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Addiction Biology Mar 2022Activation of protein kinases after cocaine administration controls psychomotor behaviours by interacting with metabotropic receptors in the brain. This study identified...
Activation of protein kinases after cocaine administration controls psychomotor behaviours by interacting with metabotropic receptors in the brain. This study identified how c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) interacts with metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) in vitro and in the caudate and putamen (CPu). The potential role of this interaction in the regulation of psychomotor behaviour was also evaluated after administration of cocaine. Active JNK phosphorylates a threonine residue at position 1055 in the carboxyl terminus (CT) of mGluR5 in vitro. The binding of active JNK to the D-motif within CT2 is necessary for that phosphorylation. Interaction of phosphorylated JNK and mGluR5 occurs in the CPu. Unilateral interference of the interaction decreases the repeated cocaine-induced increases in locomotor activity and conditioned place preference. These findings suggest that activation of JNK has the capability to interact with mGluR5 in the CPu. Phosphorylation of mGluR5 following the JNK-mGluR5 interaction may be responsible for the potentiation of behavioural sensitisation and cocaine-wanting behaviour in response to cocaine administration.
Topics: Brain; Cocaine; Phosphorylation; Putamen; Receptor, Metabotropic Glutamate 5
PubMed: 35229936
DOI: 10.1111/adb.13127 -
Cortex; a Journal Devoted To the Study... Aug 2021Recent studies in humans and animal models suggest a primary role of the basal ganglia in the extraction of stimulus-value regularities, then exploited to orient...
Recent studies in humans and animal models suggest a primary role of the basal ganglia in the extraction of stimulus-value regularities, then exploited to orient attentional shift and build up sensorimotor memories. The tail of the caudate and the posterior putamen both receive early visual input from the superficial layers of the superior colliculus, thus forming a closed-loop. We portend that the functional value of this circuit is to manage the selection of visual stimuli in a rapid and automatic way, once sensory-motor associations are formed and stored in the posterior striatum. In Parkinson's Disease, the nigrostriatal dopamine depletion starts and tends to be more pronounced in the posterior putamen. Thus, at least some aspect of the visuospatial attention deficits observed since the early stages of the disease could be the behavioral consequences of a cognitive system that has lost the ability to translate high-level processing in stable sensorimotor memories.
Topics: Animals; Basal Ganglia; Corpus Striatum; Dopamine; Humans; Parkinson Disease; Putamen
PubMed: 34144272
DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.05.003 -
Neuropsychopharmacology : Official... Nov 2017To assess how tobacco smoking status affects baseline dopamine D2/D3 (D2R) receptor availability and methylphenidate-induced dopamine (DA) release, we retrospectively...
To assess how tobacco smoking status affects baseline dopamine D2/D3 (D2R) receptor availability and methylphenidate-induced dopamine (DA) release, we retrospectively analyzed D2R availability measures of 8 current smokers, 10 ex-smokers, and 18 nonsmokers who were scanned with positron emission tomography and [C]raclopride, after administration of an injection of placebo or 0.5 mg/kg i.v. methylphenidate. There was a significant effect of smoking status on baseline striatal D2R availability; with current smokers showing lower striatal D2R availability compared with nonsmokers (caudate, putamen, and ventral striatum) and with ex-smokers (caudate and putamen). Baseline striatal D2R did not differ between nonsmokers and ex-smokers. The effect of smoking status on methylphenidate-induced DA release tended to be lower in smokers but the difference was not significant (p=0.08). For behavioral measures, current smokers showed significantly higher aggression scores compared with both nonsmokers and ex-smokers. These results suggest that with abstinence ex-smokers may recover from low striatal D2R availability and from increased behavioral aggression seen in active smokers. However, longitudinal studies are needed to assess this within abstaining smokers.
