Basal forebrain cholinergic lesions enhance conditioned approach responses to stimuli predictive of food

Functional Subdivisions of Magnocellular Cell Groups in Human Basal Forebrain: Test-Retest Resting-State Study at Ultra-high Field, and Meta-analysis

The heterogeneous neuronal subgroups of the basal forebrain corticopetal system (BFcs) have been shown to modulate cortical functions through their cholinergic, gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic, and glutamatergic projections to the entire cortex. Although previous studies suggested that the basalo-cortical projection system influences various cognitive functions, particularly via its cholinergic component, these studies only focused on certain parts of the BFcs or nearby structures, leaving aside a more systematic picture of the functional connectivity of BFcs subcompartments. Moreover, these studies lacked the high-spatial resolution and the probability maps needed to identify specific subcompartments. Recent advances in the ultra-high field 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provided potentially unprecedented spatial resolution of functional MRI images to study the subdivision of the BFcs. In this study, the BF space containing corticopetal cells was divided into 3 functionally distinct subdivisions based on functional connection to cortical regions derived from fMRI. The overall functional connection of each BFcs subdivision was examined with a test-retest study. Finally, a meta-analysis was used to study the related functional topics of each BF subdivision. Our results demonstrate distinct functional connectivity patterns of these subdivisions along the rostrocaudal axis of the BF. All three compartments have shown consistent segregation and overlap at specific target regions including the hippocampus, insula, thalamus, and the cingulate gyrus, suggesting functional integration and separation in BFcs.

Low Impulsive Action, but not Impulsive Choice, Predicts Greater Conditioned Reinforcer Salience and Augmented Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Release

Poor impulse control is associated with an increased propensity to develop an addiction and may contribute to relapse as high impulsive subjects appear to attribute greater salience toward drug-paired stimuli. In these studies, we determined whether trait impulsivity also predicts the desire to obtain natural reward-paired stimuli. Rats trained on the 5-choice serial reaction time task to measure impulsive action (Experiment 1) or a delay-discounting task to measure impulsive choice (Experiment 2) were separated into low, intermediate, or high impulsive action (L-IA, I-IA, H-IA) or choice (L-IC, I-IC, H-IC) groups. The motivation to obtain a conditioned stimulus (CS) paired with water-reward was subsequently determined by measuring responding for the CS as a conditioned reinforcer (CRf). Dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens was also measured using in vivo microdialysis. The effects of amphetamine were assessed on all tests. In Experiment 1, amphetamine increased impulsive action in all groups. L-IA rats initially demonstrated the highest responding for the CRf. Amphetamine increased responding for the CRf and this effect was augmented in L-IA rats. Dopamine release following amphetamine was greatest in L-IA subjects. In Experiment 2, amphetamine increased impulsive choice for L-IC and I-IC rats. However, all groups responded similarly for the CRf and dopamine release was moderately greater in L-IC rats. In conclusion, impulsive choice was unrelated to responding for a CRf. L-IA subjects initially attributed enhanced salience to a CS and exhibited greater dopamine release. Lower dopamine release in H-IA rats could result in reduced reinforcing properties of the CRf.

Amphetamine-induced enhancement of responding for conditioned reward in rats: interactions with repeated testing

RATIONALE

The mesolimbic dopamine system underlies the ability of reward-related stimuli to control operant behavior. Previous work has shown that amphetamine potentiates operant responding for conditioned rewards (CRs).

OBJECTIVES

Here, we asked whether the profile of this amphetamine-produced potentiation changes with repeated CR presentation, i.e., as the CR is being extinguished.

METHODS

Amphetamine (0-1.0 mg/kg, i.p.), administered over four daily sessions using a Latin square design, dose-dependently increased lever pressing for a 'lights-off' stimulus previously paired with food in rats.

RESULTS

The amphetamine-produced enhancement of responding for CR was significantly modulated with repeated CR exposure: it was strongest on day 1 and became less pronounced in subsequent sessions whereas the CR effect persisted. In further experiments, rats receiving LiCl devaluation of the primary reward failed to show a significant reduction in the amphetamine-produced enhancement of responding for CR.

CONCLUSIONS

The nature of the dissociable effects of amphetamine on responding for CR versus the CR effect itself remains to be elucidated.

