Akiko Shimamoto

Escalated or Suppressed Cocaine Reward, Tegmental BDNF, and Accumbal Dopamine Caused by Episodic versus Continuous Social Stress in Rats

The neural link between ostensibly aversive stress experiences and intensely rewarding drug taking remains to be delineated. Epidemiological data associate stress and the abuse of various drugs, and experimental data identify the conditions that determine how episodic social stress intensifies the motivation for cocaine and the actual self-administration of cocaine. Two types of social stress have been the focus of experimental study in Long–Evans rats, since they engender divergent changes in drug- or sugar-rewarded behavior and in neuroadaptation. Episodic social defeat stress consists of four brief confrontations between the experimental rat and an aggressive resident rat of the Long–Evans strain over the course of 10 d. Subordination stress involves the continuous exposure to an aggressive resident for 5 weeks, while living in a protective cage within the residents home cage with brief daily confrontations. These stress experiences result in (1) increased intravenous cocaine self-administration under a fixed ratio schedule with prolonged binge-like access in episodically defeated intruder rats but suppressed cocaine intake by continuously subordinate rats; (2) deteriorated sugar preference and intake and decreased exploratory behavior in subordinate, but not intermittently defeated, rats; and (3) a sensitized dopamine (DA) response in the nucleus accumbens via in vivo microdialysis and increased tegmental brain-derived neural growth factor (BDNF) in episodically defeated rats, whereas the continuously subordinate rats show suppression of the DA and BDNF responses. These divergent neuroadaptations to social stress may represent the substrates for the intensification of cocaine “bingeing” relative to the anhedonia-like deterioration of reward processes during subordination stress.

GABAB receptor modulation of serotonin neurons in the dorsal raphé nucleus and escalation of aggression in mice

The serotonin (5-HT) system in the brain has been studied more than any other neurotransmitter for its role in the neurobiological basis of aggression. However, which mechanisms modulate the 5-HT system to promote escalated aggression is not clear. We here explore the role of GABAergic modulation in the raphé nuclei, from which most 5-HT in the forebrain originates, on escalated aggression in male mice. Pharmacological activation of GABAB, but not GABAA, receptors in the dorsal raphé nucleus (DRN) escalated aggressive behaviors. In contrast, GABA agonists did not escalate aggressive behaviors after microinjection into the median raphé nucleus. The aggression-heightening effect of the GABAB agonist baclofen depended on the activation of 5-HT neurons in the DRN because it was blocked by coadministration of the 5-HT1A agonist 8-OH-DPAT [((±)-8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin) hydrobromide] (DPAT), which acts on autoreceptors and inhibits 5-HT neural activity. In vivo microdialysis showed that GABAB activation in the DRN increased extracellular 5-HT level in the medial prefrontal cortex. This may be attributable to an indirect action via presynaptic GABAB receptors. The presynaptic GABAB receptors suppress Ca2+ channel activity and inhibit neurotransmission, and the coadministration of N-type Ca2+ channel blocker facilitated the effect of baclofen. These findings suggest that the indirect disinhibition of 5-HT neuron activity by presynaptic GABAB receptors on non-5-HT neurons in the DRN is one of the neurobiological mechanisms of escalated aggression.

Social stress and CRF-dopamine interactions in the VTA: role in long-term escalation of cocaine self-administration.

The nature of neuroadaptations in the genesis of escalated cocaine taking remains a topic of considerable interest. Intermittent social defeat stress induces both locomotor and dopaminergic cross-sensitization to cocaine, as well as escalated cocaine self-administration. The current study examines the role of corticotropin releasing factor receptor subtypes 1 and 2 (CRFR1, CRFR2) within the ventral tegmental area (VTA) during social defeat stress. This study investigated whether injecting either a CRFR1 or CRFR2 antagonist directly into the VTA before each social defeat would prevent the development of later (1) locomotor sensitization, (2) dopaminergic sensitization, and (3) escalated cocaine self-administration in rats. CRFR1 antagonist CP376395 (50 or 500 ng/side), CRFR2 antagonist Astressin2-B (100 or 1000 ng/side), or vehicle (aCSF) was microinjected into the VTA 20 min before social defeat stress (or handling) on days 1, 4, 7, and 10. Ten days later, rats were injected with cocaine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) and assessed for either locomotor sensitization, measured by walking activity, or dopaminergic sensitization, measured by extracellular dopamine (DA) in the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) through in vivo microdialysis. Locomotor sensitization testing was followed by intravenous cocaine self-administration. Intra-VTA antagonism of CRFR1, but not CRFR2, inhibited the induction of locomotor cross-sensitization to cocaine, whereas both prevented dopaminergic cross-sensitization and escalated cocaine self-administration during a 24 h “binge.” This may suggest dissociation between locomotor sensitization and cocaine taking. These data also suggest that interactions between CRF and VTA DA neurons projecting to the NAcSh are essential for the development of dopaminergic cross-sensitization to cocaine.

