scholarly journals Central role for the insular cortex in mediating conditioned responses to anticipatory cues

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 1190-1195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikue Kusumoto-Yoshida ◽  
Haixin Liu ◽  
Billy T. Chen ◽  
Alfredo Fontanini ◽  
Antonello Bonci
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Insular Cortex ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Neuronal Firing ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Feeding Behaviors ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Taste Processing ◽  
Conditioned Responses

Reward-related circuits are fundamental for initiating feeding on the basis of food-predicting cues, whereas gustatory circuits are believed to be involved in the evaluation of food during consumption. However, accumulating evidence challenges such a rigid separation. The insular cortex (IC), an area largely studied in rodents for its role in taste processing, is involved in representing anticipatory cues. Although IC responses to anticipatory cues are well established, the role of IC cue-related activity in mediating feeding behaviors is poorly understood. Here, we examined the involvement of the IC in the expression of cue-triggered food approach in mice trained with a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm. We observed a significant change in neuronal firing during presentation of the cue. Pharmacological silencing of the IC inhibited food port approach. Such a behavior could be recapitulated by temporally selective inactivation during the cue. These findings represent the first evidence, to our knowledge, that cue-evoked neuronal activity in the mouse IC modulates behavioral output, and demonstrate a causal link between cue responses and feeding behaviors.

scholarly journals Neuronal activity in the premotor cortex of monkeys reflects both cue salience and motivation for action generation and inhibition

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margherita Giamundo ◽  
Franco Giarrocco ◽  
Emiliano Brunamonti ◽  
Francesco Fabbrini ◽  
Pierpaolo Pani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Motor Program ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Stop Signal Task ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Reward Circuitry ◽  
Behavioural Performance ◽  
Cue Salience

ABSTRACTAnimals adopt different strategies, promoting certain actions and withholding inconvenient ones, to achieve their goals. The motivation to obtain them is the main drive that determines the behavioural performance. While much work has focused on understanding how motor cortices control actions, their role on motivated behaviours remains unclear. We recorded from dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) of monkeys performing a modified version of the stop-signal task, in which the motivation to perform/withhold an action was manipulated by presenting cues that informed on the probability to obtain different amounts of reward in relation to the motor outcome. According to the motivational context, animals performance adapted to maximize reward. Neuronal activity displayed a cue salience related modulation at trial start and, while the behavioural response approached, reflected more the motivation to start/cancel the action. These findings reveal multiple representations of motivation-related signals in PMd, highlighting its involvement in the control of finalized actions.SIGNIFICATIVE STATEMENTThe motivation to obtain rewards drives how animals act over their environment. To explore the involvement of motor cortices in motivated behaviours, we recorded high-resolution neuronal activity in the premotor cortex of monkeys performing a task that manipulated the motivation to generate/withhold a movement through different cued reward probabilities. Our results show the presence of neuronal signals dynamically reflecting a cue related activity, in the time immediately following its presentation, and a motivation related activity in performing (or cancelling) a motor program, while the behavioural response approached. The encoding of multiple reward-related signals in motor regions, leads to consider an important role of premotor areas in the reward circuitry.

scholarly journals How do Public Officials Learn About Policy? A Field Experiment on Policy Diffusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Miguel M. Pereira
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Policy Diffusion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Policy Learning ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Non Profit

Abstract Prior research suggests that partisanship can influence how legislators learn from each other. However, same-party governments are also more likely to share similar issues, ideological preferences and constituency demands. Establishing a causal link between partisanship and policy learning is difficult. In collaboration with a non-profit organization, this study isolates the role of partisanship in a real policy learning context. As part of a campaign promoting a new policy among local representatives in the United States, the study randomized whether the initiative was endorsed by co-partisans, out-partisans or both parties. The results show that representatives are systematically more interested in the same policy when it is endorsed by co-partisans. Bipartisan initiatives also attract less interest than co-partisan policies, and no more interest than out-partisan policies, even in more competitive districts. Together, the results suggest that ideological considerations cannot fully explain partisan-based learning. The study contributes to scholarship on policy diffusion, legislative signaling and interest group access.

scholarly journals α-Synuclein-induced dysregulation of neuronal activity contributes to murine dopamine neuron vulnerability

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abeer Dagra ◽  
Douglas R. Miller ◽  
Min Lin ◽  
Adithya Gopinath ◽  
Fatemeh Shaerzadeh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Dopaminergic Neurons ◽  
Prolonged Exposure ◽  
D2 Receptor ◽  
Neuronal Firing ◽  
Dopamine Neurons ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Therapeutic Implications

