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Hsu LM, Cerri DH, Lee SH, Shnitko TA, Carelli RM, Shih YYI. Intrinsic Functional Connectivity between the Anterior Insular and Retrosplenial Cortex as a Moderator and Consequence of Cocaine Self-Administration in Rats. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e1452232023. [PMID: 38233216 PMCID: PMC10869158 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1452-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [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: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
While functional brain imaging studies in humans suggest that chronic cocaine use alters functional connectivity (FC) within and between key large-scale brain networks, including the default mode network (DMN), the salience network (SN), and the central executive network (CEN), cross-sectional studies in humans are challenging to obtain brain FC prior to cocaine use. Such information is critical to reveal the relationship between individual's brain FC and the subsequent development of cocaine dependence and brain changes during abstinence. Here, we performed a longitudinal study examining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data in male rats (n = 7), acquired before cocaine self-administration (baseline), on 1 d of abstinence following 10 d of cocaine self-administration, and again after 30 d of experimenter-imposed abstinence. Using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with network-based statistics (NBS), significant connectivity changes were found between anterior insular cortex (AI) of the SN, retrosplenial cortex (RSC) of the DMN, somatosensory cortex, and caudate-putamen (CPu), with AI-RSC FC showing the most robust changes between baseline and 1 d of abstinence. Additionally, the level of escalated cocaine intake is associated with AI-RSC and AI-CPu FC changes between 1 d and 30 d of abstinence; further, the subjects' AI-RSC FC prior to cocaine intake is a significant moderator for the AI-RSC changes during abstinence. These results provide novel insights into the roles of AI-RSC FC before and after cocaine intake and suggest this circuit to be a potential target to modulate large-scale network and associated behavioral changes in cocaine use disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Ming Hsu
- Center for Animal Magnetic Resonance Imaging, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
- Departments of Neurology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
| | - Domenic H Cerri
- Center for Animal Magnetic Resonance Imaging, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
- Departments of Neurology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
| | - Sung-Ho Lee
- Center for Animal Magnetic Resonance Imaging, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
- Departments of Neurology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
| | - Tatiana A Shnitko
- Center for Animal Magnetic Resonance Imaging, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
- Departments of Neurology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
| | - Regina M Carelli
- Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
| | - Yen-Yu Ian Shih
- Center for Animal Magnetic Resonance Imaging, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
- Departments of Neurology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill 27599, North Carolina
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Lee SH, Shnitko TA, Hsu LM, Broadwater MA, Sardinas M, Wang TWW, Robinson DL, Vetreno RP, Crews FT, Shih YYI. Acute alcohol induces greater dose-dependent increase in the lateral cortical network functional connectivity in adult than adolescent rats. Addict Neurosci 2023; 7:100105. [PMID: 37576436 PMCID: PMC10421607 DOI: 10.1016/j.addicn.2023.100105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Alcohol misuse and, particularly adolescent drinking, is a major public health concern. While evidence suggests that adolescent alcohol use affects frontal brain regions that are important for cognitive control over behavior little is known about how acute alcohol exposure alters large-scale brain networks and how sex and age may moderate such effects. Here, we employ a recently developed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) protocol to acquire rat brain functional connectivity data and use an established analytical pipeline to examine the effect of sex, age, and alcohol dose on connectivity within and between three major rodent brain networks: defaul mode, salience, and lateral cortical network. We identify the intra- and inter-network connectivity differences and establish moderation models to reveal significant influences of age on acute alcohol-induced lateral cortical network connectivity. Through this work, we make brain-wide isotropic fMRI data with acute alcohol challenge publicly available, with the hope to facilitate future discovery of brain regions/circuits that are causally relevant to the impact of acute alcohol use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung-Ho Lee
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Tatiana A. Shnitko
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Li-Ming Hsu
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Margaret A. Broadwater
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Mabelle Sardinas
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Tzu-Wen Winnie Wang
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Donita L. Robinson
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Ryan P. Vetreno
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Fulton T. Crews
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Yen-Yu Ian Shih
- Center for Animal MRI, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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Grant KA, Newman N, Gonzales S, Shnitko TA. Replicability in measures of attentional set-shifting task performance predicting chronic heavy drinking in rhesus monkeys. Alcohol 2021; 96:93-98. [PMID: 34509594 DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2021.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [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: 03/09/2021] [Revised: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
This study was designed to replicate and extend a previous report that the increase in performance of an attentional set-shifting task (ASST) in rhesus monkeys predicted their future alcohol drinking status as a heavy drinker (HD) or non-heavy drinker (NHD). A cohort of 6 young adult male monkeys was trained and tested under the same ASST and then underwent a alcohol self-administration protocol that maintained open-access (22 hours/day) choice of alcohol or water 7 days/week for approximately 6 months. The average improvement in performance in the ASST, as measured by a performance index, was replicated in the cohort of 6 monkeys when compared to the increase in the task performance in a previous cohort of 9 male monkeys. The alcohol self-administration protocol was then used to determine the drinking status (HD: n = 4 or NHD: n = 2) of the replicate cohort, which was accurately predicted by the performance on the ASST. Finally, individuals from both cohorts could be combined based on future drinking status of HD (n = 8) or NHD (n = 7), and the association with pre-alcohol ASST performance remained. Specifically, monkeys that had lower rates of PI improvement were more likely to become HDs. To our knowledge, this is the first study to replicate that deficits in the set-shifting performance can predict chronic heavy alcohol drinking in primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- K A Grant
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Beaverton, OR, 97006, United States; Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, United States.
