Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Department of Functional Neuroanatomy, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 307, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Institute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany.
Neuropharmacology. 2021 Sep 1;195:108496. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108496. Epub 2021 Feb 11.
Cue-reward associations form distinct memories that can drive appetitive behaviors and cravings for both drugs and natural rewards. It is still unclear how such memories are encoded in the brain's reward system. We trained rats to concurrently self-administer either alcohol or a sweet saccharin solution as drug or natural rewards, respectively. Memory recall due to cue exposure reactivated reward-associated functional ensembles in reward-related brain regions, marked by a neural cFos response. While the local ensembles activated by cue presentation for either reward consisted of similar numbers of neurons, using advanced statistical network theory, we found robust reward-specific co-activation patterns across brain regions. Interestingly, the resulting meta-ensemble networks differed by the most influential regions, which in case of saccharin comprised the prefrontal cortex, while for alcohol seeking control shifted to insular cortex with strong involvement of the amygdala. Our results support the view of memory representation as a differential co-activation of local neuronal ensembles. This article is part of the special issue on 'Neurocircuitry Modulating Drug and Alcohol Abuse'.
线索-奖励关联形成了独特的记忆，这些记忆可以驱动对药物和自然奖励的食欲行为和渴望。目前尚不清楚这些记忆是如何在大脑的奖励系统中编码的。我们训练大鼠同时作为药物或自然奖励来自我给予酒精或甜味剂溶液。由于线索暴露而引起的记忆回忆会重新激活与奖励相关的大脑区域中的与奖励相关的功能集合，这标志着神经 cFos 反应。虽然由于线索呈现而激活的两种奖励的局部集合包含相似数量的神经元，但使用先进的统计网络理论，我们发现了跨大脑区域的稳健的奖励特异性共激活模式。有趣的是，由此产生的元集合网络因最具影响力的区域而不同，对于甜味剂，这些区域包括前额叶皮层，而对于酒精寻求控制，控制区域转移到岛叶，杏仁核也有强烈的参与。我们的研究结果支持记忆表示为局部神经元集合的差异共激活的观点。本文是“调节药物和酒精滥用的神经回路”特刊的一部分。
