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Altered brain-wide auditory networks in a zebrafish model of fragile X syndrome.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Loss or disrupted expression of the FMR1 gene causes fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common monogenetic form of autism in humans. Although disruptions in sensory processing are core traits of FXS and autism, the neural underpinnings of these phenotypes are poorly understood. Using calcium imaging to record from the entire brain at cellular resolution, we investigated neuronal responses to visual and auditory stimuli in larval zebrafish, using fmr1 mutants to model FXS. The purpose of this study was to model the alterations of sensory networks, brain-wide and at cellular resolution, that underlie the sensory aspects of FXS and autism. RESULTS:Combining functional analyses with the neurons' anatomical positions, we found that fmr1-/- animals have normal responses to visual motion. However, there were several alterations in the auditory processing of fmr1-/- animals. Auditory responses were more plentiful in hindbrain structures and in the thalamus. The thalamus, torus semicircularis, and tegmentum had clusters of neurons that responded more strongly to auditory stimuli in fmr1-/- animals. Functional connectivity networks showed more inter-regional connectivity at lower sound intensities (a -?3 to -?6?dB shift) in fmr1-/- larvae compared to wild type. Finally, the decoding capacities of specific components of the ascending auditory pathway were altered: the octavolateralis nucleus within the hindbrain had significantly stronger decoding of auditory amplitude while the telencephalon had weaker decoding in fmr1-/- mutants. CONCLUSIONS:We demonstrated that fmr1-/- larvae are hypersensitive to sound, with a 3-6?dB shift in sensitivity, and identified four sub-cortical brain regions with more plentiful responses and/or greater response strengths to auditory stimuli. We also constructed an experimentally supported model of how auditory information may be processed brain-wide in fmr1-/- larvae. Our model suggests that the early ascending auditory pathway transmits more auditory information, with less filtering and modulation, in this model of FXS.

SUBMITTER: Constantin L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7493858 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Altered brain-wide auditory networks in a zebrafish model of fragile X syndrome.

Constantin Lena L Poulsen Rebecca E RE Scholz Leandro A LA Favre-Bulle Itia A IA Taylor Michael A MA Sun Biao B Goodhill Geoffrey J GJ Vanwalleghem Gilles C GC Scott Ethan K EK

BMC biology 20200916 1

<h4>Background</h4>Loss or disrupted expression of the FMR1 gene causes fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common monogenetic form of autism in humans. Although disruptions in sensory processing are core traits of FXS and autism, the neural underpinnings of these phenotypes are poorly understood. Using calcium imaging to record from the entire brain at cellular resolution, we investigated neuronal responses to visual and auditory stimuli in larval zebrafish, using fmr1 mutants to model FXS. The ...[more]

PMID: 32938458

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Project description:ImportanceFragile X syndrome (FXS) is an X-linked neurogenetic disorder characterized by a cognitive and behavioral phenotype resembling features of autism spectrum disorder. Until now, research has focused largely on identifying regional differences in brain structure and function between individuals with FXS and various control groups. Very little is known about the large-scale brain networks that may underlie the cognitive and behavioral symptoms of FXS.ObjectiveTo identify large-scale, resting-state networks in FXS that differ from control individuals matched on age, IQ, and severity of behavioral and cognitive symptoms.Design, setting, and participantsCross-sectional, in vivo neuroimaging study conducted in an academic medical center. Participants (aged 10-23 years) included 17 males and females with FXS and 16 males and females serving as controls.Main outcomes and measuresUnivariate voxel-based morphometric analyses, fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) analysis, and group-independent component analysis with dual regression.ResultsPatients with FXS showed decreased functional connectivity in the salience, precuneus, left executive control, language, and visuospatial networks compared with controls. Decreased fALFF in the bilateral insular, precuneus, and anterior cingulate cortices also was found in patients with FXS compared with control participants. Furthermore, fALFF in the left insular cortex was significantly positively correlated with IQ in patients with FXS. Decreased gray matter density, resting-state connectivity, and fALFF converged in the left insular cortex in patients with FXS.Conclusions and relevanceFragile X syndrome results in widespread reductions in functional connectivity across multiple cognitive and affective brain networks. Converging structural and functional abnormalities in the left insular cortex, a region also implicated in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, suggests that insula integrity and connectivity may be compromised in FXS. This method could prove useful in establishing an imaging biomarker for FXS.

Project description:Sensory hypersensitivities are common and distressing features of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). While there are many drug interventions that reduce behavioral deficits in Fmr1 mice and efforts to translate these preclinical breakthroughs into clinical trials for FXS, evidence-based clinical interventions are almost non-existent potentially due to lack of valid neural biomarkers. Local circuit function in sensory networks is dependent on the dynamic balance of activity in inhibitory/excitatory synapses. Studies are needed to examine the association of electrophysiological alterations in neural systems with sensory and other clinical features of FXS to establish their clinical relevance. Adolescents and adults with FXS (n = 38, Mean age = 25.5, std = 10.1; 13 females) and age matched typically developing controls (n = 40, Mean age = 27.7, std = 12.1; 17 females) completed auditory chirp and auditory habituation tasks while undergoing dense array electroencephalography (EEG). Amplitude, latency, and percent change (habituation) in N1 and P2 event-related potential (ERP) components were characterized for the habituation task; time-frequency calculations using Morlet wavelets characterized phase-locking and single trial power for the habituation and chirp tasks. FXS patients showed increased amplitude but some evidence for reduced habituation of the N1 ERP, and reduced phase-locking in the low and high gamma frequency range and increased low gamma power to the chirp stimulus. FXS showed increased theta power in both tasks. While the habituation finding was weaker than previously found, the remaining findings replicate our previous work in a new sample of patients with FXS. Females showed less deficit in the chirp task but not the habituation task. Abnormal increases in gamma power were related to more severe behavioral and psychiatric features as well as reductions in neurocognitive abilities. Replicating electrophysiological deficits in a new group of patients using different EEG equipment at a new data collection site with differing levels of environmental noise that were robust to data processing techniques utilizing multiple researchers, indicates a potential for scalability to multi-site clinical trials. Given the robust replicability, relevance to clinical measures, and preclinical evidence for sensitivity of these EEG measures to pharmacological intervention, the observed abnormalities may provide novel translational markers of target engagement and potentially outcome measures in large-scale studies evaluating new treatments targeting neural hyperexcitability in FXS.

Dataset Information

Altered brain-wide auditory networks in a zebrafish model of fragile X syndrome.

Publications

Altered brain-wide auditory networks in a zebrafish model of fragile X syndrome.

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