Andrea Mendez-Torrijos, Mageshwar Selvakumar, Silke Kreitz, Julie Roesch, Arnd Dörfler, Georgios Paslakis, Johannes Krehbiel, Sabine Steins-Löber, Oliver Kratz, Stefanie Horndasch, Andreas Hess
{"title":"Impaired maturation of resting-state connectivity in anorexia nervosa from adolescence to adulthood: differential mechanisms of consummatory vs. anticipatory responses through a symptom provocation paradigm.","authors":"Andrea Mendez-Torrijos, Mageshwar Selvakumar, Silke Kreitz, Julie Roesch, Arnd Dörfler, Georgios Paslakis, Johannes Krehbiel, Sabine Steins-Löber, Oliver Kratz, Stefanie Horndasch, Andreas Hess","doi":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1451691","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1451691","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study examined resting-state (RS) connectivity in adolescent and adult patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) using symptom provocation paradigms. Differential food reward mechanisms were investigated through separate assessments of responses to food images and low-caloric/high-caloric food consumption. Thirteen young (≤ 21 years) and seventeen adult (> 21 years) patients with AN and age-matched controls underwent two stimulus-driven fMRI sessions involving RS scans before and after the presentation of food-related stimuli and food consumption. Graph theory and machine learning were used for analyzing the fMRI and clinical data. Healthy controls (HCs) showed widespread developmental changes, while young participants with AN exhibited cerebellum differences for high-calorie food. Young individuals with AN displayed increased connectivity during the consumption of potato chips compared to zucchini, with no differences in adults with AN. Multiparametric machine learning accurately distinguished young individuals with AN from healthy controls based on RS connectivity following food visual stimulation (\"anticipatory\") and consumption (\"consummatory\"). This study highlights the differential food reward mechanisms and minimal developmental changes in RS connectivity from youth to adulthood in individuals with AN compared to healthy controls. Young individuals with AN demonstrated heightened reactivity to high-caloric foods, while adults showed decreased responsiveness, potentially due to desensitization. These findings shed light on aberrant eating behaviors in individuals with AN and contribute to our understanding of the chronicity of the disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":12368,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11541234/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142603919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Milena Letícia Martins, Emerson Feio Pinheiro, Geovanna Ayami Saito, Caroline Araújo Costa De Lima, Luana Ketlen Reis Leão, Evander de Jesus Oliveira Batista, Adelaide da Conceição Fonseca Passos, Amauri Gouveia, Karen Renata Herculano Matos Oliveira, Anderson Manoel Herculano
{"title":"Distinct acute stressors produce different intensity of anxiety-like behavior and differential glutamate release in zebrafish brain.","authors":"Milena Letícia Martins, Emerson Feio Pinheiro, Geovanna Ayami Saito, Caroline Araújo Costa De Lima, Luana Ketlen Reis Leão, Evander de Jesus Oliveira Batista, Adelaide da Conceição Fonseca Passos, Amauri Gouveia, Karen Renata Herculano Matos Oliveira, Anderson Manoel Herculano","doi":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1464992","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1464992","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Anxiety disorder is one of the most well-characterized behavioral disorders in individuals subjected to acute or chronic stress. However, few studies have demonstrated how different types of stressors can modulate the neurochemical alterations involved in the generation of anxiety. In this study, we hypothesize that subjects exposed to different aversive stimuli (mechanical, chemical, and spatial restriction) present varied intensities of anxiety-like responses associated with distinct patterns of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate release in the brain. Adult zebrafish, <i>Danio rerio</i> (<i>n</i> = 60), were randomly divided into four experimental groups; control, acute restraint stress (ARS), conspecific alarm substance (CAS), and chasing with net (CN). After the stress protocols, the animals were individually transferred to a novel tank diving test for behavioral analysis. Subsequently, their brains were collected and subjected to GABA and glutamate release assay for quantification by HPLC. Our behavioral results showed that all aversive stimuli were capable of inducing anxiety-like behavior. However, the impact of anxiogenic behavior was more prominent in the CN and CAS groups when compared to ARS. This phenomenon was evident in all analyzed behavioral parameters (time on top, freezing, mean speed, maximum speed, and erratic swimming). Our data also showed that all aversive stimuli significantly decreased GABA release compared to the control group. Only animals exposed to CN and CAS presented an increase in extracellular glutamate levels. Different acute stressors induced different levels of anxiety-like behavior in zebrafish as well as specific alterations in GABAergic and glutamatergic release in the brain. These results demonstrate the complexity of anxiety disorders, highlighting that both behavioral and neurochemical responses are highly context-dependent.</p>","PeriodicalId":12368,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11537853/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142590167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Magdalena Miranda, Maria Carla Navas, Maria Belen Zanoni Saad, Dinka Piromalli Girado, Noelia Weisstaub, Pedro Bekinschtein