| | - N Newman
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Beaverton, OR, 97006, United States
| | - S Gonzales
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Beaverton, OR, 97006, United States
| | - T A Shnitko
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Beaverton, OR, 97006, United States
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Erikson DW, Blue SW, Kaucher AV, Shnitko TA. LC-MS/MS measurement of endogenous oxytocin in the posterior pituitary and CSF of macaques: A pilot study. Peptides 2021; 140:170544. [PMID: 33811949 PMCID: PMC8462972 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2021.170544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Revised: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Oxytocin (OT) is a nanopeptide released into systemic circulation via the posterior pituitary (peripheral) and into the central nervous system via widespread OTergic pathways (central). Central OT plays a significant role in variety of functions from social and executive cognition to immune regulation. Many ongoing studies explore its therapeutic potential for variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. Measures of peripheral OT levels are most frequently used as an indicator of its concentration in the central nervous system in humans and animal models. In this study, LC-MS/MS was used to measure OT in pituitary samples collected from adult male macaque monkeys in order to explore the correlation between individual levels of OT in the CSF (central) and pituitary (peripheral). We quantified individual differences in the levels of OT in the pituitaries (44-151 ng/mg) and CSF (41-66 pg/mL) of these monkeys. A positive correlation between these two measures was identified. These preliminary results allow for future analyses to determine whether LC-MS/MS measures of peripheral OT can be used as markers of OT levels in the brain of nonhuman primates that serve as valuable models for many human neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- D W Erikson
- Endocrine Technologies Core, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97006-3448, USA
| | - S W Blue
- Endocrine Technologies Core, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97006-3448, USA
| | - A V Kaucher
- Endocrine Technologies Core, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97006-3448, USA
| | - T A Shnitko
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97006-3448, USA.
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Jimenez VA, Walter NAR, Shnitko TA, Newman N, Diem K, Vanderhooft L, Hunt H, Grant KA. Mifepristone Decreases Chronic Voluntary Ethanol Consumption in Rhesus Macaques. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2020; 375:258-267. [PMID: 32873623 DOI: 10.1124/jpet.120.000169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The efficacy of short-term treatment with mifepristone (MIFE), a high-affinity, nonselective glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, to reduce ethanol drinking was tested in a rhesus macaque model. Stable individual daily ethanol intakes were established, ranging from 1.6 to 4.0 g/kg per day (n = 9 monkeys). After establishment of chronic ethanol intake, a MIFE dosing regimen that modeled a study of rodent drinking and human alcohol craving was evaluated. Three doses of MIFE (17, 30, and 56 mg/kg per day) were each administered for four consecutive days. Both 30 and 56 mg/kg decreased ethanol intake compared with baseline drinking levels without a change in water intake. The dose of 56 mg/kg per day of MIFE produced the largest reduction in ethanol self-administration, with the average intake at 57% of baseline intakes. Cortisol was elevated during MIFE dosing, and a mediation analysis revealed that the effect on ethanol drinking was fully mediated through cortisol. During a forced abstinence phase, access to 1.5 g/kg ethanol resulted in relapse in all drinkers and was not altered by treatment with 56 mg/kg MIFE. Overall, these results show that during active drinking MIFE is efficacious in reducing heavy alcohol intake in a monkey model, an effect that was related to MIFE-induced increase in cortisol. However, MIFE treatment did not eliminate ethanol drinking. Further, cessation of MIFE treatment resulted in a rapid return to baseline intakes, and MIFE was not effective in preventing a relapse during early abstinence. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Mifepristone reliably decreases average daily ethanol self-administration in a nonhuman primate model. This effect was mediated by cortisol, was most effective during open-access conditions, and did not prevent or reduce relapse drinking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa A Jimenez
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Hillsboro, Oregon (V.A.J., N.A.R.W., T.A.S., N.N., K.D., L.V., K.A.G.); Corcept Therapeutics, Menlo Park, California (H.H.); and Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon (K.A.G.)