Topics: Adult; Caudate Nucleus; Female; Humans; Male; Personality Assessment; Positron-Emission Tomography; Protein Binding; Putamen; Receptors, Dopamine D2; Receptors, Dopamine D3; Retrospective Studies; Smoking; Ventral Striatum
PubMed: 28643800
DOI: 10.1038/npp.2017.131 -
Brain Imaging and Behavior Feb 2018Cognitive impairment (CI), mainly involving attention and processing speed (A-PS), is a common and disabling symptom in multiple sclerosis (MS). Symbol Digit Modalities...
Cognitive impairment (CI), mainly involving attention and processing speed (A-PS), is a common and disabling symptom in multiple sclerosis (MS). Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) is one of the more sensitive and reliable tests to assess A-PS deficits in MS. Structural MRI correlates of A-PS in MS still need to be clarified. This study aimed to investigate, in a large group of MS patients, the relationship between regional gray matter (GM) atrophy and SDMT performance. 125 relapsing remitting MS patients and 52 healthy controls (HC) underwent a 3 T-MRI protocol including high-resolution 3D-T1 imaging. All subjects underwent a neurological evaluation and SDMT. A Voxel Based Morphometry analysis was performed to assess: 1) correlations between regional GM volume and SDMT performance in MS patients; 2) regional differences in GM volume between MS patients and HC. Thalamic, putamen and cerebellar volumes were also calculated using FIRST tool from the FMRIB Software Library. A linear regression analysis was performed to assess the contribution of each one of these structures to A-PS performance. A significant negative correlation was found between regional GM volume and SDMT score at the level of the thalamus, cerebellum, putamen, and occipital cortex in MS patients. Thalamus, cerebellum and putamen also showed significant GM atrophy in MS patients compared to HC. Thalamic atrophy is also an independent and additional contributor to A-PS deficits in MS patients. These findings support the role of thalamus as the most relevant GM structure subtending A-PS performance in MS, as measured by SDMT.
Topics: Adult; Atrophy; Attention; Cerebellum; Female; Gray Matter; Humans; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Linear Models; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mental Processes; Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting; Neuropsychological Tests; Organ Size; Putamen; Thalamus
PubMed: 28083844
DOI: 10.1007/s11682-016-9667-6 -
Scientific Reports Mar 2022HIV and psychoactive substances can impact the integrity of the basal ganglia (BG), a neural substrate of cognition, motor control, and reward-seeking behaviors. This...
HIV and psychoactive substances can impact the integrity of the basal ganglia (BG), a neural substrate of cognition, motor control, and reward-seeking behaviors. This study assessed BG gray matter (GM) volume as a function of polysubstance (stimulant and opioid) use and HIV status. We hypothesized that comorbid polysubstance use and HIV seropositivity would alter BG GM volume differently than would polysubstance use or HIV status alone. We collected structural MRI scans, substance use history, and HIV diagnoses. Participants who had HIV (HIV +), a history of polysubstance dependence (POLY +), both, or neither completed assessments for cognition, motor function, and risk-taking behaviors (N = 93). All three clinical groups showed a left-lateralized pattern of GM reduction in the BG relative to controls. However, in the HIV + /POLY + group, stimulant use was associated with increased GM volume within the globus pallidus and putamen. This surpassed the effects from opioid use, as indicated by decreased GM volume throughout the BG in the HIV-/POLY + group. Motor learning was impaired in all three clinical groups, and in the HIV + /POLY + group, motor learning was associated with increased caudate and putamen GM volume. We also observed associations between BG GM volume and risk-taking behaviors in the HIV + /POLY- and HIV-/POLY + groups. The effects of substance use on the BG differed as a function of substance type used, HIV seropositivity, and BG subregion. Although BG volume decreased in association with HIV and opioid use, stimulants can, inversely, lead to BG volume increases within the context of HIV.
Topics: Analgesics, Opioid; Basal Ganglia; HIV Seropositivity; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Putamen; Substance-Related Disorders
PubMed: 35288604
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08364-0 -
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) Jan 2019Fronto-striatal circuitry involving the orbitofrontal cortex has been identified as mediating successful reversal of stimulus-outcome contingencies. The region of the...
Fronto-striatal circuitry involving the orbitofrontal cortex has been identified as mediating successful reversal of stimulus-outcome contingencies. The region of the striatum that most contributes to reversal learning remains unclear, with studies in primates implicating both caudate nucleus and putamen. We trained four marmosets on a touchscreen-based serial reversal task and implanted each with cannulae targeting both putamen and caudate bilaterally. This allowed reversible inactivation of the two areas within the same monkeys, but across separate sessions, to directly investigate their respective contributions to reversal performance. Behavioral sensitivity to the GABAA agonist muscimol varied across subjects and between brain regions, so each marmoset received a range of doses. Intermediate doses of intra-putamen muscimol selectively impaired reversal performance, leaving the baseline discrimination phase unchanged. There was no effect of low doses and high doses were generally disruptive. By contrast, low doses of intra-caudate muscimol improved reversal performance, while high doses impaired both reversal and baseline discrimination performance. These data provide evidence for a specific role of the putamen in serial reversal learning, which may reflect the more habitual nature of repeated reversals using the same stimulus pair.
Topics: Animals; Callithrix; Discrimination Learning; Male; Photic Stimulation; Putamen; Reversal Learning
PubMed: 30395188
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy276 -
NeuroImage Sep 2021The ability to perceive the numerosity of items in the environment is critical for behavior of species across the evolutionary tree. Though the focus of studies of...
The ability to perceive the numerosity of items in the environment is critical for behavior of species across the evolutionary tree. Though the focus of studies of numerosity perception lays on the parietal and frontal cortices, the ability to perceive numerosity by a range of species suggests that subcortical nuclei may be implicated in the process. Recently, we have uncovered tuned neural responses to haptic numerosity in the human cortex. Here, we questioned whether subcortical nuclei are also engaged in perception of haptic numerosity. To that end, we utilized a task of haptic numerosity exploration, together with population receptive field model of numerosity selective responses measured at ultra-high field MRI (7T). We found tuned neural responses to haptic numerosity in the bilateral putamen. Similar to the cortex, the population receptive fields tuning width increased with numerosity. The tuned responses to numerosity in the putamen extend its role in cognition and propose that the motor-sensory loops of the putamen and basal ganglia might take an active part in numerosity perception and preparation for future action.
Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Judgment; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Putamen; Size Perception; Touch Perception
PubMed: 34020014
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118178 -
Brain and Behavior May 2015Stenography, or shorthand, is a unique set of skills that involves intensive training which is nearly life-long and orchestrating various brain functional modules,...
INTRODUCTION
Stenography, or shorthand, is a unique set of skills that involves intensive training which is nearly life-long and orchestrating various brain functional modules, including auditory, linguistic, cognitive, mnemonic, and motor. Stenography provides cognitive neuroscientists with a unique opportunity to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the neural plasticity that enables such a high degree of expertise. However, shorthand is quickly being replaced with voice recognition technology. We took this nearly final opportunity to scan the brains of the last alive shorthand experts of the Japanese language.
METHODS
Thirteen right-handed stenographers and fourteen right-handed controls participated in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study.
RESULTS
The fMRI data revealed plastic reorganization of the neural circuits around the putamen. The acquisition of expert skills was accompanied by structural and functional changes in the area. The posterior putamen is known as the execution center of acquired sensorimotor skills. Compared to nonexperts, the posterior putamen in stenographers had high covariation with the cerebellum and midbrain.The stenographers' brain developed different neural circuits from those of the nonexpert brain.
CONCLUSIONS
The current data illustrate the vigorous plasticity in the putamen and in its connectivity to other relevant areas in the expert brain. This is a case of vigorous neural plastic reorganization in response to massive overtraining, which is rare especially considering that it occurred in adulthood.
Topics: Adult; Brain Mapping; Case-Control Studies; Female; Humans; Japan; Language; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Neural Pathways; Neuronal Plasticity; Putamen; Shorthand; Young Adult
PubMed: 25874166
DOI: 10.1002/brb3.333 -
Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and... Mar 2023Hemodialysis (HD) is the most regularly applied replacement therapy for end-stage renal disease, but it may result in brain injuries. The correlation between cerebral...
