Effect of amphetamine place conditioning on excitatory synaptic events in the basolateral amygdala ex vivo.

The basolateral amygdala (BLA) plays an important role in the formation of associations between context and drug. BLA activity and BLA-dependent drug-seeking behavior are driven by excitatory inputs. Drug-seeking behavior driven by context involves participation of the BLA, and plasticity of excitatory inputs to the BLA may contribute to this behavior. In this study, amphetamine conditioned place preference (AMPH CPP) was used to model the formation of context-drug associations. Learning-induced changes of excitatory synapses within the BLA were examined. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to one of three groups, the experimental group (AMPH CPP) or one of two control groups (saline or AMPH delayed pairing). Approximately 24 h after testing their preference, spontaneous and miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs and mEPSCs, respectively) in BLA pyramidal neurons were investigated using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings. There were no between-groups differences in the amplitude or frequency of sEPSCs or mEPSCs. In a higher osmolarity solution to increase release, there was a significantly greater frequency of the mEPSCs in neurons from AMPH CPP animals compared with controls. This was observed with no change detected in the probability of glutamate release. Together, these data demonstrate no evidence for increased synaptic strength, but are consistent with an increase in the number of synapses in the BLA after AMPH CPP. These findings may underlie increased excitatory drive of the BLA after AMPH CPP, and contribute to the animals' preference for the AMPH-paired compartment.

Impaired glutamate homeostasis and programmed cell death in a chronic MPTP mouse model of Parkinson's disease.

The pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease is not fully understood, but there is evidence that excitotoxic mechanisms contribute to the pathology. However, data supporting a role for excitotoxicity in the pathophysiology of the disease are controversial and sparse. The goal of this study was to determine whether changes in glutamate signaling and uptake contribute to the demise of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Mice were treated chronically with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and probenecid or vehicle (probenecid or saline alone). Extracellular levels of glutamate in the substantia nigra were substantially increased, and there was an increase in the affinity, but no change in the velocity, of glutamate transport after MPTP/probenecid treatment compared to vehicle controls. In addition, the substantia nigra showed two types of programmed death, apoptosis (type I) and autophagic (type II) cell death. These data suggest that increased glutamate signaling could be an important mechanism for the death of dopaminergic neurons and trigger the induction of programmed cell death in the chronic MPTP/probenecid model.

Localization of alpha-synuclein to identified fibers and synapses in the normal mouse brain.

Alpha-synuclein is a synaptic associated protein that is found throughout the brain. Although its function is not fully understood, various roles have been proposed, including the mobilization of synaptic vesicles and plasticity. However, interest in this molecule is mainly focused on its role in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, where it is a major component in cellular inclusions. Although it is widely accepted that alpha-synuclein is distributed to terminals and fibers throughout the brain, the identity of the pathways that contain this protein is not known. To address this issue, we combined immunocytochemistry with anterograde tract-tracing in mouse to identify the projections that are alpha-synuclein immunopositive. We find that it is present in corticostriatal, nigrostriatal and striatonigral terminals. Our data support the concept that alpha-synuclein is normally present in at least some of the terminals of inclusion-forming neurons, but that it is also present in the axonal boutons of neurons that do not apparently accumulate this protein pathologically.

Short-term, D2 receptor blockade induces synaptic degeneration, reduces levels of tyrosine hydroxylase and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and enhances D2-mediated firing in the ventral pallidum.

Repeated treatments with neuroleptics are associated with biochemical and morphological alterations in forebrain neurons as well as an upregulation of D2-mediated changes in neuronal function. The present study evaluated the histological and physiological effects of three once-daily treatments with two chemically divergent neuroleptics, haloperidol (1 mg/kg i.p./day) and eticlopride (3 mg/kg i.p./day), measured in rats 24 h after the last injection. It was determined that this short-term antagonism of D2-like receptors induced fiber and terminal degeneration and significantly decreased tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) immunoreactivity in the ventral pallidum (VP), as determined by optical density measurements. While other forebrain regions demonstrated changes in TH and BDNF, the neurodegeneration profile was unique to the VP. This was accompanied by an enhancement in the efficacy of the D2 agonist quinpirole to increase spiking rate of VP neurons recorded in chloral hydrate-anesthetized rats. These data indicate that short-term treatments with D2 antagonists are sufficient to induce changes in the biochemical and morphological profiles uniquely within the VP. Moreover, the functional ramifications of these changes appear to include profound alterations in the way dopamine regulates neuronal activity in this region.

