Shi Yulong, Lei Jie, Cui Chi, Yao Yibo, Ren Kun, Luo Gangan, Yang Xueke, Peng Xiang, Li Ming, Yang Jian, Li Tongxia, Chen Sitong, Du Junsong, Tian Bo, Zhang Pei
Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, P. R. China.
School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, P. R. China.
Transl Psychiatry. 2025 Jun 19;15(1):206. doi: 10.1038/s41398-025-03427-y.
Addiction and anxiety are two prevalent psychiatric conditions characterized by complex neurobiological mechanisms. It is supported by theta-range (4-12 Hz) neural oscillations that coordinate distant brain regions, such as ventral tegmental area (VTA) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, the systematic investigation comparing the analogous and distinct mechanisms of theta oscillations in the mPFC and VTA across these two psychiatric disorders is still needed. Here, we investigate the theta-range (4-12 Hz) local field potential (LFP) signals of the mPFC and VTA in the ethanol-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) and emotional stress-related anxiety-like behavior animal models. We found that the theta oscillation exhibits a significant correlation between the mPFC and VTA in both the two models of male mice. Granger causality suggests that the VTA clearly drives the mPFC in theta band. Our findings suggest potential parallels between the mechanisms of addiction and anxiety, as indicated by the observed theta changes. Further investigation into the mechanisms underlying these changes and their functional impact is necessary to substantiate this link.
成瘾和焦虑是两种常见的精神疾病，其特征在于复杂的神经生物学机制。这得到了协调远距离脑区（如腹侧被盖区（VTA）和内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC））的θ频段（4 - 12赫兹）神经振荡的支持。然而，仍需要系统研究来比较这两种精神疾病中mPFC和VTA中θ振荡的相似和不同机制。在此，我们在乙醇诱导的条件性位置偏爱（CPP）和与情绪应激相关的焦虑样行为动物模型中，研究了mPFC和VTA的θ频段（4 - 12赫兹）局部场电位（LFP）信号。我们发现，在两种雄性小鼠模型中，θ振荡在mPFC和VTA之间均表现出显著相关性。格兰杰因果关系表明，在θ频段，VTA明显驱动mPFC。我们的研究结果表明，成瘾和焦虑机制之间存在潜在的相似之处，如观察到的θ变化所示。进一步研究这些变化背后的机制及其功能影响对于证实这种联系是必要的。