Functional disconnection of the substantia nigra pars compacta from the pedunculopontine nucleus impairs learning of a conditioned avoidance task

The pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg) targets nuclei in the basal ganglia, including the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc), in which neuronal loss occurs in Parkinson's disease, a condition in which patients show cognitive as well as motor disturbances. Partial loss and functional abnormalities of neurons in the PPTg are also associated with Parkinson's disease. We hypothesized that the interaction of PPTg and SNc might be important for cognitive impairments and so investigated whether disrupting the connections between the PPTg and SNc impaired learning of a conditioned avoidance response (CAR) by male Wistar rats. The following groups were tested: PPTg unilateral; SNc unilateral; PPTg-SNc ipsilateral (ipsilateral lesions in PPTg and SNc); PPTg-SNc contralateral (contralateral lesions in PPTg and SNc); sham lesions (of each type). SNc lesions were made with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine HCl (MPTP, 0.6micromol); PPTg lesions with ibotenate (24nmol). After recovery, all rats underwent 50-trial sessions of 2-way active avoidance conditioning for 3 consecutive days. Rats with unilateral lesions in PPTg or SNc learnt this, however rats with contralateral (but not ipsilateral) combined lesions in both structures presented no sign of learning. This effect was not likely to be due to sensorimotor impairment because lesions did not affect reaction time to the tone or footshock during conditioning. However, an increased number of non-responses were observed in the rats with contralateral lesions. The results support the hypothesis that a functional interaction between PPTg and SNc is needed for CAR learning and performance.

Various aspects of feeding behavior can be partially dissociated in the rat by the incentive properties of food and the physiological state

The authors investigated the role of food incentive properties and homeostatic state on the motivational, anticipatory, and consummatory aspects of feeding. Behavioral tests were carried out on food-sated and food-restricted rats that were presented with 2 kinds of food differing in their palatability level. Both food-sated and food-restricted rats consumed large quantities and were highly motivated when presented with very palatable food. In contrast, only food-restricted rats developed anticipatory responses, regardless of the kind of food presented. These data suggest that food incentive properties play a key role in the control of consummatory and motivational components of feeding but seem less involved in the regulation of anticipatory behavior.

Long-term effects of immunotoxic cholinergic lesions in the septum on acquisition of the cone-field task and noncognitive measures in rats

In rats, nonspecific mechanical or neurotoxic lesions of the septum impair spatial memory in, e.g., Morris water- and radial-maze tasks. Unfortunately, the lack of specificity of such lesions limits inferences about the role of the cholinergic hippocampal projections in spatial cognition. We therefore tested the effects of septal lesions produced by 192 IgG-saporin in rats, which is highly selective for basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, on home cage activity, noncognitive tests (modified Irwin test, open field and forced swimming tests, and various sensorimotor tasks), and the cone-field spatial learning task. The immunotoxic lesion reduced acetylcholine (ACh) levels in the septum (-61%) and hippocampus (>-75%). Rats with lesions showed mild home-cage hyperactivity at 4 weeks postlesion, but no noncognitive deficits at 13 weeks postsurgery. In the cone-field task, rats with septal lesions made more working- and reference-memory errors than the controls, but acquisition curves were parallel in both groups. The speed of visiting cones was faster in the rats with lesions, indicative of disturbed attention or increased motivation. These data support the growing evidence that involvement of the septohippocampal cholinergic system in spatial learning and memory may have been overestimated in studies that used lesions with poor selectivity.

Natural reward-related learning in rats with neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions and prior cocaine exposure

RATIONALE

Psychostimulant injections in rats have been shown to alter future performance in natural reward conditioning. These effects may represent a persistent impact of drugs on neurocircuits that interface cognitive and motivational processes, which may be further altered in neuropsychiatric conditions that entail increased addiction vulnerability.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated whether a rat model of schizophrenia with cocaine addiction vulnerability shows altered natural reward conditioning with or without prior cocaine exposure.

METHODS

Adult rats with SHAM or neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions were given cocaine (15 mg/kg per day for 5 days) or saline injections, followed 7 days later by natural reward-conditioned learning. Over ten daily sessions, water-restricted rats were assessed for durations of head entries into a magazine during random water presentations, a conditioning stimulus phase predictive of the water reward, and an "inappropriate" phase when conditioning stimuli were absent and reward presentation would be delayed.

RESULTS

Over repeated sessions, lesioned and SHAM rats showed similar reductions in total magazine entry durations, with similar increases in the allocations of entry times during the water presentation. However, lesioned rats, especially those exposed to cocaine, demonstrated reduced allocations of magazine entry times during the conditioning stimulus phase, and increased allocations during the inappropriate phase.

CONCLUSIONS

Intact natural reward motivation accompanied by deficient learning of complex contingencies to guide efficient reward approach may represent a form of impulsivity as an addiction vulnerability trait marker in an animal model of schizophrenia.

