Dataset Information

Increased striatal activity in adolescence benefits learning.

ABSTRACT: Adolescence is associated with enhanced striatal activity in response to rewards. This has been linked to increased risk-taking behavior and negative health outcomes. However, striatal activity is also important for learning, yet it is unknown whether heightened striatal responses in adolescence also benefit cognitive learning performance. In this longitudinal fMRI study (736 scans spanning 5 years in participants ages 8-29), we investigate whether adolescents show enhanced striatal activity during feedback learning, and whether this enhanced activity is associated with better learning performance. Here we report that neural activity indicating sensitivity to informative value of feedback peaks in late adolescence and occurs in dorsal caudate, ventral caudate, and nucleus accumbens. Increased activity in dorsal and ventral caudate predicts better current and future learning performance. This suggests that enhanced striatal activity in adolescents is adaptive for learning and may point to adolescence as a unique life phase for increased feedback-learning performance.

SUBMITTER: Peters S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5736614 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Increased striatal activity in adolescence benefits learning.

Peters S S Crone E A EA

Nature communications 20171219 1

Adolescence is associated with enhanced striatal activity in response to rewards. This has been linked to increased risk-taking behavior and negative health outcomes. However, striatal activity is also important for learning, yet it is unknown whether heightened striatal responses in adolescence also benefit cognitive learning performance. In this longitudinal fMRI study (736 scans spanning 5 years in participants ages 8-29), we investigate whether adolescents show enhanced striatal activity dur ...[more]

PMID: 29259158

Similar Datasets

Project description:Acetylcholine is an important modulator of striatal activity, and it is vital to controlling striatal-dependent behaviors, including motor and cognitive functions. Despite this significance, the mechanisms determining how acetylcholine impacts striatal signaling are still not fully understood. In particular, little is known about the role of nAChRs expressed by striatal interneurons. In the present study, we used FISH to determine which neuronal types express the most prevalent beta2 nicotinic subunit in the mouse striatum. Our data support a common view that nAChR expression is mostly restricted to striatal interneurons. Surprisingly though, cholinergic interneurons were identified as a population with the highest expression of beta2 nicotinic subunit. To investigate the functional significance of beta2-containing nAChRs in striatal interneurons, we deleted them by injecting the AAV-Cre vector into the striatum of beta2-flox/flox male mice. The deletion led to alterations in several behavioral domains, namely, to an increased anxiety-like behavior, decrease in sociability ratio, deficit in discrimination learning, and increased amphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion and c-Fos expression in mice with beta2 deletion. Further colocalization analysis showed that the increased c-Fos expression was present in both medium spiny neurons and presumed striatal interneurons. The present study concludes that, despite being relatively rare, beta2-containing nAChRs are primarily expressed in striatal neurons by cholinergic interneurons and play a significant role in behavior.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A large variety of nAChRs are expressed in the striatum, a brain region that is crucial in the control of behavior. The complexity of receptors with different functions is hindering our understanding of mechanisms through which striatal acetylcholine modulates behavior. We focused on the role of a small population of beta2-containing nAChRs. We identified neuronal types expressing these receptors and determined their impact in the control of explorative behavior, anxiety-like behavior, learning, and sensitivity to stimulants. Additional experiments showed that these alterations were associated with an overall increased activity of striatal neurons. Thus, the small population of nicotinic receptors represents an interesting target for a modulation of response to stimulant drugs and other striatal-based behavior.

Dataset Information

Increased striatal activity in adolescence benefits learning.

Publications

Increased striatal activity in adolescence benefits learning.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets