The BDNF Val68 to Met Polymorphism Increases Compulsive Alcohol Drinking In Mice Which Is Reversed By TrkB Activation

Background

The Val66 to Met polymorphism within the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) sequence reduces activity-dependent BDNF release, and is associated with psychiatric disorders in humans. Alcoholism is one of the most prevalent psychiatric diseases. Here, we tested the hypothesis that this polymorphism increases the severity of alcohol abuse disorders.

Methods

We generated transgenic mice carrying the mouse homolog of the human Met66BDNF allele (Met68BDNF), and used alcohol-drinking paradigms in combination with viral-mediated gene delivery and pharmacology.

Results

We found that Met68BDNF mice consumed excessive amounts of alcohol and continued to drink despite negative consequences, a hallmark of addiction. Importantly, compulsive alcohol intake was reversed by overexpression of the wild-type Val68BDNF allele in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of the Met68BDNF mice, or by systemic administration of the TrkB agonist, LM22A-4.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that carrying the Met66BDNF allele increases the risk of developing uncontrolled and excessive alcohol drinking that can be reversed by directly activating the BDNF receptor, TrkB. Importantly, this work identifies a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of compulsive alcohol drinking in humans carrying the Met66BDNF allele.

Vincent Warnault, Emmanuel Darcq, Nadege Morisot, Khanhky Phamluong, Linda Wilbrecht, Stephen M. Massa, Frank M. Longo, and Dorit Ron, The BDNF Val68 to Met Polymorphism Increases Compulsive Alcohol Drinking In Mice Which Is Reversed By TrkB Activation. Biological Psychiatry

The BDNF Val68 to Met Polymorphism Increases Compulsive Alcohol Drinking In Mice Which Is Reversed By TrkB Activation2015-05-28T06:39:54+00:00

Brief cognitive training interventions in young adulthood promote long-term resilience to drug-seeking behavior

Environmental stress and deprivation increase vulnerability to substance use disorders in humans and promote drug-seeking behavior in animal models. In contrast, experiences of mastery and stability may shape neural circuitry in ways that build resilience to future challenges. Cognitive training offers a potential intervention for reducing vulnerability in the face of environmental stress or deprivation. Here, we test the hypothesis that brief cognitive training can promote long-term resilience to one measure of drug-seeking behavior, cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP), in mice. In young adulthood, mice underwent cognitive training, received rewards while exploring a training arena (i.e. yoked control), or remained in their home cages. Beginning 4 weeks after cessation of training, we conditioned mice in a CPP paradigm and then tested them weekly for CPP maintenance or daily for CPP extinction. We found that a brief 9-day cognitive training protocol reduced maintenance of cocaine CPP when compared to standard housed and yoked conditions. This beneficial effect persisted long after cessation of the training, as mice remained in their home cages for 4 weeks between training and cocaine exposure. When mice were tested for CPP on a daily extinction schedule, we found that all trained and yoked groups that left their home cages to receive rewards in a training arena showed significant extinction of CPP, while mice kept in standard housing for the same period did not extinguish CPP. These data suggest that in early adulthood, deprivation may confer vulnerability to drug-seeking behavior and that brief interventions may promote long-term resilience.

Josiah Boivin, Denise Piscopo, Linda Wilbrecht, Brief cognitive training interventions in young adulthood promote long-term resilience to drug-seeking behavior. Neuropharmacology

Brief cognitive training interventions in young adulthood promote long-term resilience to drug-seeking behavior2015-05-28T06:34:03+00:00

Adolescent maturation of inhibitory inputs onto cingulate cortex neurons is cell-type specific and TrkB dependent

The maturation of inhibitory circuits during adolescence may be tied to the onset of mental health disorders such as schizophrenia. Neurotrophin signaling likely plays a critical role in supporting inhibitory circuit development and is also implicated in psychiatric disease. Within the neocortex, subcircuits may mature at different times and show differential sensitivity to neurotrophin signaling. We measured miniature inhibitory and excitatory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs and mEPSCs) in Layer 5 cell-types in the mouse anterior cingulate (Cg) across the periadolescent period. We differentiated cell-types mainly by Thy1 YFP transgene expression and also retrobead injection labeling in the contralateral Cg and ipsilateral pons. We found that YFP− neurons and commissural projecting neurons had lower frequency of mIPSCs than neighboring YFP+ neurons or pons projecting neurons in juvenile mice (P21–25). YFP− neurons and to a lesser extent commissural projecting neurons also showed a significant increase in mIPSC amplitude during the periadolescent period (P21–25 vs. P40–50), which was not seen in YFP+ neurons or pons projecting neurons. Systemic disruption of tyrosine kinase receptor B (TrkB) signaling during P23–50 in TrkBF616A mice blocked developmental changes in mIPSC amplitude, without affecting miniature excitatory post synaptic currents (mEPSCs). Our data suggest that the maturation of inhibitory inputs onto Layer 5 pyramidal neurons is cell-type specific. These data may inform our understanding of adolescent brain development across species and aid in identifying candidate subcircuits that may show greater vulnerability in mental illness.

Vandenberg A, Piekarski DJ, Caporale N, Munoz-Cuevas FJ and Wilbrecht L (2015) Adolescent maturation of inhibitory inputs onto cingulate cortex neurons is cell-type specific and TrkB dependent. Front. Neural Circuits 9:5. doi: 10.3389/fncir.2015.00005

Adolescent maturation of inhibitory inputs onto cingulate cortex neurons is cell-type specific and TrkB dependent2015-02-17T12:10:30+00:00

Review: Between the Primate and “Reptilian” Brain: Rodent Models Demonstrate the Role of the Corticostriatal Circuits in Decision Making

Decision making can be defined as the flexible integration and transformation of information from the external world into action. Recently, the development of novel genetic tools and new behavioral paradigms has made it attractive to study behavior of all kinds in rodents. By some perspectives, rodents are not an acceptable model for the study of decision making due to their simpler behavior often attributed to their less extensive cortical development when compared to non-human primates. We argue that decision making can be approached with a common framework across species. We review insights from comparative anatomy that suggest the expansion of cortical-striatal connectivity is a key development in evolutionary increases in behavioral flexibility. We briefly review studies that establish a role for corticostriatal circuits in integrative decision making. Finally, we provide an overview of a few recent, highly complementary rodent decision making studies using genetic tools, revealing with new cellular and tempo- ral resolution how, when and where information can be integrated and compared in striatal circuits to influence choice.

Lee AM et al. Between the primate and ‘reptilian’ brain: Rodent models demonstrate the role of corticostriatal circuits in decision making. Neuroscience (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.12.042

 

Review: Between the Primate and “Reptilian” Brain: Rodent Models Demonstrate the Role of the Corticostriatal Circuits in Decision Making2015-01-31T21:27:19+00:00

Identification of a Brainstem Circuit Regulating Visual Cortical State in Parallel with Locomotion

Sensory processing is dependent upon behavioral state. In mice, locomotion is accompanied by changes in cortical state and enhanced visual re- sponses. Although recent studies have begun to elucidate intrinsic cortical mechanisms underlying this effect, the neural circuits that initially couple locomotion to cortical processing are unknown. The mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) has been shown to be capable of initiating running and is associated with the ascending reticular activating system. Here, we find that optogenetic stimulation of the MLR in awake, head-fixed mice can induce both locomotion and increases in the gain of cortical responses. MLR stimulation below the threshold for overt movement similarly changed cortical pro- cessing, revealing that MLR’s effects on cortex are dissociable from locomotion. Likewise, stimulation of MLR projections to the basal forebrain also enhanced cortical responses, suggesting a pathway linking the MLR to cortex. These studies demon- strate that the MLR regulates cortical state in parallel with locomotion.

A. Moses Lee, Jennifer L. Hoy, Antonello Bonci, Linda Wilbrecht, Michael P. Stryker, and Cristopher M. Niell, Identification of a Brainstem Circuit Regulating Visual Cortical State in Parallel with Locomotion, Neuron 83, 455–466, July 16, 2014, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2014.06.031

Identification of a Brainstem Circuit Regulating Visual Cortical State in Parallel with Locomotion2014-07-16T21:45:00+00:00

Cocaine-induced structural plasticity in frontal cortex correlates with conditioned place preference

Contextual cues associated with previous drug exposure can trigger drug craving and seeking, and form a substantial obstacle in substance use recovery. Using in vivo imaging in mice, we found that cocaine administration induced a rapid increase in the formation and accumulation of new dendritic spines, and that measures of new persistent spine gain correlated with cocaine conditioned place preference. Our data suggest that new persistent spine formation in the frontal cortex may be involved in stimulant-related learning driving appetitive behavior.