Enhanced food-related motivation after bilateral lesions of the subthalamic nucleus

Although inactivation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has beneficial effects on motor symptoms of parkinsonism, little is known of possible actions on nonmotor symptoms of cognition or mood. Here, we used several forms of converging evidence to show that STN lesions can enhance behavioral motivation. Thus, bilateral fiber-sparing lesions of the STN in rats reduced the time required to eat a standard number of food reward pellets, without affecting food intake, and altered performance on a number of behavioral measures consistent with enhanced motivation for food. Thus, STN-lesioned rats showed greater levels of locomotor activity conditioned to food presentation, enhanced control over responding by food-related conditioned reinforcers, and a higher breaking point associated with elevated rate of lever press under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement. These results reveal a new functional role schedule for STN, possibly because of its involvement in ventral, as well as dorsal, striatal circuitry and are relevant to the therapeutic effects of STN stimulation in Parkinson's disease.

Repeated intermittent administration of psychomotor stimulant drugs alters the acquisition of Pavlovian approach behavior in rats: differential effects of cocaine, d-amphetamine and 3,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine ("Ecstasy")

BACKGROUND

Psychomotor stimulant drugs can produce long-lasting changes in neurochemistry and behavior after multiple doses. In particular, neuroadaptations within corticolimbic brain structures that mediate incentive learning and motivated behavior have been demonstrated after chronic exposure to cocaine, d-amphetamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). As stimulus-reward learning is likely relevant to addictive behavior (i.e., augmented conditioned reward and stimulus control of behavior), we have investigated whether prior repeated administration of psychomotor stimulant drugs (of abuse, including cocaine, d-amphetamine, or MDMA, would affect the acquisition of Pavlovian approach behavior.

METHODS

Water-deprived rats were tested for the acquisition of Pavlovian approach behavior after 5 days treatment with cocaine (15-20 mg/kg once or twice daily), d-amphetamine (2.5 mg/kg once or twice daily), or MDMA (2.5 mg/kg twice daily) followed by a 7-day, drug-free period.

RESULTS

Prior repeated treatment with cocaine or d-amphetamine produced a significant enhancement of acquisition of Pavlovian approach behavior, indicating accelerated stimulus-reward learning, whereas MDMA administration produced increased inappropriate responding, indicating impulsivity. Abnormal drug-induced approach behavior was found to persist throughout the testing period.

CONCLUSIONS

These studies demonstrate that psychomotor stimulant-induced sensitization can produce long-term alterations in stimulus-reward learning and impulse control that may contribute to the compulsive drug taking that typifies addiction.

Pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus lesions impair stimulus--reward learning in autoshaping and conditioned reinforcement paradigms

The role of the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg) in stimulus-reward learning was assessed by testing the effects of PPTg lesions on performance in visual autoshaping and conditioned reinforcement (CRf) paradigms. Rats with PPTg lesions were unable to learn an association between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and a primary reward in either paradigm. In the autoshaping experiment, PPTg-lesioned rats approached the CS+ and CS- with equal frequency, and the latencies to respond to the two stimuli did not differ. PPTg lesions also disrupted discriminated approaches to an appetitive CS in the CRf paradigm and completely abolished the acquisition of responding with CRf. These data are discussed in the context of a possible cognitive function of the PPTg, particularly in terms of lesion-induced disruptions of attentional processes that are mediated by the thalamus.

Enhanced conditioned approach responses in transgenic mice with impaired glucocorticoid receptor function

The long-term consequences of impaired glucocorticoid receptor (GR) function on reward-related learning were studied in transgenic mice with impaired GR function in a series of experiments taxing conditioned and unconditioned approach responses to stimuli predictive of food. There was a double-dissociation in that transgenic mice with impaired GR activity showed enhanced conditioned exploration in situations when stimuli predicted reward, while free-feeding food consumption over 24 h was reduced. Previous experiments have shown altered accumbens dopaminergic activity in these animals. In line with these findings, we observed an enhanced behavioural stimulation of transgenic mice following administration of d-amphetamine (2 mg/kg). This suggests that the increase in preparatory responses in transgenic mice may be mediated via an enhanced accumbens dopaminergic activity, possibly secondary to alterations in other brain systems.

Cognitive functions of the basal forebrain

Studies of the function of the basal forebrain have focused on cholinergic neurons that project to cortical and limbic structures critical for various cognitive abilities. Recent experiments suggest that these neurons serve a modulatory function in cognition, by optimizing cortical information processing and influencing attention.