Hemodialysis (HD) is the most regularly applied replacement therapy for end-stage renal disease, but it may result in brain injuries. The correlation between cerebral blood flow (CBF) alteration and iron deposition has not been investigated in patients undergoing HD. Ferritin level may be a dominant factor in CBF and iron deposition change. We hypothesize that ferritin level might be the key mediator between iron deposition and CBF alteration. The correlation in the putamen was estimated between the susceptibility values and CBF in patients undergoing HD. Compared with healthy controls, patients showed more altered global susceptibility values and CBF. The susceptibility value was negatively correlated with CBF in the putamen in patients. Moreover, the susceptibility value was negatively correlated with ferritin level and positively correlated with serum iron level in the putamen of patients. CBF was positively correlated with ferritin level and negatively correlated with serum iron level in the putamen of patients. These findings indicate that iron dyshomeostasis and vascular damage might exist in the putamen in patients. The results revealed that iron dyshomeostasis and vascular damage in the putamen may be potential neural mechanisms for neurodegenerative processes in patients undergoing HD.
Topics: Humans; Putamen; Renal Dialysis; Iron; Cerebrovascular Circulation; Ferritins; Magnetic Resonance Imaging
PubMed: 36284493
DOI: 10.1177/0271678X221134384 -
Deep learning segmentation results in precise delineation of the putamen in multiple system atrophy.European Radiology Oct 2023The precise segmentation of atrophic structures remains challenging in neurodegenerative diseases. We determined the performance of a Deep Neural Patchwork (DNP) in...
OBJECTIVES
The precise segmentation of atrophic structures remains challenging in neurodegenerative diseases. We determined the performance of a Deep Neural Patchwork (DNP) in comparison to established segmentation algorithms regarding the ability to delineate the putamen in multiple system atrophy (MSA), Parkinson's disease (PD), and healthy controls.
METHODS
We retrospectively included patients with MSA and PD as well as healthy controls. A DNP was trained on manual segmentations of the putamen as ground truth. For this, the cohort was randomly split into a training (N = 131) and test set (N = 120). The DNP's performance was compared with putaminal segmentations as derived by Automatic Anatomic Labelling, Freesurfer and Fastsurfer. For validation, we assessed the diagnostic accuracy of the resulting segmentations in the delineation of MSA vs. PD and healthy controls.
RESULTS
A total of 251 subjects (61 patients with MSA, 158 patients with PD, and 32 healthy controls; mean age of 61.5 ± 8.8 years) were included. Compared to the dice-coefficient of the DNP (0.96), we noted significantly weaker performance for AAL3 (0.72; p < .001), Freesurfer (0.82; p < .001), and Fastsurfer (0.84, p < .001). This was corroborated by the superior diagnostic performance of MSA vs. PD and HC of the DNP (AUC 0.93) versus the AUC of 0.88 for AAL3 (p = 0.02), 0.86 for Freesurfer (p = 0.048), and 0.85 for Fastsurfer (p = 0.04).
CONCLUSION
By utilization of a DNP, accurate segmentations of the putamen can be obtained even if substantial atrophy is present. This allows for more precise extraction of imaging parameters or shape features from the putamen in relevant patient cohorts.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT
Deep learning-based segmentation of the putamen was superior to currently available algorithms and is beneficial for the diagnosis of multiple system atrophy.
KEY POINTS
• A Deep Neural Patchwork precisely delineates the putamen and performs equal to human labeling in multiple system atrophy, even when pronounced putaminal volume loss is present. • The Deep Neural Patchwork-based segmentation was more capable to differentiate between multiple system atrophy and Parkinson's disease than the AAL3 atlas, Freesurfer, or Fastsurfer.
Topics: Humans; Middle Aged; Aged; Multiple System Atrophy; Parkinson Disease; Putamen; Deep Learning; Retrospective Studies; Magnetic Resonance Imaging
PubMed: 37121929
DOI: 10.1007/s00330-023-09665-2