| | - Nicole A R Walter
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Hillsboro, Oregon (V.A.J., N.A.R.W., T.A.S., N.N., K.D., L.V., K.A.G.); Corcept Therapeutics, Menlo Park, California (H.H.); and Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon (K.A.G.)
| | - Tatiana A Shnitko
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Hillsboro, Oregon (V.A.J., N.A.R.W., T.A.S., N.N., K.D., L.V., K.A.G.); Corcept Therapeutics, Menlo Park, California (H.H.); and Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon (K.A.G.)
| | - Natali Newman
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Hillsboro, Oregon (V.A.J., N.A.R.W., T.A.S., N.N., K.D., L.V., K.A.G.); Corcept Therapeutics, Menlo Park, California (H.H.); and Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon (K.A.G.)
| | - Kaya Diem
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Hillsboro, Oregon (V.A.J., N.A.R.W., T.A.S., N.N., K.D., L.V., K.A.G.); Corcept Therapeutics, Menlo Park, California (H.H.); and Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon (K.A.G.)
| | - Lauren Vanderhooft
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Hillsboro, Oregon (V.A.J., N.A.R.W., T.A.S., N.N., K.D., L.V., K.A.G.); Corcept Therapeutics, Menlo Park, California (H.H.); and Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon (K.A.G.)
| | - Hazel Hunt
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Hillsboro, Oregon (V.A.J., N.A.R.W., T.A.S., N.N., K.D., L.V., K.A.G.); Corcept Therapeutics, Menlo Park, California (H.H.); and Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon (K.A.G.)
| | - Kathleen A Grant
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Hillsboro, Oregon (V.A.J., N.A.R.W., T.A.S., N.N., K.D., L.V., K.A.G.); Corcept Therapeutics, Menlo Park, California (H.H.); and Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon (K.A.G.)
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Gómez-A A, Shnitko TA, Caref KL, Nicola SM, Robinson DL. Stimuli predicting high-calorie reward increase dopamine release and drive approach to food in the absence of homeostatic need. Nutr Neurosci 2020; 25:593-602. [PMID: 32578521 DOI: 10.1080/1028415x.2020.1782613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Animals and humans are motivated to consume high-fat, high-calorie foods by cues predicting such foods. The neural mechanisms underlying this effect are not well understood.Objective: We tested the hypothesis that cues paired with a food reward, as compared to explicitly unpaired cues, increase rats' food-seeking behavior by potentiating dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens, and that this effect would be less evident under satiety.Methods: We used a simple discriminative stimulus task and electrochemical recordings of dopamine release in freely moving rats.Results: We found that both food-predictive cue and hunger increased conditioned approaches to the receptacle (food-seeking behavior indicated by movement to the food receptacle). In addition, we observed dopamine release when the food-predictive cue (but not the unpaired cue) was presented, independent of hunger or satiety. Finally, we found a positive correlation between dopamine release amplitude and the number of conditioned approaches to the food receptacle in the sated condition, but not in the hungry condition.Discussion: Our results suggest that dopamine could drive seeking behavior for calorie-dense food in absence of homeostatic need, a core aspect of binge eating disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Gómez-A
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Tatiana A Shnitko
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Kevin L Caref
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Saleem M Nicola
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Donita L Robinson
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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Lee MR, Shnitko TA, Blue SW, Kaucher AV, Winchell AJ, Erikson DW, Grant KA, Leggio L. Labeled oxytocin administered via the intranasal route reaches the brain in rhesus macaques. Nat Commun 2020; 11:2783. [PMID: 32494001 PMCID: PMC7270110 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15942-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2019] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Oxytocin may have promise as a treatment for neuropsychiatric disorders. Its therapeutic effect may depend on its ability to enter the brain and bind to the oxytocin receptor. To date, the brain tissue penetrance of intranasal oxytocin has not been demonstrated. In this nonhuman primate study, we administer deuterated oxytocin intranasally and intravenously to rhesus macaques and measure, with mass spectrometry, concentrations of labeled (exogenously administered) and endogenous oxytocin in 12 brain regions two hours after oxytocin administration. Labeled oxytocin is quantified after intranasal (not intravenous) administration in brain regions (orbitofrontal cortex, striatum, brainstem, and thalamus) that lie in the trajectories of the olfactory and trigeminal nerves. These results suggest that intranasal administration bypasses the blood-brain barrier, delivering oxytocin to specific brain regions, such as the striatum, where oxytocin acts to impact motivated behaviors. Further, high concentrations of endogenous oxytocin are in regions that overlap with projection fields of oxytocinergic neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- M R Lee
- Section on Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research and National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive (10CRC/15330), Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - T A Shnitko
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR, USA
| | - S W Blue
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR, USA
| | - A V Kaucher
- Endocrine Technologies Core, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR, USA
| | - A J Winchell
- Endocrine Technologies Core, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR, USA
| | - D W Erikson
- Endocrine Technologies Core, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR, USA
| | - K A Grant
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR, USA
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, L-470, Portland, OR, USA
| | - L Leggio
- Section on Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research and National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive (10CRC/15330), Bethesda, MD, USA
- Medication Development Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Center on Compulsive Behaviors, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
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Shnitko TA, Gonzales SW, Newman N, Grant KA. Behavioral Flexibility in Alcohol-Drinking Monkeys: The Morning After. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2020; 44:729-737. [PMID: 31984521 DOI: 10.1111/acer.14289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2019] [Accepted: 01/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Heavy alcohol drinking has aspects of inflexible behavior. This study addressed the consequences of chronic alcohol drinking on cognitive and sensory-motor domains of behavioral flexibility in rhesus monkeys. METHODS Behavioral flexibility was assessed in 12 monkeys (n = 9, ethanol [EtOH] drinkers) with a set-shifting visual discrimination procedure before alcohol self-administration and while maintaining consumption of 1.5 g/kg/d EtOH. Task performance was assessed in the morning after ~18 hours of drinking 1.5 g/kg, and 1 hour before the next day's drinking session began. The first 10 set-shifting sessions had the original (preethanol) test parameters and were used to determine retention of preethanol performance. Then, an effect of sensory-motor challenge (60% reduction in the size of the discriminative stimuli) on performance was assessed during 10 additional sessions. RESULTS There were no average group-dependent differences in the performance between control and EtOH groups at the preethanol time-point. The daily consumption of 1.5 g/kg/d produced binge alcohol intakes in 7 of 9 monkeys (blood EtOH concentration [BEC ≥ 80 mg/dl]). Chronic daily intakes of 1.5 g/kg had no effect on retention of the task in the sober state. However, when challenged with a reduction in the size of the stimuli, daily 1.5 g/kg EtOH resulted in a decrement in performance due to an increase in the number of errors. CONCLUSIONS Rhesus monkeys consuming 1.5 g/kg alcohol daily perform equally as could as control monkeys in retention of a well-learned cognitive task. However, this pattern of daily alcohol intake robustly decreased the ability to flexibly adjust behavior when confronted with novel changes to perceptual stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana A Shnitko
- From the, Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC), Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, Oregon
| | - Steven W Gonzales
- From the, Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC), Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, Oregon
| | - Natali Newman
- From the, Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC), Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, Oregon
| | - Kathleen A Grant
- From the, Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC), Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, Oregon.,Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon
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Gómez-A A, Shnitko TA, Barefoot HM, Brightbill EL, Sombers LA, Nicola SM, Robinson DL. Local μ-Opioid Receptor Antagonism Blunts Evoked Phasic Dopamine Release in the Nucleus Accumbens of Rats. ACS Chem Neurosci 2019; 10:1935-1940. [PMID: 30388365 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
μ-opioid receptors (MORs) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) can regulate reward-related behaviors that are dependent on mesolimbic dopamine, but the precise mechanism of this MOR regulation is unknown. We hypothesized that MORs within the NAc core regulate dopamine release. Specifically, we infused the MOR antagonist CTAP (d-Phe-Cys-Tyr-d-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH2) into the NAc core while dopamine release was evoked by electrical stimulation of the ventral tegmental area and measured by fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. We report that CTAP dose-dependently inhibited evoked dopamine release, with full blockade achieved with the 8 μg infusion. In contrast, evoked dopamine release increased after nomifensine infusion and was unchanged after vehicle infusion. These findings demonstrate profound local control of dopamine release by MORs within the NAc core, which has implications for regulation of reward processing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Leslie A. Sombers
- Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27607, United States
| | - Saleem M. Nicola
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, United States
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Shnitko TA, Gonzales SW, Grant KA. Low cognitive flexibility as a risk for heavy alcohol drinking in non-human primates. Alcohol 2019; 74:95-104. [PMID: 30097387 DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2018.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [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: 01/23/2018] [Revised: 04/16/2018] [Accepted: 04/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Chronic alcohol abuse is frequently considered a habitual or inflexible behavior; however, measures of pre-existing cognitive flexibility prior to initiation of alcohol use are usually not available. This study used rhesus monkeys and an attentional set-shifting task to investigate whether pre-existing cognitive flexibility would predict increased risk for heavy alcohol drinking. As previously reported, monkeys were given 30 daily set-shifting sessions prior to alcohol access. These sessions consisted of the same sequence of eight unique visual discriminations (sets) of two objects that varied on two dimensions (shapes and colors). The ratio of errors per trials, session duration, and maximum set reached were primary dependent variables from each session and were used to compose a session performance index (PI) that ranged from a low performance PI of 31 to an optimal performance PI of 247. Here, animals underwent an alcohol induction period followed by 22 weeks of daily (22-h) self-administration sessions with free access to water and alcohol. Based on average daily alcohol intake during 22 weeks of 22-h/day access, the monkeys were categorized as non-heavy (mean = 2.0 ± 0.3 g/kg/day; n = 3) and heavy (mean = 3.3 ± 0.5 g/kg/day; n = 6) drinkers. The two groups diverged in performance on the set-shifting task across the 30 pre-alcohol sessions, and at the end of the pre-alcohol testing, the group average PI was 216 ± 27 and 137 ± 71 for the future non-heavy and heavy drinkers, respectively. The data show that low cognitive flexibility assessed with a set-shifting procedure was predictive of future classification as a heavy alcohol drinker. The data highlight individual differences in both cognitive flexibility and in alcohol self-administration in this population of rhesus monkeys.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana A Shnitko
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97006-3448, United States
| | - Steven W Gonzales
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97006-3448, United States
| | - Kathleen A Grant
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97006-3448, United States; Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, L-470, Portland, OR 97239-3098, United States.
