Activation of Basolateral Amygdala to Nucleus Accumbens Projection Neurons Attenuates Chronic Corticosterone-Induced Behavioral Deficits in Male Mice

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

卷:15

Joseph Floeder¹  Karina Stech¹  Jay Lee¹  Benjamin A. Samuels¹  Prachi Srivastava¹  Andrew Dieterich¹  David J. Barker¹ 

[1] Department of Psychology, Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States;

[2] Neuroscience Graduate Program, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States;

关键词: basolateral amygdala;    nucleus accumbens;    instrumental behavior;    depression models;    chronic stress;    reward;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnbeh.2021.643272

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The basolateral amygdala (BLA) is critical for reward behaviors via a projection to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Specifically, BLA-NAc projections are involved in reinforcement learning, reward-seeking, sustained instrumental responding, and risk behaviors. However, it remains unclear whether chronic stress interacts with BLA-NAc projection neurons to result in maladaptive behaviors. Here we take a chemogenetic, projection-specific approach to clarify how NAc-projecting BLA neurons affect avoidance, reward, and feeding behaviors in male mice. Then, we examine whether chemogenetic activation of NAc-projecting BLA neurons attenuates the maladaptive effects of chronic corticosterone (CORT) administration on these behaviors. CORT mimics the behavioral and neural effects of chronic stress exposure. We found a nuanced role of BLA-NAc neurons in mediating reward behaviors. Surprisingly, activation of BLA-NAc projections rescues CORT-induced deficits in the novelty suppressed feeding, a behavior typically associated with avoidance. Activation of BLA-NAc neurons also increases instrumental reward-seeking without affecting free-feeding in chronic CORT mice. Taken together, these data suggest that NAc-projecting BLA neurons are involved in chronic CORT-induced maladaptive reward and motivation behaviors.

【 授权许可】

Unknown