Francisco Javier Muñoz-Cuevas, Jegath Athilingam, Denise Piscopo, Linda Wilbrecht, Cocaine-induced structural plasticity in frontal cortex correlates with conditioned place preference, Nature Neuroscience (2013) doi:10.1038/nn.3498 (Full Text)

Cocaine-induced structural plasticity in frontal cortex correlates with conditioned place preference2013-08-25T16:33:52+00:00

Transient stimulation of distinct subpopulations of striatal neurons mimics changes in action value

In changing environments, animals must adaptively select actions to achieve their goals. In tasks involving goal-directed action selection, striatal neural activity has been shown to represent the value of competing actions. Striatal representations of action value could potentially bias responses toward actions of higher value. However, no study to date has demonstrated the direct effect of distinct striatal pathways in goal-directed action selection. We found that transient optogenetic stimulation of dorsal striatal dopamine D1 and D2 receptor–expressing neurons during decision-making in mice introduced opposing biases in the distribution of choices. The effect of stimulation on choice was dependent on recent reward history and mimicked an additive change in the action value. Although stimulation before and during movement initiation produced a robust bias in choice behavior, this bias was substantially diminished when stimulation was delayed after response initiation. Together, our data suggest that striatal activity is involved in goal-directed action selection.

Lung-Hao Tai*, A Moses Lee*, Nora Benavidez, Antonello Bonci, Linda Wilbrecht, Transient stimulation of distinct subpopulations of striatal neurons mimics changes in action value Nature Neuroscience 15, 1281–1289, (2012) doi:10.1038/nn.3188 (Full Text)

Transient stimulation of distinct subpopulations of striatal neurons mimics changes in action value2012-08-19T16:51:22+00:00

Juvenile mice show greater flexibility in multiple choice reversal learning than adults

We hypothesized that decision-making strategies in juvenile animals, rather than being immature, are optimized to navigate the uncertainty and instability likely to be encountered in the environment at the time of the animal’s transition to independence. We tested juvenile and young adult mice on discrimination and reversal of a 4-choice and 2-choice odor-based foraging task. Juvenile mice (P26–27) learned a 4-choice discrimination and reversal faster than adults (P60–70), making fewer perseverative and distraction errors. Juvenile mice had shorter choice latencies and more focused search strategies. In both ages, performance of the task was significantly impaired by a lesion of the dorsomedial frontal cortex. Our data show that the frontal cortex can support highly flexible behavior in juvenile mice at a time coincident with weaning and first independence. The unexpected developmental decline in flexibility of behavior one month later suggests that frontal cortex based executive function may not inevitably become more flexible with age, but rather may be developmentally tuned to optimize exploratory and exploitative behavior for each life stage.

Johnson C and Wilbrecht L. 2011. Juvenile mice show greater flexibility in multiple choice reversal learning than adults. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2011 Oct;1(4):540-51. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2011.05.008 (Full Text)

Juvenile mice show greater flexibility in multiple choice reversal learning than adults2011-10-01T11:35:21+00:00

Structural Plasticity Underlies Experience-Dependent Functional Plasticity of Cortical Circuits

The stabilization of new spines in the barrel cortex is enhanced after whisker trimming, but its relationship to experience-dependent plasticity is unclear. Here we show that in wild-type mice, whisker potentiation and spine stabilization are most pronounced for layer 5 neurons at the border between spared and deprived barrel columns. In homozygote αCaMKII-T286A mice, which lack experience-dependent potentiation of responses to spared whiskers, there is no increase in new spine stabilization at the border between barrel columns after whisker trimming. Our data provide a causal link between new spine synapses and plasticity of adult cortical circuits and suggest that αCaMKII autophosphorylation plays a role in the stabilization but not formation of new spines.

Wilbrecht L, Holtmaat A, Wright N, Fox K, Svoboda K. 2010. Structural plasticity supports experience-dependent functional plasticity of cortical circuits. The Journal of Neuroscience, 7 April 2010, 30(14): 4927-4932; doi: 10.1523/​JNEUROSCI.6403-09.2010 (Full Text)

Structural Plasticity Underlies Experience-Dependent Functional Plasticity of Cortical Circuits2010-04-07T14:17:17+00:00

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