scholarly journals Cannabinoid Modulation of Dopamine Release During Motivation, Periodic Reinforcement, Exploratory Behavior, Habit Formation, and Attention

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik B. Oleson ◽  
Lindsey R. Hamilton ◽  
Devan M. Gomez

Motivational and attentional processes energize action sequences to facilitate evolutionary competition and promote behavioral fitness. Decades of neuropharmacology, electrophysiology and electrochemistry research indicate that the mesocorticolimbic DA pathway modulates both motivation and attention. More recently, it was realized that mesocorticolimbic DA function is tightly regulated by the brain’s endocannabinoid system and greatly influenced by exogenous cannabinoids—which have been harnessed by humanity for medicinal, ritualistic, and recreational uses for 12,000 years. Exogenous cannabinoids, like the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, produce their effects by acting at binding sites for naturally occurring endocannabinoids. The brain’s endocannabinoid system consists of two G-protein coupled receptors, endogenous lipid ligands for these receptor targets, and several synthetic and metabolic enzymes involved in their production and degradation. Emerging evidence indicates that the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol is necessary to observe concurrent increases in DA release and motivated behavior. And the historical pharmacology literature indicates a role for cannabinoid signaling in both motivational and attentional processes. While both types of behaviors have been scrutinized under manipulation by either DA or cannabinoid agents, there is considerably less insight into prospective interactions between these two important signaling systems. This review attempts to summate the relevance of cannabinoid modulation of DA release during operant tasks designed to investigate either motivational or attentional control of behavior. We first describe how cannabinoids influence DA release and goal-directed action under a variety of reinforcement contingencies. Then we consider the role that endocannabinoids might play in switching an animal’s motivation from a goal-directed action to the search for an alternative outcome, in addition to the formation of long-term habits. Finally, dissociable features of attentional behavior using both the 5-choice serial reaction time task and the attentional set-shifting task are discussed along with their distinct influences by DA and cannabinoids. We end with discussing potential targets for further research regarding DA-cannabinoid interactions within key substrates involved in motivation and attention.

Author(s):  
Lidia Bellés ◽  
Andrea Dimiziani ◽  
Stergios Tsartsalis ◽  
Philippe Millet ◽  
François R Herrmann ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Impulsivity and novelty preference are both associated with an increased propensity to develop addiction-like behaviors, but their relationship and respective underlying dopamine (DA) underpinnings are not fully elucidated. Methods We evaluated a large cohort (n = 49) of Roman high- and low-avoidance rats using single photon emission computed tomography to concurrently measure in vivo striatal D2/3 receptor (D2/3R) availability and amphetamine (AMPH)-induced DA release in relation to impulsivity and novelty preference using a within-subject design. To further examine the DA-dependent processes related to these traits, midbrain D2/3-autoreceptor levels were measured using ex vivo autoradiography in the same animals. Results We replicated a robust inverse relationship between impulsivity, as measured with the 5-choice serial reaction time task, and D2/3R availability in ventral striatum and extended this relationship to D2/3R levels measured in dorsal striatum. Novelty preference was positively related to impulsivity and showed inverse associations with D2/3R availability in dorsal striatum and ventral striatum. A high magnitude of AMPH-induced DA release in striatum predicted both impulsivity and novelty preference, perhaps owing to the diminished midbrain D2/3-autoreceptor availability measured in high-impulsive/novelty-preferring Roman high-avoidance animals that may amplify AMPH effect on DA transmission. Mediation analyses revealed that while D2/3R availability and AMPH-induced DA release in striatum are both significant predictors of impulsivity, the effect of striatal D2/3R availability on novelty preference is fully mediated by evoked striatal DA release. Conclusions Impulsivity and novelty preference are related but mediated by overlapping, yet dissociable, DA-dependent mechanisms in striatum that may interact to promote the emergence of an addiction-prone phenotype.


Author(s):  
Angela N. Henderson-Redmond ◽  
Josée Guindon ◽  
Daniel J. Morgan

2015 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Bailey ◽  
Greg Jensen ◽  
Kathleen Taylor ◽  
Chris Mezias ◽  
Cait Williamson ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kata Horváth ◽  
Csenge Török ◽  
Orsolya Pesthy ◽  
Dezso Nemeth ◽  
Karolina Janacsek

AbstractStatistical learning facilitates the efficient processing and prediction of environmental events and contributes to the acquisition of automatic behaviors. Whereas a minimal level of attention seems to be required for learning to occur, it is still unclear how acquisition and consolidation of statistical knowledge are affected when attention is divided during learning. To test the effect of divided attention on statistical learning and consolidation, ninety-six healthy young adults performed the Alternating Serial Reaction Time task in which they incidentally acquired second-order transitional probabilities. Half of the participants completed the task with a concurrent secondary intentional sequence learning task that was applied to the same stimulus stream. The other half of the participants performed the task without any attention manipulation. Performance was retested after a 12-h post-learning offline period. Half of each group slept during the delay, while the other half had normal daily activity, enabling us to test the effect of delay activity (sleep vs. wake) on the consolidation of statistical knowledge. Divided attention had no effect on statistical learning: The acquisition of second-order transitional probabilities was comparable with and without the secondary task. Consolidation was neither affected by divided attention: Statistical knowledge was similarly retained over the 12-h delay, irrespective of the delay activity. Our findings can contribute to a better understanding of the role of attentional processes in and the robustness of visuomotor statistical learning and consolidation.


2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 1570-1576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenichi Mishima ◽  
Megumi Fujii ◽  
Naoya Aoo ◽  
Tetsuya Yoshikawa ◽  
Yoshihiko Fukue ◽  
...  

2000 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah R. Baker ◽  
David Stephenson

Abstract Control or control-belief is often viewed as being directly instrumental in facilitating active coping in aversive situations, and yet the empirical evidence for the effects of control is inconclusive. In this study we investigated the role of feedback and predictability in determining the effects of control-belief during an aversive reaction time task. Ninety-six subjects were allocated to one of eight conditions in a 2 × 2 × 2 control-belief by feedback by predictability factorial design. All subjects were matched in terms of the nature of the task and in the number and time of receipt of both the warning signal and noise. Heart rate reactivity and task performance (reaction time) were measured. Subjects who received feedback displayed greater phasic heart rate responses following the noise stimulus and smaller decreases in heart rate during the postimpact period than those without feedback, particularly in predictable conditions. Control-belief had no effect on heart rate responses. None of the factors led to better task performance. These findings are discussed in relation to processes of active coping and attentional processes of stimulus input, and the need for further studies examining the relative contributions of control-belief, feedback, and predictability in determining cardiovascular function is highlighted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonietta Santoro ◽  
Elena Mele ◽  
Marianna Marino ◽  
Andrea Viggiano ◽  
Stefania Lucia Nori ◽  
...  

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a lipid cell signaling system involved in the physiology and homeostasis of the brain and peripheral tissues. Synaptic plasticity, neuroendocrine functions, reproduction, and immune response among others all require the activity of functional ECS, with the onset of disease in case of ECS impairment. Estrogens, classically considered as female steroid hormones, regulate growth, differentiation, and many other functions in a broad range of target tissues and both sexes through the activation of nuclear and membrane estrogen receptors (ERs), which leads to genomic and non-genomic cell responses. Since ECS function overlaps or integrates with many other cell signaling systems, this review aims at updating the knowledge about the possible crosstalk between ECS and estrogen system (ES) at both central and peripheral level, with focuses on the central nervous system, reproduction, and cancer.


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