinguished. Context-dependent epigenetic change can be observed if the environmental factors that bring about the epigenetic modification persists (e.g., the frequency and quality of maternal care modifying the brain and future behavior of the offspring each generation). Because the environment induces epiallelic change, removing the causative factor can reverse a context-dependent epigenetic state. Germline-dependent epigenetic change occurs when the epigenetic imprint is mediated through the germline. Such effects are independent of the causative agent and there is no evidence at present that a germline-dependent epigenetic state can be reversed. Finally, only germline-dependent epigenetic modifications can be truly transgenerational. Although an individual's life history is progressive and continuous, it might usefully be viewed as the cumulation of divisions: each period emerging from what has gone before and, at the same time, setting the stage for what follows. These life history stages are somewhat arbitrary, with many traits spanning conventional divisions, but each period tends to have its own characteristic ethologies and particular contribution to neural and behavioral phenotypes. To understand how these episodes 'fit' together, it is necessary to deconstruct early life events and study each period both in its' own right and how it interacts with the preceding and subsequent stages. Lastly, it seems intuitive that germline- and context-dependent epigenetic modifications interact, resulting in the individual variation observed in behaviors, but until now this hypothesis has never been tested experimentally.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Crews
- Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
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Casey BJ, Ruberry EJ, Libby V, Glatt CE, Hare T, Soliman F, Duhoux S, Frielingsdorf H, Tottenham N. Transitional and translational studies of risk for anxiety. Depress Anxiety 2011; 28:18-28. [PMID: 21225849 PMCID: PMC3070413 DOI: 10.1002/da.20783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Adolescence reflects a period of increased rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide. Yet most teens emerge from this period with a healthy, positive outcome. In this article, we identify biological factors that may increase risk for some individuals during this developmental period by: (1) examining changes in neural circuitry underlying core phenotypic features of anxiety as healthy individuals transition into and out of adolescence; (2) examining genetic factors that may enhance the risk for psychopathology in one individual over another using translation from mouse models to human neuroimaging and behavior; and (3) examining the effects of early experiences on core phenotypic features of anxiety using human neuroimaging and behavioral approaches. Each of these approaches alone provides only limited information on genetic and environmental influences on complex human behavior across development. Together, they reflect an emerging field of translational developmental neuroscience in forming important bridges between animal models of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- B J Casey
- Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weil Cornell Medical College, 1300 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.
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Kehne JH, Cain CK. Therapeutic utility of non-peptidic CRF1 receptor antagonists in anxiety, depression, and stress-related disorders: evidence from animal models. Pharmacol Ther 2010; 128:460-87. [PMID: 20826181 DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2010.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2010] [Accepted: 08/17/2010] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Adaptive responding to threatening stressors is of fundamental importance for survival. Dysfunctional hyperactivation of corticotropin releasing factor type-1 (CRF(1)) receptors in stress response system pathways is linked to stress-related psychopathology and CRF(1) receptor antagonists (CRAs) have been proposed as novel therapeutic agents. CRA effects in diverse animal models of stress that detect anxiolytics and/or antidepressants are reviewed, with the goal of evaluating their potential therapeutic utility in depression, anxiety, and other stress-related disorders. CRAs have a distinct phenotype in animals that has similarities to, and differences from, those of classic antidepressants and anxiolytics. CRAs are generally behaviorally silent, indicating that CRF(1) receptors are normally in a state of low basal activation. CRAs reduce stressor-induced HPA axis activation by blocking pituitary and possibly brain CRF(1) receptors which may ameliorate chronic stress-induced pathology. In animal models sensitive to anxiolytics and/or antidepressants, CRAs are generally more active in those with high stress levels, conditions which may maximize CRF(1) receptor hyperactivation. Clinically, CRAs have demonstrated good tolerability and safety, but have thus far lacked compelling efficacy in major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, or irritable bowel syndrome. CRAs may be best suited for disorders in which stressors clearly contribute to the underlying pathology (e.g. posttraumatic stress disorder, early life trauma, withdrawal/abstinence from addictive substances), though much work is needed to explore these possibilities. An evolving literature exploring the genetic, developmental and environmental factors linking CRF(1) receptor dysfunction to stress-related psychopathology is discussed in the context of improving the translational value of current animal models.
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Affiliation(s)
- John H Kehne
- Translational Neuropharmacology Consulting, LLC, 9710 Traville Gateway Drive #307, Rockville, MD 20850-7408, USA.
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Developing a neurobehavioral animal model of infant attachment to an abusive caregiver. Biol Psychiatry 2010; 67:1137-45. [PMID: 20163787 PMCID: PMC3929962 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.12.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 142] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2009] [Revised: 12/13/2009] [Accepted: 12/14/2009] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Both abused and well cared for infants show attachment to their caregivers, although the quality of that attachment differs. Moreover, the infant's attachment to the abusive caregiver is associated with compromised mental health, especially under stress. In an attempt to better understand how abuse by the caregiver can compromise mental health, we explore the neural basis of attachment in both typical and abusive environments using infant rats, which form attachments to the mother through learning her odor. Here, we hypothesize that the neural circuitry for infant attachment differs based on the quality of the attachment, which can be uncovered during stressful situations. METHODS We used infant rats to compare infant attachment social behaviors and supporting neurobiology using natural maternal odor, as well as two odor-learning attachment paradigms: odor-stroke (mimics typical attachment) and odor-.5 mA shock conditioning (mimics abusive attachment). Next, to uncover differences in behavior and brain, these pups were injected with systemic corticosterone. Finally, pups were reared with an abusive mother to determine ecological relevance. RESULTS Our results suggest that the natural and learned attachment odors indistinguishably control social behavior in infancy (approach to the odor and interactions with the mother). However, with corticosterone injection, pups with an abusive attachment show disrupted infant social behavior with the mother and engagement of the amygdala. CONCLUSIONS This animal model of attachment accommodates both abusive and typical attachment and suggests that pups' social behavior and underlying neural circuitry may provide clues to understanding attachment in children with various conditions of care.
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