Dataset Information

Cue-induced food seeking after punishment is associated with increased Fos expression in the lateral hypothalamus and basolateral and medial amygdala.

ABSTRACT: In humans, relapse to unhealthy eating habits following dieting is a significant impediment to obesity treatment. Food-associated cues are one of the main triggers of relapse to unhealthy eating during self-imposed abstinence. Here we report a behavioral method examining cue-induced relapse to food seeking following punishment-induced suppression of food taking. We trained male rats to lever press for food pellets that were delivered after a 10-s conditional stimulus (CS) (appetitive). Following training, 25% of reinforced lever presses resulted in the presentation of a compound stimulus consisting of a novel CS (aversive) and the appetitive CS followed by a pellet and footshock. After punishment-imposed abstinence, we tested the rats in an extinction test where lever pressing resulted in the presentation of either the appetitive or aversive CS. We then compared activity of lateral hypothalamus (LH) and associated extrahypothalamic regions following this test. We also assessed Fos expression in LH orexin and GABA neurons. We found that cue-induced relapse of food seeking on test was higher in rats tested with the appetitive CS compared to the aversive CS. Relapse induced by the appetitive CS was associated with increased Fos expression in LH, caudal basolateral amygdala (BLA), and medial amygdala (MeA). This relapse was also associated with increased Fos expression in LH orexin and VGAT-expressing neurons. These data show that relapse to food seeking can be induced by food-associated cues after punishment-imposed abstinence, and this relapse is associated with increased activity in LH, caudal BLA, and MeA. (PsycINFO Database Record

SUBMITTER: Campbell EJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6925602 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cue-induced food seeking after punishment is associated with increased Fos expression in the lateral hypothalamus and basolateral and medial amygdala.

Campbell Erin J EJ Barker David J DJ Nasser Helen M HM Kaganovsky Konstantin K Dayas Christopher V CV Marchant Nathan J NJ

Behavioral neuroscience 20170220 2

In humans, relapse to unhealthy eating habits following dieting is a significant impediment to obesity treatment. Food-associated cues are one of the main triggers of relapse to unhealthy eating during self-imposed abstinence. Here we report a behavioral method examining cue-induced relapse to food seeking following punishment-induced suppression of food taking. We trained male rats to lever press for food pellets that were delivered after a 10-s conditional stimulus (CS) (appetitive). Following ...[more]

PMID: 28221079

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Project description:The ability to inhibit drinking is a significant challenge for recovering alcoholics, especially in the presence of alcohol-associated cues. Previous studies have demonstrated that the regulation of cue-guided alcohol seeking is mediated by the basolateral amygdala (BLA), nucleus accumbens (NAc), and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, given the high interconnectivity between these structures, it is unclear how mPFC projections to each subcortical structure, as well as projections between BLA and NAc, mediate alcohol-seeking behaviors. Here, we evaluate how cortico-striatal, cortico-amygdalar, and amygdalo-striatal projections control extinction and relapse in a rat model of alcohol seeking. Specifically, we used a combinatorial viral technique to express diphtheria toxin receptors in specific neuron populations based on their projection targets. We then used this strategy to create directionally selective ablations of three distinct pathways after acquisition of ethanol self-administration but before extinction and reinstatement. We demonstrate that ablation of mPFC neurons projecting to NAc, but not BLA, blocks cue-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking and neither pathway is necessary for extinction of responding. Further, we show that ablating BLA neurons that project to NAc disrupts extinction of alcohol approach behaviors and attenuates reinstatement. Together, these data provide evidence that the mPFC→NAc pathway is necessary for cue-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking, expand our understanding of how the BLA→NAc pathway regulates alcohol behavior, and introduce a new methodology for the manipulation of target-specific neural projections.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The vast majority of recovering alcoholics will relapse at least once and understanding how the brain regulates relapse will be key to developing more effective behavior and pharmacological therapies for alcoholism. Given the high interconnectivity of cortical, striatal, and limbic structures that regulate alcohol intake, it has been difficult to disentangle how separate projections between them may control different aspects of these complex behaviors. Here, we demonstrate a new approach for noninvasively ablating each of these pathways and testing their necessity for both extinction and relapse. We show that inputs to the nucleus accumbens from medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala regulate alcohol-seeking behaviors differentially, adding to our understanding of the neural control of alcoholism.

Dataset Information

Cue-induced food seeking after punishment is associated with increased Fos expression in the lateral hypothalamus and basolateral and medial amygdala.

Publications

Cue-induced food seeking after punishment is associated with increased Fos expression in the lateral hypothalamus and basolateral and medial amygdala.

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