Bijoch Łukasz, Klos Joanna, Pękała Martyna, Fiołna Kristina, Kaczmarek Leszek, Beroun Anna
Nencki-EMBL Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Laboratory of Neuronal Plasticity, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, L. Pasteura 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.
Nencki-EMBL Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Laboratory of Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, L. Pasteura 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.
Cell Rep. 2023 Sep 26;42(9):113036. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113036. Epub 2023 Aug 23.
The central amygdala (CeA) with its medial (CeM) and lateral (CeL) nuclei is the brain hub for processing stimuli with emotional context. CeL nucleus gives a strong inhibitory input to the CeM, and this local circuitry assigns values (positive or negative) to incoming stimuli, guiding appropriate behavior (approach or avoid). However, the particular involvement of CeA in processing such emotionally relevant information and adaptations of the CeA circuitry are not yet well understood. In this study, we examined synaptic plasticity in the CeA after exposure to two types of rewards, pharmacological (cocaine) and natural (sugar). We found that both rewards engage CeM, where they generate silent synapses resulting in the strengthening of the network. However, only cocaine triggers plasticity in the CeL, which leads to the weakening of its excitatory inputs. Finally, chemogenetic inhibition of CeM attenuates animal preference for sugar, while activation delays cocaine-induced increase in locomotor activity.
中央杏仁核（CeA）及其内侧核（CeM）和外侧核（CeL）是处理带有情感背景刺激的脑枢纽。CeL核向CeM发出强烈的抑制性输入，这种局部神经回路为传入的刺激赋予价值（正或负），引导适当的行为（接近或回避）。然而，CeA在处理此类情感相关信息中的具体参与情况以及CeA神经回路的适应性尚未得到充分理解。在本研究中，我们研究了暴露于两种奖励（药理学奖励（可卡因）和自然奖励（糖））后CeA中的突触可塑性。我们发现两种奖励都作用于CeM，在那里它们产生沉默突触，导致网络增强。然而，只有可卡因触发CeL中的可塑性，这导致其兴奋性输入减弱。最后，对CeM进行化学遗传学抑制会减弱动物对糖的偏好，而激活则会延迟可卡因诱导的运动活动增加。
