scholarly journals Human extinction learning is accelerated by an angiotensin antagonist via ventromedial prefrontal cortex and its connections with basolateral amygdala

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Zhou ◽  
Yayuan Geng ◽  
Fei Xin ◽  
Jialin Li ◽  
Pan Feng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Extinction Learning ◽  
Multivoxel Pattern Analysis ◽  
Mediation Analyses ◽  
Link Type

AbstractRecent translational research suggests a role of the renin-angiotensin (RA) system in threat extinction and underlying neuroplasticity; however, whether and how pharmacological modulation of the RA system influences physiological and neural manifestations of threat during extinction learning in humans is unclear. Here we report that pre-extinction administration of losartan, an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist, accelerated attenuation of physiological threat expression. During early extinction, losartan enhanced threat-signal specific ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) activation and its coupling with the basolateral amygdala. Multivoxel pattern analysis revealed that losartan reduced whole brain, particularly vmPFC, threat expression and voxel-wise mediation analyses further confirmed that losartan-accelerated extinction crucially involved vmPFC processing. Overall the results provide initial evidence for a critical role of the RA system in extinction learning in humans and suggest that adjunct losartan administration may facilitate the efficacy of extinction-based therapies.ClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier: NCT03396523

Alcohol Dependence Conceptualized as a Stress Disorder

2019 ◽  
pp. 198-220
Author(s):  
Leandro F. Vendruscolo ◽  
George F. Koob
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Dependence ◽  
Glucocorticoid Receptors ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Brain Circuits ◽  
Negative Emotional State ◽  
Alcohol Alcohol

Alcohol use disorder is a chronically relapsing disorder that involves (1) compulsivity to seek and take alcohol, (2) difficulty in limiting alcohol intake, and (3) emergence of a negative emotional state (e.g., dysphoria, anxiety, irritability) in the absence of alcohol. Alcohol addiction encompasses a three-stage cycle that becomes more intense as alcohol use progresses: binge/intoxication, withdrawal/negative affect, and preoccupation/anticipation. These stages engage neuroadaptations in brain circuits that involve the basal ganglia (reward hypofunction), extended amygdala (stress sensitization), and prefrontal cortex (executive function disorder). This chapter discusses key neuroadaptations in the hypothalamic and extrahypothalamic stress systems and the critical role of glucocorticoid receptors. These neuroadaptations contribute to negative emotional states that powerfully drive compulsive alcohol drinking and seeking. These changes in association with a disruption of prefrontal cortex function that lead to cognitive deficits and poor decision making contribute to the chronic relapsing nature of alcohol dependence.

scholarly journals Dissociable roles of cortical excitation-inhibition balance during patch-leaving versus value-guided decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca F. Kaiser ◽  
Theo O. J. Gruendler ◽  
Oliver Speck ◽  
Lennart Luettgau ◽  
Gerhard Jocham
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Mutual Inhibition ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Cortical Excitation ◽  
The Cost

AbstractIn a dynamic world, it is essential to decide when to leave an exploited resource. Such patch-leaving decisions involve balancing the cost of moving against the gain expected from the alternative patch. This contrasts with value-guided decisions that typically involve maximizing reward by selecting the current best option. Patterns of neuronal activity pertaining to patch-leaving decisions have been reported in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), whereas competition via mutual inhibition in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is thought to underlie value-guided choice. Here, we show that the balance between cortical excitation and inhibition (E/I balance), measured by the ratio of GABA and glutamate concentrations, plays a dissociable role for the two kinds of decisions. Patch-leaving decision behaviour relates to E/I balance in dACC. In contrast, value-guided decision-making relates to E/I balance in vmPFC. These results support mechanistic accounts of value-guided choice and provide evidence for a role of dACC E/I balance in patch-leaving decisions.

The Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Moderating Neural Representations of Self and Other in Primates

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaki Isoda
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
The Social

As a frontal node in the primate social brain, the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) plays a critical role in coordinating one's own behavior with respect to that of others. Current literature demonstrates that single neurons in the MPFC encode behavior-related variables such as intentions, actions, and rewards, specifically for self and other, and that the MPFC comes into play when reflecting upon oneself and others. The social moderator account of MPFC function can explain maladaptive social cognition in people with autism spectrum disorder, which tips the balance in favor of self-centered perspectives rather than taking into consideration the perspective of others. Several strands of evidence suggest a hypothesis that the MPFC represents different other mental models, depending on the context at hand, to better predict others’ emotions and behaviors. This hypothesis also accounts for aberrant MPFC activity in autistic individuals while they are mentalizing others. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Volume 44 is July 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

The role of ventromedial prefrontal cortex and temporo-parietal junction in third-party punishment behavior

NeuroImage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 200 ◽  
pp. 501-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuele Lo Gerfo ◽  
Alessia Gallucci ◽  
Rosalba Morese ◽  
Alessandra Vergallito ◽  
Stefania Ottone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Third Party

scholarly journals The role of ventromedial prefrontal cortex in reward valuation and future thinking during intertemporal choice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Ciaramelli ◽  
Flavia De Luca ◽  
Donna Kwan ◽  
Jenkin N. Y. Mok ◽  
Francesca Bianconi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Reward Magnitude ◽  
Intertemporal Choice ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Long Term Outcomes ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Reward Valuation

Intertemporal choices require trade-offs between short-term and long-term outcomes. Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) damage causes steep discounting of future rewards (delay discounting; DD) and impoverished episodic future thinking (EFT). The role of vmPFC in reward valuation, EFT, and their interaction during intertemporal choice is still unclear. Here, twelve patients with lesions to vmPFC and forty-one healthy controls chose between smallerimmediate and larger-delayed rewards while we manipulated reward magnitude and the availability of EFT cues. In the EFT condition, participants imagined personal events to occur at the delays associated with the larger-delayed rewards. We found that DD was steeper in vmPFC patients compared to controls, and not modulated by reward magnitude. However, EFT cues downregulated DD in vmPFC patients as well as controls. These findings indicate that vmPFC integrity is critical for the valuation of (future) rewards, but not to instill EFT in intertemporal choice.

scholarly journals Reducing future fears by suppressing the brain mechanisms underlying episodic simulation

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (52) ◽  
pp. E8492-E8501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland G. Benoit ◽  
Daniel J. Davies ◽  
Michael C. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Episodic Simulation ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Future Events ◽  
The Right ◽  
Development Of Anxiety ◽  
The Brain

Imagining future events conveys adaptive benefits, yet recurrent simulations of feared situations may help to maintain anxiety. In two studies, we tested the hypothesis that people can attenuate future fears by suppressing anticipatory simulations of dreaded events. Participants repeatedly imagined upsetting episodes that they feared might happen to them and suppressed imaginings of other such events. Suppressing imagination engaged the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which modulated activation in the hippocampus and in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Consistent with the role of the vmPFC in providing access to details that are typical for an event, stronger inhibition of this region was associated with greater forgetting of such details. Suppression further hindered participants’ ability to later freely envision suppressed episodes. Critically, it also reduced feelings of apprehensiveness about the feared scenario, and individuals who were particularly successful at down-regulating fears were also less trait-anxious. Attenuating apprehensiveness by suppressing simulations of feared events may thus be an effective coping strategy, suggesting that a deficiency in this mechanism could contribute to the development of anxiety.

scholarly journals Critical role of cholesterol in bovine herpesvirus type 1 infection of MDBK cells

2010 ◽  
Vol 144 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 51-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liqian Zhu ◽  
Xiuyan Ding ◽  
Jie Tao ◽  
Jianye Wang ◽  
Xin Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Bovine Herpesvirus ◽  
Herpesvirus Type ◽  
Mdbk Cells ◽  
Bovine Herpesvirus Type 1
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