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Fiorenza AM, Shnitko TA, Sullivan KM, Vemuru SR, Gomez-A A, Esaki JY, Boettiger CA, Da Cunha C, Robinson DL. Ethanol Exposure History and Alcoholic Reward Differentially Alter Dopamine Release in the Nucleus Accumbens to a Reward-Predictive Cue. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2018; 42:1051-1061. [PMID: 29602178 DOI: 10.1111/acer.13636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2017] [Accepted: 03/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Conditioned stimuli (CS) that predict reward delivery acquire the ability to induce phasic dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). This dopamine release may facilitate conditioned approach behavior, which often manifests as approach to the site of reward delivery (called "goal-tracking") or to the CS itself (called "sign-tracking"). Previous research has linked sign-tracking in particular to impulsivity and drug self-administration, and addictive drugs may promote the expression of sign-tracking. Ethanol (EtOH) acutely promotes phasic release of dopamine in the accumbens, but it is unknown whether an alcoholic reward alters dopamine release to a CS. We hypothesized that Pavlovian conditioning with an alcoholic reward would increase dopamine release triggered by the CS and subsequent sign-tracking behavior. Moreover, we predicted that chronic intermittent EtOH (CIE) exposure would promote sign-tracking while acute administration of naltrexone (NTX) would reduce it. METHODS Rats received 14 doses of EtOH (3 to 5 g/kg, intragastric) or water followed by 6 days of Pavlovian conditioning training. Rewards were a chocolate solution with or without 10% (w/v) alcohol. We used fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to measure phasic dopamine release in the NAc core in response to the CS and the rewards. We also determined the effect of NTX (1 mg/kg, subcutaneous) on conditioned approach. RESULTS Both CIE and alcoholic reward, individually but not together, associated with greater dopamine to the CS than control conditions. However, this increase in dopamine release was not linked to greater sign-tracking, as both CIE and alcoholic reward shifted conditioned approach from sign-tracking behavior to goal-tracking behavior. However, they both also increased sensitivity to NTX, which reduced goal-tracking behavior. CONCLUSIONS While a history of EtOH exposure or alcoholic reward enhanced dopamine release to a CS, they did not promote sign-tracking under the current conditions. These findings are consistent with the interpretation that EtOH can stimulate conditioned approach, but indicate that the conditioned response may manifest as goal-tracking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda M Fiorenza
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Tatiana A Shnitko
- Department of Psychiatry and Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Kaitlin M Sullivan
- Department of Psychiatry and Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Sudheer R Vemuru
- Department of Psychiatry and Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Alexander Gomez-A
- Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Julie Y Esaki
- Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Charlotte A Boettiger
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies and Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Claudio Da Cunha
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.,Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Donita L Robinson
- Department of Psychiatry and Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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12
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Shnitko TA, Allen DC, Gonzales SW, Walter NAR, Grant KA. Ranking Cognitive Flexibility in a Group Setting of Rhesus Monkeys with a Set-Shifting Procedure. Front Behav Neurosci 2017; 11:55. [PMID: 28386222 PMCID: PMC5362606 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [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: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 03/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Attentional set-shifting ability is an executive function underling cognitive flexibility in humans and animals. In humans, this function is typically observed during a single experimental session where dimensions of playing cards are used to measure flexibility in the face of changing rules for reinforcement (i.e., the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)). In laboratory animals, particularly non-human primates, variants of the WCST involve extensive training and testing on a series of dimensional discriminations, usually in social isolation. In the present study, a novel experimental approach was used to assess attentional set-shifting simultaneously in 12 rhesus monkeys. Specifically, monkeys living in individual cages but in the same room were trained at the same time each day in a set-shifting task in the same housing environment. As opposed to the previous studies, each daily session began with a simple single-dimension discrimination regardless of the animal’s performance on the previous session. A total of eight increasingly difficult, discriminations (sets) were possible in each daily 45 min session. Correct responses were reinforced under a second-order schedule of flavored food pellet delivery, and criteria for completing a set was 12 correct trials out of a running total of 15 trials. Monkeys progressed through the sets at their own pace and abilities. The results demonstrate that all 12 monkeys acquired the simple discrimination (the first set), but individual differences in the ability to progress through all eight sets were apparent. A performance index (PI) that encompassed progression through the sets, errors and session duration was calculated and used to rank each monkey’s performance in relation to each other. Overall, this version of a set-shifting task results in an efficient assessment of reliable differences in cognitive flexibility in a group of monkeys.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana A Shnitko
