scholarly journals Aversive stimuli bias corticothalamic responses to motivationally significant cues

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Lucantonio ◽  
Eunyoung Kim ◽  
Zhixiao Su ◽  
Anna J Chang ◽  
Bilal A Bari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Information Flow ◽  
Paraventricular Nucleus ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Negative Bias ◽  
Behavioral Bias ◽  
Aversive Stimuli ◽  
History Of

Making predictions about future rewards or punishments is fundamental to adaptive behavior. These processes are influenced by prior experience. For example, prior exposure to aversive stimuli or stressors changes behavioral responses to negative- and positive-value predictive cues. Here, we demonstrate a role for medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurons projecting to the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT; mPFC→PVT) in this process. We found that a history of aversive stimuli negatively biased behavioral responses to motivationally relevant cues in mice and that this negative bias was associated with hyperactivity in mPFC→PVT neurons during exposure to those cues. Furthermore, artificially mimicking this hyperactive response with selective optogenetic excitation of the same pathway recapitulated the negative behavioral bias induced by aversive stimuli, whereas optogenetic inactivation of mPFC→PVT neurons prevented the development of the negative bias. Together, our results highlight how information flow within the mPFC→PVT circuit is critical for making predictions about motivationally-relevant outcomes as a function of prior experience.

scholarly journals Punishment history biases corticothalamic responses to motivationally-significant stimuli

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Lucantonio ◽  
Zhixiao Su ◽  
Anna J. Chang ◽  
Bilal A. Bari ◽  
Jeremiah Y. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Information Flow ◽  
Paraventricular Nucleus ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Negative Bias ◽  
Behavioral Bias ◽  
Aversive Stimuli ◽  
History Of

Making predictions about future rewards or punishments is fundamental to adaptive behavior. These processes are influenced by prior experience. For example, prior exposure to aversive stimuli or stressors changes behavioral responses to negative- and positive-value predictive cues. Here, we demonstrate a role for medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurons projecting to the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT; mPFC→PVT) in this process. We found that a history of punishments negatively biased behavioral responses to motivationally-relevant stimuli in mice and that this negative bias was associated with hyperactivity in mPFC→PVT neurons during exposure to those cues. Furthermore, artificially mimicking this hyperactive response with selective optogenetic excitation of the same pathway recapitulated the punishmentinduced negative behavioral bias. Together, our results highlight how information flow within the mPFC→PVT circuit is critical for making predictions about imminent motivationally-relevant outcomes as a function of prior experience.

scholarly journals History of Suicide Attempt Is Associated with Reduced Medial Prefrontal Cortex Activity during Emotional Decision-Making among Men with Schizophrenia: An Exploratory fMRI Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphane Potvin ◽  
Andràs Tikàsz ◽  
Stéphane Richard-Devantoy ◽  
Ovidiu Lungu ◽  
Alexandre Dumais
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Suicide Attempt ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Suicidal Attempt ◽  
Risky Decision ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
History Of ◽  
Brain Reward ◽  
Suicidal Ideas

Despite the high prevalence of suicidal ideas/attempts in schizophrenia, only a handful of neuroimaging studies have examined the neurobiological differences associated with suicide risk in this population. The main objective of the current exploratory study is to examine the neurofunctional correlates associated with a history of suicide attempt in schizophrenia, using a risky decision-making task, in order to show alterations in brain reward regions in this population. Thirty-two male outpatients with schizophrenia were recruited: 13 patients with (SCZ + S) and 19 without a history of suicidal attempt (SCZ − S). Twenty-one healthy men with no history of mental disorders or suicidal attempt/idea were also recruited. Participants were scanned using fMRI while performing the Balloon Analogue Risk Task. A rapid event-related fMRI paradigm was used, separating decision and outcome events, and the explosion probabilities were included as parametric modulators. The most important finding of this study is that SCZ + S patients had reduced activations of the medial prefrontal cortex during the success outcome event (with parametric modulation), relative to both SCZ − S patients and controls, as illustrated by a spatial conjunction analysis. These exploratory results suggest that a history of suicidal attempt in schizophrenia is associated with blunted brain reward activity during emotional decision-making.

scholarly journals Maternal Separation Modifies the Activity of Social Processing Brain Nuclei Upon Social Novelty Exposure

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Mejía-Chávez ◽  
Arturo Venebra-Muñoz ◽  
Fabio García-García ◽  
Aleph Alejandro Corona-Morales ◽  
Arturo Enrique Orozco-Vargas
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Paraventricular Nucleus ◽  
Maternal Separation ◽  
Lateral Septum ◽  
Medial Amygdala ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Brain Nuclei

