Ma Xinyi, Yu Wei, Yao Ping'an, Zhu Yichen, Dai Jiale, He Xiaofen, Liu Boyu, Xu Chi, Shao Xiaomei, Fang Jianqiao, Shen Zui
Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Neurology of Zhejiang Province, Department of Neurobiology and Acupuncture Research, The Third Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Aug 17;14:960868. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.960868. eCollection 2022.
Research shows that across life, the incidence of mental illness is highest in the young. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health issues of the young in particular have received global attention. The rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) plays an important role in psychiatric disorders and chronic pain-psychiatric comorbidities. However, it remains unknown whether or how the afferent and efferent circuits of the rACC change with aging. In this study, we microinjected a retrograde tracer virus and an anterograde trans-monosynaptic virus into the rACC of young and middle-aged mice (both male and female), and systematically and quantitatively analyzed the whole-brain afferent and efferent connections of rACC at different ages and sexes. Notably, in young and middle-aged mice, afferents of the rACC belong to four groups of brain structures arising mainly from the amygdala [mainly basolateral amygdaloid nucleus (BLA)] and cerebral cortex (mainly orbital cortex), with a small part originating from the basal forebrain and thalamus. In contrast, efferents of the rACC belong to four groups of brain structures mainly projecting to the thalamus (mainly ventral anterior-lateral/ventromedial thalamic nucleus (VAL/VM)], with a very small part projecting to the amygdala, basal forebrain, and cerebral cortex. Compared with young mice, the BLA-rACC circuit in middle-aged mice (male and female) did not change significantly, while the rACC-VAL/VM circuit in middle-aged mice (male and female) decreased significantly. In conclusion, this study comprehensively analyzed the input-output neural projections of rACC in mice of different ages and sexes and provided preliminary evidence for further targeted research.
研究表明，在整个人生过程中，精神疾病的发病率在年轻人中最高。在新冠疫情的背景下，年轻人的心理健康问题尤其受到全球关注。喙前扣带回皮质（rACC）在精神疾病和慢性疼痛-精神共病中起重要作用。然而，rACC的传入和传出回路是否以及如何随衰老而变化仍不清楚。在本研究中，我们将逆行示踪病毒和顺行单突触病毒微量注射到年轻和中年小鼠（雄性和雌性）的rACC中，并系统地、定量地分析了不同年龄和性别的rACC的全脑传入和传出连接。值得注意的是，在年轻和中年小鼠中，rACC的传入纤维属于四组脑结构，主要来自杏仁核[主要是基底外侧杏仁核（BLA）]和大脑皮质（主要是眶额皮质），一小部分起源于基底前脑和丘脑。相比之下，rACC的传出纤维属于四组脑结构，主要投射到丘脑（主要是腹前外侧/腹内侧丘脑核（VAL/VM）），只有非常小的一部分投射到杏仁核、基底前脑和大脑皮质。与年轻小鼠相比，中年小鼠（雄性和雌性）的BLA-rACC回路没有显著变化，而中年小鼠（雄性和雌性）的rACC-VAL/VM回路显著减少。总之，本研究全面分析了不同年龄和性别的小鼠中rACC的输入-输出神经投射，并为进一步的靶向研究提供了初步证据。