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University Beaverton, OR, USA
| | - Daicia C Allen
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University Portland, OR, USA
| | - Steven W Gonzales
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University Beaverton, OR, USA
| | - Nicole A R Walter
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University Beaverton, OR, USA
| | - Kathleen A Grant
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science UniversityBeaverton, OR, USA; Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science UniversityPortland, OR, USA
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13
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Shnitko TA, Taylor SC, Stringfield SJ, Zandy SL, Cofresí RU, Doherty JM, Lynch WB, Boettiger CA, Gonzales RA, Robinson DL. Acute phenylalanine/tyrosine depletion of phasic dopamine in the rat brain. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2016; 233:2045-2054. [PMID: 26944052 PMCID: PMC4864125 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-016-4259-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2015] [Accepted: 02/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Dopamine plays a critical role in striatal and cortical function, and depletion of the dopamine precursors phenylalanine and tyrosine is used in humans to temporarily reduce dopamine and probe the role of dopamine in behavior. This method has been shown to alter addiction-related behaviors and cognitive functioning presumably by reducing dopamine transmission, but it is unclear what specific aspects of dopamine transmission are altered. OBJECTIVES We performed this study to confirm that administration of an amino acid mixture omitting phenylalanine and tyrosine (Phe/Tyr[-]) reduces tyrosine tissue content in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc), and to test the hypothesis that Phe/Tyr[-] administration reduces phasic dopamine release in the NAc. METHODS Rats were injected with a Phe/Tyr[-] amino acid mixture, a control amino acid mixture, or saline. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to determine the concentration of tyrosine, dopamine, or norepinephrine in tissue punches from the PFC and ventral striatum. In a separate group of rats, phasic dopamine release was measured with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry in the NAc core after injection with either the Phe/Tyr[-] mixture or the control amino acid solution. RESULTS Phe/Tyr[-] reduced tyrosine content in the PFC and NAc, but dopamine and norepinephrine tissue content were not reduced. Moreover, Phe/Tyr[-] decreased the frequency of dopamine transients, but not their amplitude, in freely moving rats. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that depletion of tyrosine via Phe/Tyr[-] decreases phasic dopamine transmission, providing insight into the mechanism by which this method modifies dopamine-dependent behaviors in human imaging studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana A. Shnitko
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Sarah C. Taylor
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Sierra J. Stringfield
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,Neurobiology Curriculum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Shannon L. Zandy
- Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Roberto U. Cofresí
- Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - James M. Doherty
- Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - William B. Lynch
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Charlotte A. Boettiger
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,Neurobiology Curriculum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Rueben A. Gonzales
- Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Donita L. Robinson
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,Neurobiology Curriculum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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14
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Abstract
Habitual actions enable efficient daily living, but they can also contribute to pathological behaviors that resistant change, such as alcoholism. Habitual behaviors are learned actions that appear goal-directed but are in fact no longer under the control of the action's outcome. Instead, these actions are triggered by stimuli, which may be exogenous or interoceptive, discrete or contextual. A major hallmark characteristic of alcoholism is continued alcohol use despite serious negative consequences. In essence, although the outcome of alcohol seeking and drinking is dramatically devalued, these actions persist, often triggered by environmental cues associated with alcohol use. Thus, alcoholism meets the definition of an initially goal-directed behavior that converts to a habit-based process. Habit and alcohol have been well investigated in rodent models, with comparatively less research in non-human primates and people. This review focuses on translational research on habit and alcohol with an emphasis on cross-species methodology and neural circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theresa H McKim
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Davie Hall, CB #3270, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Tatiana A Shnitko
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, CB #7178, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Donita L Robinson
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Psychiatry, Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, CB #7178, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Charlotte A Boettiger
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, Davie Hall, CB #3270, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
