1
|
O'Neill PK, Posani L, Meszaros J, Warren P, Schoonover CE, Fink AJP, Fusi S, Salzman CD. The representational geometry of emotional states in basolateral amygdala. bioRxiv 2024:2023.09.23.558668. [PMID: 37790470 PMCID: PMC10542536 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.23.558668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
Sensory stimuli associated with aversive outcomes cause multiple behavioral responses related to an animal's evolving emotional state, but neural mechanisms underlying these processes remain unclear. Here aversive stimuli were presented to mice, eliciting two responses reflecting fear and flight to safety: tremble and ingress into a virtual burrow. Inactivation of basolateral amygdala (BLA) eliminated differential responses to aversive and neutral stimuli without eliminating responses themselves, suggesting BLA signals valence, not motor commands. However, two-photon imaging revealed that neurons typically exhibited mixed selectivity for stimulus identity, valence, tremble and/or ingress. Despite heterogeneous selectivity, BLA representational geometry was lower-dimensional when encoding valence, tremble and safety, enabling generalization of emotions across conditions. Further, tremble and valence coding directions were orthogonal, allowing linear readouts to specialize. Thus BLA representational geometry confers two computational properties that identify specialized neural circuits encoding variables describing emotional states: generalization across conditions, and readouts lacking interference from other readouts.
Collapse
|
2
|
Stujenske JM, O'Neill PK, Fernandes-Henriques C, Nahmoud I, Goldburg SR, Singh A, Diaz L, Labkovich M, Hardin W, Bolkan SS, Reardon TR, Spellman TJ, Salzman CD, Gordon JA, Liston C, Likhtik E. Prelimbic cortex drives discrimination of non-aversion via amygdala somatostatin interneurons. Neuron 2022; 110:2258-2267.e11. [PMID: 35397211 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.03.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Revised: 12/31/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The amygdala and prelimbic cortex (PL) communicate during fear discrimination retrieval, but how they coordinate discrimination of a non-threatening stimulus is unknown. Here, we show that somatostatin (SOM) interneurons in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) become active specifically during learned non-threatening cues and desynchronize cell firing by blocking phase reset of theta oscillations during the safe cue. Furthermore, we show that SOM activation and desynchronization of the BLA is PL-dependent and promotes discrimination of non-threat. Thus, fear discrimination engages PL-dependent coordination of BLA SOM responses to non-threatening stimuli.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joseph M Stujenske
- Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA.
| | - Pia-Kelsey O'Neill
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; The Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind, Brain, and Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Carolina Fernandes-Henriques
- Biology Program, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Biological Sciences, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Itzick Nahmoud
- Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
| | | | - Ashna Singh
- Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Laritza Diaz
- Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA
| | | | | | - Scott S Bolkan
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA
| | | | - Timothy J Spellman
- Department of Neuroscience, UConn School of Medicine, Farmington, CT 06032, USA
| | - C Daniel Salzman
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; The Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind, Brain, and Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Kavli Institute for Brain Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Joshua A Gordon
- National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Conor Liston
- Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Ekaterina Likhtik
- Biology Program, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Biological Sciences, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY 10065, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
O'Neill PK, Gore F, Salzman CD. Basolateral amygdala circuitry in positive and negative valence. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2018; 49:175-183. [PMID: 29525574 PMCID: PMC6138049 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2018.02.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2017] [Revised: 12/25/2017] [Accepted: 02/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
All organisms must solve the same fundamental problem: they must acquire rewards and avoid danger in order to survive. A key challenge for the nervous system is therefore to connect motivationally salient sensory stimuli to neural circuits that engage appropriate valence-specific behavioral responses. Anatomical, behavioral, and electrophysiological data have long suggested that the amygdala plays a central role in this process. Here we review experimental efforts leveraging recent technological advances to provide previously unattainable insights into the functional, anatomical, and genetic identity of neural populations within the amygdala that connect sensory stimuli to valence-specific behavioral responses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pia-Kelsey O'Neill
- Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive Unit 87, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Felicity Gore
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, 443 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - C Daniel Salzman
- Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive Unit 87, New York, NY 10032, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive Unit 87, New York, NY 10032, USA; New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive Unit 87, New York, NY 10032, USA; Kavli Institute for Brain Sciences, 1051 Riverside Drive Unit 87, New York, NY 10032, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Ponnusamy R, Zhuravka I, Poulos AM, Shobe J, Merjanian M, Huang J, Wolvek D, O'Neill PK, Fanselow MS. Retrieval and Reconsolidation Accounts of Fear Extinction. Front Behav Neurosci 2016; 10:89. [PMID: 27242459 PMCID: PMC4860411 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2015] [Accepted: 04/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Extinction is the primary mode for the treatment of anxiety disorders. However, extinction memories are prone to relapse. For example, fear is likely to return when a prolonged time period intervenes between extinction and a subsequent encounter with the fear-provoking stimulus (spontaneous recovery). Therefore there is considerable interest in the development of procedures that strengthen extinction and to prevent such recovery of fear. We contrasted two procedures in rats that have been reported to cause such deepened extinction. One where extinction begins before the initial consolidation of fear memory begins (immediate extinction) and another where extinction begins after a brief exposure to the consolidated fear stimulus. The latter is thought to open a period of memory vulnerability similar to that which occurs during initial consolidation (reconsolidation update). We also included a standard extinction treatment and a control procedure that reversed the brief exposure and extinction phases. Spontaneous recovery was only found with the standard extinction treatment. In a separate experiment we tested fear shortly after extinction (i.e., within 6 h). All extinction procedures, except reconsolidation update reduced fear at this short-term test. The findings suggest that strengthened extinction can result from alteration in both retrieval and consolidation processes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ravikumar Ponnusamy
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and The Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Irina Zhuravka
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and The Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Andrew M Poulos
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and The Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Justin Shobe
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and The Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michael Merjanian
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and The Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jeannie Huang
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and The Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - David Wolvek
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and The Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Pia-Kelsey O'Neill
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and The Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michael S Fanselow
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and The Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Parnaudeau S, O'Neill PK, Bolkan SS, Ward RD, Abbas AI, Roth BL, Balsam PD, Gordon JA, Kellendonk C. Inhibition of mediodorsal thalamus disrupts thalamofrontal connectivity and cognition. Neuron 2013; 77:1151-62. [PMID: 23522049 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.01.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 264] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/16/2013] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive deficits are central to schizophrenia, but the underlying mechanisms still remain unclear. Imaging studies performed in patients point to decreased activity in the mediodorsal thalamus (MD) and reduced functional connectivity between the MD and prefrontal cortex (PFC) as candidate mechanisms. However, a causal link is still missing. We used a pharmacogenetic approach in mice to diminish MD neuron activity and examined the behavioral and physiological consequences. We found that a subtle decrease in MD activity is sufficient to trigger selective impairments in prefrontal-dependent cognitive tasks. In vivo recordings in behaving animals revealed that MD-PFC beta-range synchrony is enhanced during acquisition and performance of a working memory task. Decreasing MD activity interfered with this task-dependent modulation of MD-PFC synchrony, which correlated with impaired working memory. These findings suggest that altered MD activity is sufficient to disrupt prefrontal-dependent cognitive behaviors and could contribute to the cognitive symptoms observed in schizophrenia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sebastien Parnaudeau
- Department of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
6
|
|
7
|
|
8
|
Abstract
The application of laser technology has been extended to optical shop testing by incorporating a cw, helium-neon gas laser in a package that houses a modified Twyman-Green interferometer. This modification provides for optical testing over large path differences with an auxiliary set of lenses used in the long path and a small reference flat used in the short path of the interferometer. With this technique, f/0.7 spherical mirrors have been tested (at the center of curvature) to an accuracy of 1/10 wavelength at the surface, and various other optical systems have been tested in both double pass and single pass. Two of the advantages of this testing method are (1) the capability of testing spherical concave surfaces without physically contacting the surface and (2) the ability to use small reference surfaces for large optical components or systems. The device known as a laser unequal path interferometer can be used with a set of null lenses to qualify aspheric surfaces. The unit is portable and capable of testing in any orientation under various environmental conditions. Several applications of this device are presented to illustrate its versatility.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J B Houston
- Itek Corporation, Lexington, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|