{"title":"Environmental enrichment in middle age rats improves spatial and object memory discrimination deficits.","authors":"Magdalena Miranda, Maria Carla Navas, Maria Belen Zanoni Saad, Dinka Piromalli Girado, Noelia Weisstaub, Pedro Bekinschtein","doi":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1478656","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1478656","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Changes in memory performance are one of the main symptoms of normal aging. The storage of similar experiences as different memories (ie. behavioral pattern separation), becomes less efficient as aging progresses. Studies have focused on hippocampus dependent spatial memories and their role in the aging related deficits in behavioral pattern separation (BPS) by targeting high similarity interference conditions. However, parahippocampal cortices such as the perirhinal cortex are also particularly vulnerable to aging. Middle age is thought to be the stage where mild mnemonic deficits begin to emerge. Therefore, a better understanding of the timing of the spatial and object domain memory impairment could shed light over how plasticity changes in the parahipocampal-hippocampal system affects mnemonic function in early aging. In the present work, we compared the performance of young and middle-aged rats in both spatial (spontaneous location recognition) and non-spatial (spontaneous object recognition) behavioral pattern separation tasks to understand the comparative progression of these deficits from early stages of aging. Moreover, we explored the impact of environmental enrichment (EE) as an intervention with important translational value. Although a bulk of studies have examined the contribution of EE for preventing age related memory decline in diverse cognitive domains, there is limited knowledge of how this intervention could specifically impact on BPS function in middle-aged animals. Here we evaluate the effects of EE as modulator of BPS, and its ability to revert the deficits caused by normal aging at early stages. We reveal a domain-dependent impairment in behavioral pattern separation in middle-aged rats, with spatial memories affected independently of the similarity of the experiences and object memories only affected when the stimuli are similar, an effect that could be linked to the higher interference seen in this group. Moreover, we found that EE significantly enhanced behavioral performance in middle-aged rats in the spatial and object domain, and this improvement is specific of the high similarity load condition. In conclusion, these results suggest that memory is differentially affected by aging in the object and spatial domains, but that BPS function is responsive to an EE intervention in a multidomain manner.</p>","PeriodicalId":12368,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11528545/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142567519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The mediating effect of problem-focused coping on the relationship between emotional clarity and mental health among older adults.","authors":"Myung Hyun Cho, Kee-Hong Choi","doi":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1465254","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1465254","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Individuals who can recognize emotions well are better able to identify and accept their feelings and manage them. This study examined the mediation of problem-focused coping in the pathway through which emotional clarity predicts higher life satisfaction and lower depression in older adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In total, 150 older adults (75 male and 75 female, aged 60-69 years, with a mean of 64.53 [SD = 2.49]) participated in a face-to-face survey, answering questions on emotional clarity, problem-focused coping, life satisfaction, and depression.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Emotional clarity was associated with higher life satisfaction and lower depression in older adults. People who were aware of their emotions well were in better emotional condition. Mediation analysis revealed that problem-focused coping mediated the positive relationship between emotional clarity and life satisfaction and the negative relationship between emotional clarity and depression. Older adults who understand their own emotions tend to deal with emotional events in a problem-focused manner, leading to high life satisfaction and low depression.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study identifies cognitive conditions for increasing life satisfaction and preventing depression in later life and offers suggestions for personal and social efforts to maintain mental health.</p>","PeriodicalId":12368,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11518735/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142544668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Voluntary wheel-running exercise improvement of anxiety or depressive symptoms in different models of depression.","authors":"Haodi Shen, Xuemei Li, Junyao Zhai, Xin Zhang","doi":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1435891","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1435891","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The effects of voluntary wheel-running exercise in different rodent models of depression remain unclear, and further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms underlying these effects. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to evaluate the currently available findings on whether voluntary wheel-running exercise can alleviate depressive symptoms in five different rodent models of depression. The findings of the comprehensive meta-analysis imply that engaging in voluntary wheel-running exercise has a beneficial effect on alleviating depressive symptoms in rodent models that simulate depression. While further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms and limitations of this intervention future research should aim to conduct larger. Well-designed studies that use standardized protocols and outcome measures. This would help to reduce heterogeneity between studies and improve the overall quality of the evidence base. Additionally, studies should explore the potential mechanisms of action of voluntary wheel-running exercise in treating depression, such as changes in neurotransmitter levels, neuroplasticity, and inflammation. The results suggest that it may hold promise as an adjunctive therapy for depression.