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15
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Shnitko TA, Spear LP, Robinson DL. Adolescent binge-like alcohol alters sensitivity to acute alcohol effects on dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens of adult rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2016; 233:361-71. [PMID: 26487039 PMCID: PMC4840100 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-015-4106-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2015] [Accepted: 10/08/2015] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Rationale: Early onset of alcohol drinking has been associated with alcohol abuse in adulthood. The neurobiology of this phenomenon is unclear, but mesolimbic dopamine pathways, which are dynamic during adolescence, may play a role. OBJECTIVES We investigated the impact of adolescent binge-like alcohol on phasic dopaminergic neurotransmission during adulthood. METHODS Rats received intermittent intragastric ethanol, water, or nothing during adolescence. In adulthood, electrically evoked dopamine release and subsequent uptake were measured in the nucleus accumbens core at baseline and after acute challenge of ethanol or saline. RESULTS Adolescent ethanol exposure did not alter basal measures of evoked dopamine release or uptake. Ethanol challenge dose-dependently decreased the amplitude of evoked dopamine release in rats by 30–50 % in control groups, as previously reported, but did not alter evoked release in ethanol-exposed animals. To address the mechanism by which ethanol altered dopamine signaling, the evoked signals were modeled to estimate dopamine efflux per impulse and the velocity of the dopamine transporter. Dopamine uptake was slower in all exposure groups after ethanol challenge compared to saline, while dopamine efflux per pulse of electrical stimulation was reduced by ethanol only in ethanol-naive rats. CONCLUSIONS The results demonstrate that exposure to binge levels of ethanol during adolescence blunts the effect of ethanol challenge to reduce the amplitude of phasic dopamine release in adulthood. Large dopamine transients may result in more extracellular dopamine after alcohol challenge in adolescent-exposed rats and may be one mechanism by which alcohol is more reinforcing in people who initiated drinking at an early age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana A. Shnitko
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Linda P. Spear
- Center for Development and Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
| | - Donita L. Robinson
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,Corresponding author: Donita L. Robinson, PhD, Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, CB #7178, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599–7178; ; Phone: 919–966–9178; Fax: 919–966–5679
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16
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Shnitko TA, Kennerly LC, Spear LP, Robinson DL. Ethanol reduces evoked dopamine release and slows clearance in the rat medial prefrontal cortex. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2015; 38:2969-77. [PMID: 25581652 DOI: 10.1111/acer.12587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2014] [Accepted: 09/18/2014] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ethanol (EtOH) intoxication affects cognitive performance, contributing to attentional deficits and poor decision making, which may occur via actions in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). mPFC function is modulated by the catecholamines dopamine and norepinephrine. In this study, we examine the acute effects of EtOH on electrically evoked dopamine release and clearance in the mPFC of anesthetized rats naïve to alcohol or chronically exposed to alcohol during adolescence. METHODS Dopamine release and clearance was evoked by electrical stimulation of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and measured in the mPFC of anesthetized rats with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. In Experiments 1 and 2, effects of a high dose of EtOH (4 g/kg, intraperitoneally) on dopamine neurotransmission in the mPFC of EtOH-naïve rats and rats given EtOH exposure during adolescence were investigated. Effects of cumulative dosing of EtOH (0.5 to 4 g/kg) on the dopamine release and clearance were investigated in Experiment 3. Experiment 4 studied effects of EtOH locally applied to the VTA on the dopamine neurotransmission in the mPFC of EtOH-naïve rats. RESULTS A high dose of EtOH decreased evoked dopamine release within 10 minutes of administration in EtOH-naïve rats. When tested via cumulative dosing from 0.5 to 4 g/kg, both 2 and 4 g/kg EtOH inhibited evoked dopamine release in the mPFC of EtOH-naïve rats, while 4 g/kg EtOH also slowed dopamine clearance. A similar effect on electrically evoked dopamine release in the mPFC was observed after infusion of EtOH into the VTA. Interestingly, intermittent EtOH exposure during adolescence had no effect on observed changes in mPFC dopamine release and clearance induced by acute EtOH administration. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, these data describe EtOH-induced reductions in the dynamics of VTA-evoked mPFC dopamine release and clearance, with the VTA contributing to the attenuation of evoked mPFC dopamine release induced by EtOH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana A Shnitko
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Study , University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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17
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Abstract
![]()
While
dopamine input to the dorsal striatum is well-known to be
critical for action selection, including alcohol-motivated behaviors,
it is unknown whether changes in phasic dopamine accompany these behaviors.