Lysosomal malfunction accompanies alpha-synuclein aggregation in a progressive mouse model of Parkinson's disease.

We have detected granular and filamentous inclusions that are alpha-synuclein- and ubiquitin-immunoreactive in the cytoplasm of dopaminergic and cortical neurons of C57/black mice treated chronically with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and probenecid. The immunoreactive aggregates only become evident several weeks after large-scale dopaminergic cell death and a downregulation of alpha-synuclein gene expression. Numerous lipofuscin granules accumulate alpha-synuclein in the nigral and limbic cortical neurons of treated mice. These data provide evidence that insoluble proteins, such as alpha-synuclein, build up as granular and filamentous inclusions in dopaminergic neurons that survive the initial toxic MPTP insult. They further suggest that defective protein degradation rather than altered gene expression underlies deposition of alpha-synuclein and that abundant lysosomal compartments are present to seal off the potentially toxic material.

Mouse model of Parkinsonism: a comparison between subacute MPTP and chronic MPTP/probenecid treatment.

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is widely used to induce an animal model of Parkinsonism. The conventional mouse model, which usually involves acute or subacute injections of MPTP, results in a significant but reversible loss of dopaminergic functions. We have developed an alternative mouse model, in which co-administration of MPTP with probenecid results in the chronic loss of striatal dopamine for at least 6 months after cessation of treatment. In the present study, we compare the neurochemical, morphological and behavioral changes that occur in this alternative, chronic model with those in the conventional, subacute model. In the chronic model, we demonstrate an almost 80% loss of striatal dopamine and dopamine uptake 6 months after withdrawal from treatment. The neurochemical signs match unbiased stereological measures that demonstrate gradual loss of substantia nigra neurons. Rotarod performance further substantiates these findings by showing a progressive decline in motor performance. Based on the comparisons made in this study in mice, the chronic MPTP/probenecid model shows considerable improvements over the conventional, subacute MPTP model. The sustained alterations in the nigrostriatal pathway resemble the cardinal signs of human Parkinson's disease and suggest that this chronic mouse model is potentially useful to study the pathophysiology and mechanisms of Parkinsonism. It should also prove useful for the development of neuroprotection strategies.

Neuronal hypertrophy in the neocortex of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

The underlying cause of neocortical involvement in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) remains a fundamental and unanswered question. Magnetic resonance imaging has shown a significant loss in temporal lobe volume, and it has been proposed that neocortical circuits are disturbed functionally because neurons are lost. The present study used design-based stereology to estimate the volume and cell number of Brodmann's area 38, a region commonly resected in anterior temporal lobectomy. Studies were conducted on the neocortex of patients with or without hippocampal sclerosis (HS). Results provide the surprising finding that TLE patients have significant atrophy of neocortical gray matter but no loss of neurons. Neurons are also significantly larger, dendritic trees appear sparser, and spine density is noticeably reduced in TLE specimens compared with controls. The increase in neuronal density we found in TLE patients is therefore attributable to large neurons occupying a much smaller volume than in normal brain. Neurons in the underlying white matter are also increased in size but, in contrast to other reports, are not significantly elevated in number or density. Neuronal hypertrophy affects HS and non-HS brains similarly. The reduction in neuropil and its associated elements therefore appears to be a primary feature of TLE, which is not secondary to cell loss. In both gray and white matter, neuronal hypertrophy means more perikaryal surface area is exposed for synaptic contacts and emerges as a hallmark of this disease.

Changes in the pattern of brain-derived neurotrophic factor immunoreactivity in the rat brain after acute and subchronic haloperidol treatment.