</p>","PeriodicalId":12368,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11518726/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142544669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Auditory stimuli suppress contextual fear responses in safety learning independent of a possible safety meaning.","authors":"Elena Mombelli, Denys Osypenko, Shriya Palchaudhuri, Christos Sourmpis, Johanni Brea, Olexiy Kochubey, Ralf Schneggenburger","doi":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1415047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1415047","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Safety learning allows the identification of non-threatening situations, a learning process instrumental for survival and psychic health. In contrast to fear learning, in which a sensory cue (conditioned stimulus, CS) is temporally linked to a mildly aversive stimulus (US), safety learning is studied by presenting the CS and US in an explicitly unpaired fashion. This leads to conditioned inhibition of fear responses, in which sensory cues can acquire a safety meaning (CS-). In one variant of safety learning, an auditory CS- was shown to reduce contextual fear responses during recall, as measured by freezing of mice. Here, we performed control experiments to test whether auditory stimuli might interfere with freezing by mechanisms other than safety learning, a phenomenon also called external inhibition. Surprisingly, when auditory stimulation was omitted during training (US-only controls), such stimuli still significantly suppressed contextual freezing during recall, indistinguishable from the reduction of freezing after regular safety training. The degree of this external inhibition was positively correlated with the levels of contextual freezing preceding the auditory stimulation. Correspondingly, in fear learning protocols which employ a new context during recall and therefore induce lower contextual freezing, auditory stimuli did not induce significant external inhibition. These experiments show that in safety learning protocols that employ contextual freezing, the freezing reduction caused by auditory stimuli during recall is dominated by external inhibition, rather than by learned safety. Thus, in safety learning experiments extensive controls should be performed to rule out possible intrinsic effects of sensory cues on freezing behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":12368,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11499156/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142497829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aldrich Chan, Jason Ouyang, Kristina Nguyen, Aaliyah Jones, Sophia Basso, Ryan Karasik
{"title":"Traumatic brain injuries: a neuropsychological review.","authors":"Aldrich Chan, Jason Ouyang, Kristina Nguyen, Aaliyah Jones, Sophia Basso, Ryan Karasik","doi":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1326115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1326115","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The best predictor of functional outcome in victims of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a neuropsychological evaluation. An exponential growth of research into TBI has focused on diagnosis and treatment. Extant literature lacks a comprehensive neuropsychological review that is simultaneously scholarly and practical. In response, our group included, and went beyond a general overview of TBI's, which commonly include definition, types, severity, and pathophysiology. We incorporate reasons behind the use of particular neuroimaging techniques, as well as the most recent findings on common neuropsychological assessments conducted in TBI cases, and their relationship to outcome. In addition, we include tables outlining estimated recovery trajectories of different age groups, their risk factors and we encompass phenomenological studies, further covering the range of existing-promising tools for cognitive rehabilitation/remediation purposes. Finally, we highlight gaps in current research and directions that would be beneficial to pursue.</p>","PeriodicalId":12368,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11497466/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142497830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How the arts heal: a review of the neural mechanisms behind the therapeutic effects of creative arts on mental and physical health.","authors":"Kelly Sarah Barnett, Fabian Vasiu","doi":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1422361","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1422361","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The creative arts have long been known for their therapeutic potential. These modalities, which include dance, painting, and music, among others, appear to be effective in enhancing emotional expression and alleviating adverse physiological and psychological effects. Engagement in creative arts can be pursued as a personal hobby, in a classroom setting, or through a formal therapeutic intervention with a qualified therapist. Engagement can be active (i.e., creating) or passive (i.e., viewing, listening). Regardless of the modality and manner of engagement, the mechanisms explaining the therapeutic efficacy of creative arts remain poorly understood.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aims to systematically review research investigating the neurological mechanisms activated during active or passive engagement in creative arts, with a specific emphasis on the roles of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the amygdala in emotional regulation (ER) and creative behaviors. The review seeks to provide preliminary evidence for the possible existence of common neural mechanisms underlying both phenomena, which could inform the development of targeted therapeutic interventions leveraging creative arts for ER.