Dissociation of μ-opioid receptor and CRF-R1 antagonist effects on escalated ethanol consumption and mPFC serotonin in C57BL/6J mice

Both the opioid antagonist naltrexone and corticotropin‐releasing factor type‐1 receptor (CRF‐R1) antagonists have been investigated for the treatment of alcoholism. The current study examines the combination of naltrexone and CP154526 to reduce intermittent access ethanol drinking [intermittent access to alcohol (IAA)] in C57BL/6J male mice, and if these compounds reduce drinking via serotonergic mechanisms in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN). Systemic injections and chronic intracerebroventricular infusions of naltrexone, CP154526 or CP376395 transiently decreased IAA drinking. Immunohistochemistry revealed CRF‐R1 or μ‐opioid receptor immunoreactivity was co‐localized in tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH)‐immunoreactive neurons as well as non‐TPH neurons in the DRN. Mice with a history of IAA or continuous access to alcohol were microinjected with artificial cerebral spinal fluid, naltrexone, CP154526 or the combination into the DRN or the median raphe nucleus (MRN). Either intra‐DRN naltrexone or CP154526 reduced IAA in the initial 2 hours of fluid access, but the combination did not additively suppress IAA, suggesting a common mechanism via which these two compounds affect intermittent drinking. These alcohol‐reducing effects were localized to the DRN of IAA drinkers, as intra‐MRN injections only significantly suppressed water drinking, and continuous access drinkers were not affected by CRF‐R1 antagonism. Extracellular serotonin was measured in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) using in vivo microdialysis after intra‐DRN microinjections in another group of mice. Intra‐DRN CP154526 increased serotonin impulse flow to the mPFC while naltrexone did not. This suggests the mPFC may not be an essential location to intermittent drinking, as evidenced by different effects on serotonin signaling to the forebrain yet similar behavioral findings.

Prevention of Alcohol-Heightened Aggression by CRF-R1 Antagonists in Mice: Critical Role for DRN-PFC Serotonin Pathway

Alcohol can escalate aggressive behavior in a significant subgroup of rodents, humans, and nonhuman primates. The present study investigated whether blockade of corticotropin-releasing factor receptor type 1 (CRF-R1) could prevent the emergence of alcohol-heightened aggression in mice. The serotonin (5-HT) pathway from the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) by CRF-R1 was investigated as a possible target for the prevention of alcohol-heightened aggressive behavior. Male CFW mice that reliably exhibited aggressive behaviors after consuming 1 g/kg of alcohol received systemic or intra-DRN administration of CRF-R1 antagonists, CP-154,526 or MTIP, before a confrontation with a male conspecific. Blockade of DRN CRF-R1 receptors with both antagonists significantly reduced only alcohol-heightened aggression, whereas systemic administration reduced both alcohol-heightened and species-typical aggression. Next, a 5-HT1A agonist, 8-OH-DPAT, was coadministered with CP-154,526 into the DRN to temporarily disrupt 5-HT activity. This manipulation abolished the antiaggressive effects of intra-DRN CP-154,526. In the mPFC, in vivo microdialysis revealed that extracellular 5-HT levels were increased in mice that consumed alcohol and were then injected with CP-154,526, both systemically or intra-DRN. Neither alcohol nor CP-154,526 alone affected 5-HT release in the mPFC. The present results suggest the DRN as a critical site for CRF-R1 to modulate alcohol-heightened aggression via action on the serotonergic DRN–PFC pathway.

GABAB receptor modulation of serotonin neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus escalates aggression in mice

and other: mirror neurons fire regardless of the agent of action. Here we report that the medial frontal cortex has a clearly distinct neural code for self and other actions in addition to a mirror-like property. We trained pairs of monkeys on a task that required them to monitor each other?s action for optimal behavioral planning. We recorded and analyzed neuronal activity in the medial frontal cortex, including the pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which has been suggested to participate in social cognition. We found a population of neurons that discharged selectively for the action of one?s own (self type) and another population for the action of one?s partner (partner type). Yet other neurons fired nonselectively with respect to the agent of action (dual type). The pre-SMA and its rostrally adjoining region contained significantly larger proportion of partner-type neurons than did the ACC. Such agent-related activity was not accounted for by a difference in gaze direction or by an idiosyncratic pattern of muscular activation. We further found a significant paucity of the partner type and dual type in a monkey exhibiting difficulty in exclusively monitoring the action of other. These findings suggest that the medial frontal cortex participates in differentiating the agent of action and in monitoring the behavior of others.