Maternal separation has been shown to disrupt proper brain development and maturation, having profound consequences on the neuroendocrine systems in charge of the stress response, and has been shown to induce behavioral and cognitive abnormalities. At the behavioral level, maternal separation has been shown to increase offensive play-fighting in juvenile individuals and reduce social interest in adulthood. Since most of the studies that have evaluated the consequences of maternal separation on social behavior have focused on behavioral analysis, there is a need for a further understanding of the neuronal mechanisms underlying the changes in social behavior induced by maternal separation. Therefore, the aim of the present research was to assess the long-term effects of maternal separation on social interaction behavior and to assess the activity of several brain regions involved in the processing of social cues and reward upon social novelty exposure, using c-Fos immunohistochemistry as a marker of neuronal activity. Male Wistar rats were subjected to 4 h maternal separation during the neonatal period, 9:00 h–13:00 h from postnatal day 1 to 21, and exposed to social novelty during adulthood. After social novelty exposure, brains were fixed and coronal sections of the medial amygdala, lateral septum (LS), paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens, and medial prefrontal cortex were obtained for c-Fos immunohistochemistry. Maternally separated rats spent less time investigating the novel peer, suggesting that maternal separation reduces social approach motivation. Furthermore, maternal separation reduced the number of c-Fos positive cells of the medial amygdala, paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, LS, nucleus accumbens, and medial prefrontal cortex upon social novelty exposure. These findings suggest that maternal separation can reduce the plastic capacity of several brain nuclei, which constitute a physiological basis for the emergence of behavioral disorders presented later in life reported to be linked to early life adversity.

scholarly journals Coordinated dysregulation of mRNAs and microRNAs in the rat medial prefrontal cortex following a history of alcohol dependence

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
J D Tapocik ◽  
M Solomon ◽  
M Flanigan ◽  
M Meinhardt ◽  
E Barbier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Alcohol Dependence ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
History Of

Dual medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus projecting neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana D. Viena ◽  
Gabriela E. Rasch ◽  
Timothy A. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Paraventricular Nucleus ◽  
Calcium Binding ◽  
Integration Site ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Emotional Memory ◽  
Nucleus Reuniens ◽  
Reward Seeking ◽  
Midline Thalamus

AbstractThe paraventricular nucleus (PVT) of the midline thalamus is a critical higher-order cortico-thalamo-cortical integration site that plays a critical role in various behaviors including reward seeking, cue saliency, and emotional memory. Anatomical studies have shown that PVT projects to both medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus (HC). However, dual mPFC-HC projecting neurons which could serve a role in synchronizing mPFC and HC activity during PVT-dependent behaviors, have not been explored. Here we used a dual retrograde adenoassociated virus (AAV) tracing approach to characterize the location and proportion of different projection populations that send collaterals to mPFC and/or ventral hippocampus (vHC). Additionally, we examined the distribution of calcium binding proteins calretinin (CR) and calbindin (CB) with respect to these projection populations PVT. We found that PVT contains separate populations of cells that project to mPFC, vHC, and those that innervate both regions. Interestingly, dual mPFC-HC projecting cells expressed neither CR or CB. Topographically, mPFC- and vHC-projecting CB+ and CR+ cells clustered around dual projecting neurons in PVT. These results are consistent with the features of dual mPFC-vHC projecting cells in the nucleus reuniens (RE) and suggestive of a functional mPFC-PVT-vHC system that may support mPFC-vHC interactions in PVT-dependent behaviors.

scholarly journals Anticipating control over aversive stimuli is mediated by the medial prefrontal cortex: An fMRI study with healthy adults

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Maria Wade‐Bohleber ◽  
Amelie Haugg ◽  
Sabrina Huber ◽  
Jutta Ernst ◽  
Simone Grimm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Healthy Adults ◽  
Aversive Stimuli ◽  
Fmri Study

scholarly journals Decreased Medial Prefrontal Cortex Glutamate Levels in Perimenopausal Women

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney Yap ◽  
Jessica Luki ◽  
Christopher C. Hanstock ◽  
Peter Seres ◽  
Tami Shandro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Resonance Spectroscopy ◽  
Female Hormone ◽  
Depressive Symptomology ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Perimenopausal Women ◽  
History Of

Objective: There is an increased risk of experiencing depression during perimenopause (PM), a period of rapidly changing female hormone concentrations. Women at particular risk of developing major depression (MD) during PM are those with history of mood sensitivity to female hormone fluctuations i.e., women with a history of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and/or post-partum depression (PPD). Depressive symptomology has been associated with fluctuations of glutamate (Glu) levels in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) in MD patients as well as PMDD and PPD patients. The objective of the study was to compare MPFC Glu levels in healthy perimenopausal and reproductive-aged (RD) women.Methods: Medial prefrontal cortex Glu levels in healthy perimenopausal (n = 15) and healthy RD women (n = 16) were compared via Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) scan using a 3 Tesla (T) magnet. Absence of depressive symptomology and psychiatric comorbidity was confirmed via semi-structured interview. Participants were scanned during the early follicular phase (FP) of the menstrual cycle (MC).Results: Mean MPFC Glu concentrations were decreased in the PM group compared to RD group (PM mean = 0.57 ± 0.03, RD mean = 0.63 ± 0.06, t = −3.84, df = 23.97, p = 0.001).Conclusion: Perimenopause is associated with decreases in MPFC Glu levels. This decrease may be contributing to the increased risk of experiencing depression during PM. Further research should assess MPFC Glu levels in perimenopausal women suffering from MD.

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