Afferent Connections to the Ventral Striatum from the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (Area 25) and the Thalamic Nuclei in the Macaque Monkey

BackgroundThe experience of childhood maltreatment is a significant risk factor for the development of depression. This risk is particularly heightened after exposure to additional, more contemporaneous stress. While behavioral evidence exists for this relation, little is known about biological correlates of these stress interactions. Identifying such correlates may provide biomarkers of risk for later depression.MethodsHere, we leverage behavioral, experiential, and neuroimaging data from the Duke Neurogenetics Study to identify potential biomarkers of stress exposure. Based on the past research, we were specifically interested in reward-related connectivity and the interaction of early and more recent stress. We examined psychophysiological interactions between the ventral striatum and other brain regions in relation to these stress variables, as well as measures of internalizing symptomatology (n = 926, participant age range = 18–22 years of age).ResultsWe found relatively increased reward-related functional connectivity between the left ventral striatum and the medial prefrontal cortex in individuals exposed to greater levels of childhood maltreatment who also experienced greater levels of recent life stress (β = 0.199, p < 0.005). This pattern of functional connectivity was further associated with elevated symptoms of depression (β = 0.089, p = 0.006). Furthermore, using a moderated mediation framework, we demonstrate that this functional connectivity provides a biological link between cumulative stress exposure and internalizing symptomatology.ConclusionsThese findings suggest a novel biomarker linking cumulative stress exposure with the later experience of depressive symptoms. Our results are discussed in the context of past research examining stress exposure in relation to depression.

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Subgoal- and Goal-Related Prediction Errors in Medial Prefrontal Cortex

10.1101/245829 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

José J. F. Ribas Fernandes ◽

Danesh Shahnazian ◽

Clay B. Holroyd ◽

Matthew M. Botvinick

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Animal Behavior ◽

Prediction Error ◽

Ventral Striatum ◽

Prediction Errors ◽

Task Context ◽

Past Work ◽

Superordinate Goals ◽

Different Levels

AbstractA longstanding view of the organization of human and animal behavior holds that behavior is hierarchically organized, meaning that it can be understood as directed towards achieving superordinate goals through subordinate goals, or subgoals. For example, the superordinate goal of making coffee can be broken down as accomplishing a series of subgoals, namely boiling water, grinding coffee, pouring cream, etc.Learning and behavioral adaptation depend on prediction-error signals, which have been observed in ventral striatum (VS) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). In past work, we have shown that prediction error signals (PEs) can be linked not only to superordinate goals, but also to subgoals.Here we present two functional magnetic resonance imagining experiments that replicate and extend these findings. In the first experiment, we replicated the finding that mPFC signals subgoal-related PEs, independently of goal PEs. Together with our past work, this experiment reveals that BOLD responses to PEs in mPFC are unsigned. In the second experiment, we showed that when a task involves both goal and subgoal PEs, mPFC shows only goal-related PEs, suggesting that context or attention can strongly impact hierarchical PE coding. Furthermore, we observed a dissociation between the coding of PEs in mPFC and VS. These experiments suggest that the mPFC selectively attends to information at different levels of hierarchy depending on the task context.

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BDNF Protein and BDNF mRNA Expression of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Amygdala, and Hippocampus during Situational Reminder in the PTSD Animal Model

Behavioural Neurology ◽

10.1155/2021/6657716 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Shao-Han Chang ◽

Ying Hao Yu ◽

Alan He ◽

Chen Yin Ou ◽

Bai Chuang Shyu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Mrna Expression ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Mrna Levels ◽

Traumatic Memory ◽

Ptsd Symptoms ◽

Infralimbic Cortex ◽

Bdnf Expression ◽

Bdnf Mrna ◽

Cortex Area

Whether BDNF protein and BDNF mRNA expression of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC; cingulated cortex area 1 (Cg1), prelimbic cortex (PrL), and infralimbic cortex (IL)), amygdala, and hippocampus (CA1, CA2, CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG)) was involved in fear of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during the situational reminder of traumatic memory remains uncertain. Footshock rats experienced an inescapable footshock (3 mA, 10 s), and later we have measured fear behavior for 2 min in the footshock environment on the situational reminder phase. In the final retrieval of situational reminder, BDNF protein and mRNA levels were measured. The results showed that higher BDNF expression occurred in the Cg1, PrL, and amygdala. Lower BDNF expression occurred in the IL, CA1, CA2, CA3, and DG. BDNF mRNA levels were higher in the mPFC and amygdala but lower in the hippocampus. The neural connection analysis showed that BDNF protein and BDNF mRNA exhibited weak connections among the mPFC, amygdala, and hippocampus during situational reminders. The present data did not support the previous viewpoint in neuroimaging research that the mPFC and hippocampus revealed hypoactivity and the amygdala exhibited hyperactivity for PTSD symptoms. These findings should be discussed with the previous evidence and provide clinical implications for PTSD.

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