AbstractPathophysiological damages and loss of function of dopamine neurons precede their demise and contribute to the early phases of Parkinson’s disease. The presence of aberrant intracellular pathological inclusions of the protein α-synuclein within ventral midbrain dopaminergic neurons is one of the cardinal features of Parkinson’s disease. We employed molecular biology, electrophysiology, and live-cell imaging to investigate how excessive α-synuclein expression alters multiple characteristics of dopaminergic neuronal dynamics and dopamine transmission in cultured dopamine neurons conditionally expressing GCaMP6f. We found that overexpression of α-synuclein in mouse (male and female) dopaminergic neurons altered neuronal firing properties, calcium dynamics, dopamine release, protein expression, and morphology. Moreover, prolonged exposure to the D2 receptor agonist, quinpirole, rescues many of the alterations induced by α-synuclein overexpression. These studies demonstrate that α-synuclein dysregulation of neuronal activity contributes to the vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons and that modulation of D2 receptor activity can ameliorate the pathophysiology. These findings provide mechanistic insights into the insidious changes in dopaminergic neuronal activity and neuronal loss that characterize Parkinson’s disease progression with significant therapeutic implications.

The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction in the Work Stress-Marital Interaction Relationship

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 122-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne Widrich ◽  
Karen Ortlepp
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Work Stress ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Specific Aspect ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Marital Interaction ◽  
Marital Functioning ◽  
The Relationship

The present study examined the relationship between work stress and a specific aspect of marital functioning, namely, marital interaction. An interactionist model of stress was adopted, with three role stresses, namely, role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload, being used as indicators of work stress. Despite the abundance of studies investigating the link between employment and family functioning over the past decade, the causal link between the two domains remains unclear. As previous research has indicated that the relationship between work and family is neither simple nor linear, the present study aimed to investigate the role of job satisfaction in the relationship. The final sample of the study consisted of 80 married men employed in a large financial organization. Data were gathered in the form of self-report questionnaires. Statistical analysis, using a longitudinal path analytic research design, did not support the proposed mediational model, that is, job satisfaction was not found to mediate the relationship between work stress and marital functioning.

Modulation of acetylcholine release by cholecystokinin in striatum – receptor specificity; role of dopaminergic neuronal activity

2012 ◽  
Vol 89 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 177-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Polina Petkova-Kirova ◽  
Maria Grazia Giovannini ◽  
Reni Kalfin ◽  
Angelina Rakovska
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Acetylcholine Release ◽  
Receptor Specificity

scholarly journals Dissociable roles of cortical excitation-inhibition balance during patch-leaving versus value-guided decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca F. Kaiser ◽  
Theo O. J. Gruendler ◽  
Oliver Speck ◽  
Lennart Luettgau ◽  
Gerhard Jocham
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Mutual Inhibition ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Cortical Excitation ◽  
The Cost

AbstractIn a dynamic world, it is essential to decide when to leave an exploited resource. Such patch-leaving decisions involve balancing the cost of moving against the gain expected from the alternative patch. This contrasts with value-guided decisions that typically involve maximizing reward by selecting the current best option. Patterns of neuronal activity pertaining to patch-leaving decisions have been reported in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), whereas competition via mutual inhibition in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is thought to underlie value-guided choice. Here, we show that the balance between cortical excitation and inhibition (E/I balance), measured by the ratio of GABA and glutamate concentrations, plays a dissociable role for the two kinds of decisions. Patch-leaving decision behaviour relates to E/I balance in dACC. In contrast, value-guided decision-making relates to E/I balance in vmPFC. These results support mechanistic accounts of value-guided choice and provide evidence for a role of dACC E/I balance in patch-leaving decisions.