Long-term alcohol abuse is believed to promote alterations in the
neurocircuitry of reward learning in both ventral and dorsal striatum,
potentially through increasing dopamine release. Using fast-scan cyclic
voltammetry, we measured phasic dopamine release in the dorsal and
ventral striatum during alcoholic and nonalcoholic reward-seeking
behavior and reward-related cues in rats trained on a variable-interval
schedule of reinforcement. We observed robust phasic dopamine release
in the dorsolateral striatum after reinforced lever presses and inconsistent
dopamine release in the dorsomedial striatum. Contrary to our expectations,
alcohol did not enhance dopamine release in rats drinking alcoholic
rewards. Cue-induced dopamine release was also observed in the nucleus
accumbens core of rats drinking the reward solutions. These data demonstrate
that alcoholic and nonalcoholic reward self-administration on a variable-interval
schedule of reinforcement in rats is accompanied by phasic dopamine
release time-locked to reinforcement in the dorsolateral striatum
and the nucleus accumbens, but not the dorsomedial striatum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana A. Shnitko
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies and ‡Department
of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Donita L. Robinson
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies and ‡Department
of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
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Shnitko TA, Robinson DL. Anatomical and pharmacological characterization of catecholamine transients in the medial prefrontal cortex evoked by ventral tegmental area stimulation. Synapse 2014; 68:131-43. [PMID: 24285555 PMCID: PMC4060446 DOI: 10.1002/syn.21723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [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: 05/13/2013] [Revised: 08/30/2013] [Accepted: 10/11/2013] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Voltammetric measurements of catecholamines in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are infrequent because of lack of chemical selectivity between dopamine and norepinephrine and their overlapping anatomical inputs. Here, we examined the contribution of norepinephrine to the catecholamine release in the mPFC evoked by electrical stimulation of the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Initially, electrical stimulation was delivered in the midbrain at incremental depths of -5 to -9.4 mm from bregma while catecholamine release was monitored in the mPFC. Although catecholamine release was observed at dorsal stimulation sites that may correspond to the dorsal noradrenergic bundle (DNB, containing noradrenergic axonal projections to the mPFC), maximal release was evoked by stimulation of the VTA (the source of dopaminergic input to the mPFC). Next, VTA-evoked catecholamine release was monitored in the mPFC before and after knife incision of the DNB, and no significant changes in the evoked catecholamine signals were found. These data indicated that DNB fibers did not contribute to the VTA-evoked catecholamine release observed in the mPFC. Finally, while the D2-receptor antagonist raclopride significantly altered VTA-evoked catecholamine release, the α₂-adrenergic receptor antagonist idazoxan did not. Specifically, raclopride reduced catecholamine release in the mPFC, opposite to that observed in the striatum, indicating differential autoreceptor regulation of mesocortical and mesostriatal neurons. Together, these findings suggest that the catecholamine release in the mPFC arising from VTA stimulation was predominately dopaminergic rather than noradrenergic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana A. Shnitko
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Donita L. Robinson
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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Filatovaa EV, Egorov AY, Kutcher EO, Shnitko TA, Afanas'ev SV. The influence of social conditions on the development of ethanol preference in rats. Dokl Biol Sci 2010; 430:23-5. [PMID: 20380172 DOI: 10.1134/s0012496610010084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- E V Filatovaa
- Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Morisa Toreza 44, St. Petersburg, 194223 Russia
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Filatova EV, Egorov AI, Shnitko TA, Afanas'ev SV. [Effect of forced alcoholization on establishment of hierarchial relations in rats]. Zh Evol Biokhim Fiziol 2008; 44:443-445. [PMID: 18767563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
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Tolkunov BF, Shnitko TA, Orlov AA, Afanas'ev SV. [Coding the differently directed behavioral actions by the putamen neurons of the monkey brain]. Ross Fiziol Zh Im I M Sechenova 2008; 94:251-259. [PMID: 18507153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Spike activity related to the problem of alternative choice of behavioral actions was recorded in the putamen of the monkey brain. The patterns of low and high activities were identified. Each neuron during different behaviour actions could generate any kind of patterns. The differences between neuronal compositions with patterns of high activity, at the left and right direction of the task, were obtained during decision making about the movement direction, and also at the end of the movement. Distinctions between neuronal compositions with patterns of low activity at this time, on the contrary, diminished. The neuronal compositions with patterns of low activity were much more before the conditioned signal, when the animal did not yet know the task, and at the end of the program when the problem was already solved. The data obtained show that the putamen units control different directions of actions by a multilevel address coding, mainly through reorganizing the neuronal compositions with patterns of different level activity.
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Shnitko TA, Orlov AA, Tolkunov BF. [The dynamics of neuron activity level in the striatum of the monkey brain in relation to the realization of multistage behavior]. Ross Fiziol Zh Im I M Sechenova 2006; 92:1187-94. [PMID: 17216715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Level of the unit activity was studied in the monkey putamen during multistage behavior. Two groups of neuron activity patterns were distinguished. The first one involved patterns of low level neuron activity less exceeding the background level than the second one; the other group involved patterns of high level neuron activity exceeding the background level in the second time. These kinds of patterns were behavior-related. Patterns with low level neuron activity were recorded preferentially in relation to the trigger stimuli and reward. Patterns of high level neuron activity were recorded in relation to the decision-making, movements of arms in the left and right directions. Besides, their number rose in relation to the auditory cue reported to right realization of the task. It was established that the number of patterns of high level neuron activity rose in key moments of behavior, while the number of the patterns of low level neuron activity decreased.
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