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A systematic review was conducted following the Cochrane Collaboration guideline and PRISMA standards to identify studies examining the neurological mechanisms underlying creative activities.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of six out of 85 records meet the inclusion criteria, with all being basic research studies. Preliminary findings suggest that active and passive engagement with creative arts consistently activate neural circuits implicated in adaptive emotional regulation, including the mPFC and amygdala. These activations mirror the neural pathways engaged in effective ER strategies, suggesting the possible existence of shared mechanisms between creative expression and emotional processing.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The evidence underscores the potential of creative arts as a complementary therapeutic strategy alongside conventional care and other evidence-based mind-body modalities. By elucidating the shared neural mechanisms between creative arts engagement and ER, this review contributes to the theoretical and practical understanding of the role of creative arts in mental health. Future research is recommended to further explore these neural correlations and their implications for therapeutic practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":12368,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11480958/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142461634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Saar Lanir-Azaria, Rakefet Chishinski, Riva Tauman, Yuval Nir, Nir Giladi
{"title":"Sleep improves accuracy, but not speed, of generalized motor learning in young and older adults and in individuals with Parkinson's disease.","authors":"Saar Lanir-Azaria, Rakefet Chishinski, Riva Tauman, Yuval Nir, Nir Giladi","doi":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1466696","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1466696","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>An essential aspect of motor learning is generalizing procedural knowledge to facilitate skill acquisition across diverse conditions. Here, we examined the development of generalized motor learning during initial practice-dependent learning, and how distinct components of learning are consolidated over longer timescales during wakefulness or sleep. In the first experiment, a group of young healthy volunteers engaged in a novel motor sequence task over 36 h in a two-arm experimental design (either morning-evening-morning, or evening-morning-evening) aimed at controlling for circadian confounders. The findings unveiled an immediate, rapid generalization of sequential learning, accompanied by an additional long-timescale performance gain. Sleep modulated accuracy, but not speed, above and beyond equivalent wake intervals. To further elucidate the role of sleep across ages and under neurodegenerative disorders, a second experiment utilized the same task in a group of early-stage, drug-naïve individuals with Parkinson's disease and in healthy individuals of comparable age. Participants with Parkinson's disease exhibited comparable performance to their healthy age-matched group with the exception of reduced performance in recalling motor sequences, revealing a disease-related cognitive shortfall. In line with the results found in young subjects, both groups exhibited improved accuracy, but not speed, following a night of sleep. This result emphasizes the role of sleep in skill acquisition and provides a potential framework for deeper investigation of the intricate relationship between sleep, aging, Parkinson's disease, and motor learning.</p>","PeriodicalId":12368,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11464313/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142399848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Novel aspect of oxytocin neurons mediating parental behavior and aversive burying behavior under the control of melanin-concentrating hormone neurons.","authors":"Tingbi Xiong, Lena Tsuchida, Ayumu Inutsuka, Tatsushi Onaka, Kazuo Yamada, Chitose Orikasa","doi":"10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1459957","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1459957","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Parental behavior comprises a set of crucial actions essential for offspring survival. In this study, a double transgenic mouse model engineered to specifically express channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN)-oxytocin neurons and ablate lateral hypothalamic area (LHA)-melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons was used to determine the relationship between PVN-oxytocin neurons and LHA-MCH neurons associated with parental behavior. Optogenetic stimulation of ChR2-expressing PVN-oxytocin neurons induces typical parental behavior with intact LHA-MCH neurons. However, after the partial ablation of LHA-MCH neurons, even optogenetic stimulation of PVN-oxytocin neurons failed to induce parental behavior in virgin male mice, resulting in neglect rather than parental behavior. Furthermore, approximately half of the subjects exhibited burying behavior toward pups, suggesting that pups became aversive stimuli, and male mice actively performed burying behavior to avoid these aversive stimuli. This study emphasizes the novel aspect of oxytocin neurons that could result in neglect in the absence of LHA-MCH neurons regulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12368,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11456465/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142389241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}