Amyloid-β Protein Precursor Deficiency Changes Neuronal Electrical Activity and Levels of Mitochondrial Proteins in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Qingwei Huo ◽  
Sidra Tabassum ◽  
Ming Chen ◽  
Mengyao Sun ◽  
Yueming Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Amyloid Β ◽  
Neuronal Firing ◽  
Mitochondrial Proteins ◽  
Amyloid Β Protein ◽  
Protein Precursor ◽  
Β Protein ◽  
Neuronal Electrical Activity

Background: Neuropathological features of Alzheimer’s disease are characterized by the deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and impairments in synaptic activity and memory. However, we know little about the physiological role of amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP) from which Aβ derives. Objective: Evaluate APP deficiency induced alterations in neuronal electrical activity and mitochondrial protein expression. Methods: Utilizing electrophysiological, biochemical, pharmacological, and behavioral tests, we revealed aberrant local field potential (LFP), extracellular neuronal firing and levels of mitochondrial proteins. Result: We show that APP knockout (APP -/- ) leads to increased gamma oscillations in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) at 1-2 months old, which can be restored by baclofen (Bac), a γ-aminobutyric acid type B receptor (GABABR) agonist. A higher dose and longer exposure time is required for Bac to suppress neuronal firing in APP -/-  mice than in wild type animals, indicating enhanced GABABR mediated activity in the mPFC of APP -/-  mice. In line with increased GABABR function, the glutamine synthetase inhibitor, L-methionine sulfonate, significantly increases GABABR levels in the mPFC of APP -/-  mice and this is associated with a significantly lower incidence of death. The results suggest that APP -/-  mice developed stronger GABABR mediated inhibition. Using HEK 293 as an expression system, we uncover that AβPP functions to suppress GABABR expression. Furthermore, APP -/-  mice show abnormal expression of several mitochondrial proteins. Conclusion: APP deficiency leads to both abnormal network activity involving defected GABABR and mitochondrial dysfunction, suggesting critical role of AβPP in synaptic and network function.

The role of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and ocean-atmosphere interactions in driving United States heatwaves

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sem Vijverberg ◽  
Dim Coumou
Keyword(s):  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Rossby Waves ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Temperature Forecast ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Ocean Atmosphere ◽  
The Waves

<p>Heatwaves can have devastating impact on society and reliable early warnings at several weeks lead time are needed. Heatwaves are often associated with quasi-stationary Rossby waves, which interact with sea surface temperature (SST). Previous studies showed that north-Pacific SST can provide long-lead predictability for eastern U.S. temperature, moderated by an atmospheric Rossby wave. The exact mechanisms, however, are not well understood. Here we analyze Rossby waves associated with heatwaves in western and eastern US. Causal inference analyses reveal that both waves are characterized by positive ocean-atmosphere feedbacks at synoptic timescales, amplifying the waves. However, this positive feedback on short timescales is not the causal mechanism that leads to a long-lead SST signal. Only the eastern US shows a long-lead causal link from SSTs to the Rossby wave. We show that the long-lead SST signal derives from low-frequency PDO variability, providing the source of eastern US temperature predictability. We use this improved physical understanding to identify more reliable long-lead predictions. When, at the onset of summer, the Pacific is in a pronounced PDO phase, the SST signal is expected to persist throughout summer. These summers are characterized by a stronger ocean-boundary forcing, thereby more than doubling the eastern US temperature forecast skill, providing a temporary window of enhanced predictability.</p>

Impact of linguistic ostracism on knowledge sharing, hiding and hoarding and the moderating role of cultural intelligence

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Jamal Albana ◽  
Mehmet Yeşiltaş
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Cultural Intelligence ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Hoarding ◽  
Knowledge Hiding ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Moderating Role

PurposeDrawing on the theory of belongingness, this study scrutinizes the impact of linguistic ostracism on knowledge sharing, knowledge hiding and knowledge hoarding and the moderating role of cultural intelligence (CQ) in a diverse and multi-cultural work setting.Design/methodology/approachA two-phase sampling of judgmental and random sampling techniques was used to recruit local and foreign workers in the Jordanian service industry. The present study empirically analyzes the sample of 394 employees' responses by applying variance-based structural equation modeling (VB-SEM).FindingsVB-SEM results indicate that linguistic ostracism lessens knowledge sharing behavior and heightens knowledge hiding and hoarding. CQ moderates two of the said associations, specifically by buffering the causal link between linguistic ostracism and knowledge hiding, as well as linguistic ostracism and knowledge hoarding. Consequently, CQ did not moderate the causal link between linguistic ostracism and knowledge sharing.Practical implicationsThe study's findings can help managers and decision-makers in such workplaces better understand the deleterious effects of linguistic ostracism and how CQ functions as a buffer. The study concludes with theoretical and managerial implications.Originality/valueVery few investigations have been conducted to determine the consequences of linguistic ostracism in today's multi-cultural and diverse work environment. This paper is among the first to unveil the association of linguistic ostracism and CQ with various knowledge management (KM) concepts.

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