Neonatal Tactile Stimulation Alters Behaviors in Heterozygous Serotonin Transporter Male Rats: Role of the Amygdala

Tactile stimulation and its impact on barrel cortex neuron receptive fields in whisker-deprived male rats

Understanding the enhancement of neuronal performance through the interaction of various sensory stimuli and evaluating how these interactions influence neuronal responses and sensorimotor behaviors is critical. This study investigates the simultaneous effects of tactile stimulation (TS) and sensory deprivation of whiskers on the receptive field properties of barrel cortex neurons in Wistar rats. Male rats were subjected to whisker deprivation (WD) or TS for 21 days from birth. Neuronal responses to controlled deflections of principal and adjacent whiskers were assessed using single-unit recordings from the barrel cortex. Results indicated that while WD reduced the excitatory receptive fields of neurons, the magnitude of ON and OFF responses returned to control group levels following TS, suggesting improved neuronal function. These findings demonstrate that tactile stimulation can compensate for deficits caused by sensory deprivation.

Quantifying multilabeled brain cells in the whole prefrontal cortex reveals reduced inhibitory and a subtype of excitatory neuronal marker expression in serotonin transporter knockout rats

The prefrontal cortex regulates emotions and is influenced by serotonin. Rodents lacking the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) show increased anxiety and changes in excitatory and inhibitory cell markers in the prefrontal cortex. However, these observations are constrained by limitations in brain representation and cell segmentation, as standard immunohistochemistry is inadequate to consider volume variations in regions of interest. We utilized the deep learning network of the StarDist method in combination with novel open-source methods for automated cell counts in a wide range of prefrontal cortex subregions. We found that 5-HTT knockout rats displayed increased anxiety and diminished relative numbers of subclass excitatory VGluT2+ and activated ΔFosB+ cells in the infralimbic and prelimbic cortices and of inhibitory GAD67+ cells in the prelimbic cortex. Anxiety levels and ΔFosB cell counts were positively correlated in wild-type, but not in knockout, rats. In conclusion, we present a novel method to quantify whole brain subregions of multilabeled cells in animal models and demonstrate reduced excitatory and inhibitory neuronal marker expression in prefrontal cortex subregions of 5-HTT knockout rats.

Individuals being high in their sensitivity to the environment: Are sensitive period changes in play?

All individuals on planet earth are sensitive to the environment, but some more than others. These individual differences in sensitivity to environments are seen across many animal species including humans, and can influence personalities as well as vulnerability and resilience to mental disorders. Yet, little is known about the underlying brain mechanisms. Key genes that contribute to individual differences in environmental sensitivity are the serotonin transporter, dopamine D4 receptor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor genes. By synthesizing neurodevelopmental findings of these genetic factors, and discussing them through the lens of mechanisms related to sensitive periods, which are phases of heightened neuronal plasticity during which a certain network is being finetuned by experiences, we propose that these genetic factors delay but extend postnatal sensitive periods. This may explain why sensitive individuals show behavioral features that are characteristic of a young brain state at the level of sensory information processing, such as reduced filtering or blockade of irrelevant information, resulting in a sensory processing system that 'keeps all options open'.

Tactile Stimulation in Adult Rats Modulates Dopaminergic Molecular Parameters in the Nucleus accumbens Preventing Amphetamine Relapse

Amphetamine (AMPH) is a psychostimulant drug frequently related to addiction, which is characterized by functional and molecular changes in the brain reward system, favoring relapse development, and pharmacotherapies have shown low effectiveness. Considering the beneficial influences of tactile stimulation (TS) in different diseases that affect the central nervous system (CNS), here we evaluated if TS applied in adult rats could prevent or minimize the AMPH-relapse behavior also accessing molecular neuroadaptations in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Following AMPH conditioning in the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm, male rats were submitted to TS (15-min session, 3 times a day, for 8 days) during the drug abstinence period, which were re-exposed to the drug in the CPP paradigm for additional 3 days for relapse observation and molecular assessment. Our findings showed that besides AMPH relapse, TS prevented the dopamine transporter (DAT), dopamine 1 receptor (D1R), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), mu opioid receptor (MOR) increase, and AMPH-induced delta FosB (ΔFosB). Based on these outcomes, we propose TS as a useful tool to treat psychostimulant addiction, which is subsequent to clinical studies; it could be included in detoxification programs together with pharmacotherapies and psychological treatments already conventionally established.

A neural model of vulnerability and resilience to stress-related disorders linked to differential susceptibility

Expert opinion remains divided concerning the impact of putative risk factors on vulnerability to depression and other stress-related disorders. A large body of literature has investigated gene by environment interactions, particularly between the serotonin transporter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) and negative environments, on the risk for depression. However, fewer studies have simultaneously investigated the outcomes in both negative and positive environments, which could explain some of the inconclusive findings. This is embodied by the concept of differential susceptibility, i.e., the idea that certain common gene polymorphisms, prenatal factors, and traits make some individuals not only disproportionately more susceptible and responsive to negative, vulnerability-promoting environments, but also more sensitive and responsive to positive, resilience-enhancing environmental conditions. Although this concept from the field of developmental psychology is well accepted and supported by behavioral findings, it is striking that its implementation in neuropsychiatric research is limited and that underlying neural mechanisms are virtually unknown. Based on neuroimaging studies that examined how factors mediating differential susceptibility affect brain function, we posit that environmental sensitivity manifests in increased salience network activity, increased salience and default mode network connectivity, and increased salience and central executive network connectivity. These changes in network function may bring about automatic exogenous attention for positive and negative stimuli and flexible attentional set-shifting. We conclude with a call to action; unraveling the neural mechanisms through which differential susceptibility factors mediate vulnerability and resilience may lead us to personalized preventive interventions.

Enrichment Environment Positively Influences Depression- and Anxiety-Like Behavior in Serotonin Transporter Knockout Rats through the Modulation of Neuroplasticity, Spine, and GABAergic Markers

The serotonin transporter (5-HTT in humans, SERT in rodents) is the main regulator of serotonergic transmission in the brain. The short allelic variant of the 5-HTT gene is in humans associated with psychopathologies and may enhance the vulnerability to develop depression after exposure to stressful events. Interestingly, the short allele also increases the sensitivity to a positive environment, which may buffer the vulnerability to depression. Since this polymorphism does not exist in rodents, male SERT knockout (SERT^−/−) rats were tested to explore the molecular mechanisms based on this increased predisposition. This article investigates the influences of a positive manipulation, namely, enriched environment (EE), on the depressive-like behavior observed in SERT^−/− rats. We found that one month of EE exposure normalized the anhedonic and anxious-like phenotype characteristics of this animal model. Moreover, we observed that EE exposure also restored the molecular alterations in the prefrontal cortex by positively modulating the expression of the neurotrophin Bdnf, and of spines and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic markers. Overall, our data confirm the depression-like phenotype of SERT^−/− rats and highlight the ability of EE to restore behavioral and molecular alterations, thus promoting the opportunity to use EE as a supporting non-pharmacological approach to treat mood disorders.