Article
Psychiatry
Ying Hao Yu, Arthur C. Tsai, Chen Yin Ou, Cai-N Cheng, Fang Chih Chang, Bai Chuang Shyu, Andrew Chih Wei Huang
Summary: This study found that optogenetic stimulation in the medial prefrontal cortex can modulate the valence of stimuli, including rewarding, aversive, and neutral states. This finding is important for the development of new treatments for drug addiction.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Briana N. C. Chronister, Eduardo Gonzalez, Dolores Lopez-Paredes, Jose Suarez-Torres, Sheila Gahagan, Danilo Martinez, Janeth Barros, David R. Jacobs, Harvey Checkoway, Jose R. Suarez-Lopez
Summary: This study found that elevated levels of testosterone, cortisol, and estradiol in adolescents were associated with altered mood. Cortisol and testosterone were significant effect modifiers in the relationships between most hormones and depression and anxiety.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Christian M. Wood, Laith Alexander, Johan Alsio, Andrea M. Santangelo, Lauren McIver, Gemma J. Cockcroft, Angela C. Roberts
Summary: Poor outcomes are common in anxiety and depression, thus understanding the neural circuits underlying symptoms and treatment responses is important. By using a chemogenetics strategy involving designer receptors and drugs, the scACC-25 neural circuits related to anhedonia and anxiety in marmosets were identified. Targeting these circuits with the fast-acting antidepressant ketamine may lead to new treatment strategies.
SCIENCE TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Kristen Jessen, Megan L. Slaker Bennett, Shuai Liu, Christopher M. Olsen
Summary: The encoding of memories is believed to occur in distinct populations of neurons called ensembles. In the medial prefrontal cortex, ensembles related to drug and reward-seeking have been identified, but previous studies have mainly focused on short-term encoding in a single environment. This study used TetTag mice and Fos immunohistochemistry to investigate the relationship between persistent sucrose-seeking behavior and ensemble encoding over time. The results showed that ensembles in the prelimbic and anterior cingulate cortex were sensitive to the context in which the seeking sessions took place, with different correlations observed in the same and distinct contexts.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Tyler Wallace, Brent Myers
Summary: Chronic stress affects the responses of the infralimbic region differently in males and females, reflecting differences in the processing of social, stress, and reward stimuli. These effects are sex-dependent and behavior-specific. Ultimately, sex is a critical factor for cortical processing of affective stimuli.
Article
Neurosciences
Lakshman N. C. Chakravarthula, Srikanth Padmala
Summary: Reward and emotion are closely related, and our understanding of their interactions in the human brain is limited. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the effects of negative emotion on reward outcome processing. The findings suggest that negative emotion modulates reward processing in the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex.
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
M. Neus Fullana, Veronica Paz, Francesc Artigas, Analia Bortolozzi
Summary: Knocking down GLT-1 in the IL of mice leads to glutamatergic neuronal hyperactivity and deficits in the GABA system, compromising the integrity and plasticity of neurocircuits. The GLT-1 knockdown mouse model may provide a better option to understand the rapid-acting antidepressant effects of ketamine.
REVISTA DE PSIQUIATRIA Y SALUD MENTAL
(2022)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Chen Yin Ou, Ying Hao Yu, Chi-Wen Wu, Anna Kozlowska, Bai-Chung Shyu, Andrew Chih Wei Huang
Summary: The study aimed to re-examine the paradoxical effect hypothesis of abused drugs by investigating the impact of different doses of morphine on neuronal activity and connectivity between subareas of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), subregions of the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and the basolateral amygdala (BLA) after conditioned taste aversion (CTA) and conditioned place preference (CPP) tests. The results revealed differential effects of morphine doses on c-Fos expression in various brain regions. Furthermore, correlation analysis demonstrated distinct patterns of neural connectivity between different doses of morphine and the CTA and CPP tests. These findings expand our understanding of the paradoxical effects of abused drugs.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Geoffrey W. Diehl, A. David Redish
Summary: Decision-making requires different aspects of information and involves multiple cognitive processes. The rodent medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is believed to play a central role in these abilities. Previous studies on mPFC function have yielded controversial results, but this study with rats performing an economic decision task revealed four distinct functional domains within mPFC, closely related to anatomical subregions. Dorsal mPFC regions were more involved in processing active decisions, while ventral regions were more engaged in motivational factors.
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Raquel Santos-Toscano, Maria Angeles Arevalo, Luis Miguel Garcia-Segura, Daniela Grassi, Natalia Lagunas
Summary: Substance use disorder (SUD) is a sexually differentiated chronic condition characterized by pathological drug-taking and seeking behaviors. The neurobiological bases of sex differences in SUD involve sex-specific reward system activation, influenced by interactions between gonadal hormone level changes, dopaminergic reward circuits, and epigenetic modifications of key reward system genes. This systematic review emphasizes the sex-dependent roles of estrogens, progesterone, and testosterone in SUD, highlighting the need for further research on hormone levels, reward system activity, and epigenetic landscapes for efficient SUD therapy development.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
D. Monteiro-Fernandes, N. Sousa, O. F. X. Almeida, I. Sotiropoulos
Summary: Fluctuations in sex steroids and adrenal steroids can influence Tau hyperphosphorylation and accumulation, impacting neuronal function and plasticity. Interactions between protective male sex hormones and adrenal and sex steroids may exacerbate Tau pathology and contribute to neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease. These findings are crucial for understanding the mechanisms underlying AD and the impact of stress on neural plasticity.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Chiho Kudo, Andrea M. Harriott, Michael A. Moskowitz, Christian Waeber, Cenk Ayata
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the effects of sex, gonadectomy, and female hormone supplementation and withdrawal on the susceptibility to cortical spreading depression (CSD). The results showed that female rats had a higher CSD frequency than males and ovariectomized rats. Estrogen withdrawal after prolonged treatment significantly increased CSD susceptibility in gonadectomized females. These findings have implications for estrogen-withdrawal migraine.
JOURNAL OF HEADACHE AND PAIN
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Emilio Garro-Martinez, Maria Neus Fullana, Eva Florensa-Zanuy, Julia Senserrich, Veronica Paz, Esther Ruiz-Bronchal, Albert Adell, Elena Castro, Alvaro Diaz, Angel Pazos, Analia Bortolozzi, Fuencisla Pilar-Cuellar
Summary: Knocking down mTOR expression in the infralimbic cortex of mice resulted in a robust depressive-like phenotype, as assessed in the forced swimming test and the tail suspension test, suggesting a causal relationship between mTOR expression in the IL cortex and depressive behaviors.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Miao Chen, Ting He, Xiao-han Yi, Ming-cheng Tang, Jun-hui Long, Pu-jun Wang, Ju Liu, Juan Yao, Hong-li Li, Jian-feng Sui, Guang-yan Wu
Summary: This study demonstrated the regulatory function of IL pyramidal neurons during itch processing and revealed the involvement of IL-MS projections in modulating the itch processing.
EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Henry W. Kietzman, Shannon L. Gourley
Summary: Day-to-day choices are influenced by social information and prior social experience. Recognizing others, inferring intentions and emotions, and weighing the values of all outcomes, social and non-social, rely on the medial prefrontal cortex. Disruptions in prefrontal cortical function contribute to deficits in social reasoning and decision making in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders. Research in rodents has provided insights into prefrontal cortical mechanisms for social decision making.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2023)