Our earlier work has shown that repeated administration of classical neuroleptic drugs gives rise to structural alterations in target regions of the mesolimbic pathway, most notably, nucleus accumbens. Such changes could be responsible for the efficacious or motor side effects associated with these drugs. Growth factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) provide trophic support for dopaminergic neurons during development and mediate synaptic and morphological plasticity in numerous regions of the adult CNS. The present study examines whether BDNF is altered in the mesolimbic pathway by classical neuroleptic treatment. Animals were administered haloperidol, 0.5 mg/kg, or vehicle, i.p., for either 3 or 21 days, followed by transcardiac perfusion with fixative. Three days of haloperidol administration dramatically decreased BDNF immunostaining in the neurons and fibers of the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus (dentate gyrus, CA2, and CA3), extended amygdala, and ventral tegmental area. BDNF-immunoreactive fibers virtually disappeared from the neostriatum and nucleus accumbens. Subchronic (21 days) treatment led to a rebound in BDNF immunoreactivity in most cell bodies but not in fibers. These results show that blockade of dopaminergic receptors with haloperidol rapidly downregulates BDNF in reward and emotional centers of the brain. Such rapid inactivation and subsequent reappearance of BDNF immunoreactivity could affect synaptic strength and plasticity and therefore be important preliminary steps in the cascade of neuronal events that lead to the efficacious or detrimental side effects of classical neuroleptic drugs.

Accuracy and validity of stereology as a quantitative method for assessment of human temporal lobe volumes acquired by magnetic resonance imaging.

The object of this study was to compare the accuracy and validity of stereology as a method for determining whole temporal lobe volume with the more established technique of semi-automated thresholding and tracing. Ten, fixed, post-mortem human brains, were imaged using a three dimensional (3D) acquisition protocol. The volume of the left temporal lobe, dissected from each brain, was determined by fluid displacement. Each volume was compared to measurements obtained from magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the post-mortem brain using each of the two segmentation methods. Post-acquisition processing was performed using MEASURE software. Three investigators performed each measurement three times using each method, yielding a total of 180 measurements. Stereology took, on average, half the time of thresholding/tracing. Using a clinically acceptable variation for 95% of repeat measures; both intra-observer and inter-observer variation were acceptable for each technique. However, validity, as demonstrated by graphs of agreement against water displacement showed that the "limits of agreement" using stereology were within the acceptable range, while those using the thresholding/tracing technique were not. Quantitative estimates of variation and a graphical representation of the limits of agreement show that stereology is at least as precise as the thresholding/tracing method but is superior in terms of speed and validity. This has broad implications for published estimates of brain region volumes in human diseases such as epilepsy, dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Persistent alterations in dendrites, spines, and dynorphinergic synapses in the nucleus accumbens shell of rats with neuroleptic-induced dyskinesias.

Chronic treatment of humans or experimental animals with classical neuroleptic drugs can lead to abnormal, tardive movements that persist long after the drugs are withdrawn. A role in these neuroleptic-induced dyskinesias may be played by a structural change in the shell of the nucleus accumbens where the opioid peptide dynorphin is upregulated in treated rats that show vacuous chewing movements (VCMs). The shell of the nucleus accumbens normally contains a dense plexus of dynorphinergic fibers especially in its caudomedial part. After 27 weeks of haloperidol administration and 18 weeks of withdrawal, the immunoreactive labeling of this plexus is intensified when compared with that after vehicle treatment. In addition, medium spiny neurons here show a significant increase in spine density, dendritic branching, and numbers of terminal segments. In the VCM-positive animals, the dendritic surface area is reduced, and dynorphin-positive terminals contact more spines and form more asymmetrical specializations than do those in animals without the syndrome (VCM-negative and vehicle-treated groups). Persistent, neuroleptic-induced oral dyskinesias could therefore be caused by incontrovertible alterations, involving terminal remodeling or sprouting, to the synaptic connectivity of the accumbal shell.

Immunocytochemical characterization of catecholaminergic neurons in the rat striatum following dopamine-depleting lesions.

It is possible either permanently or transiently to deplete the rat striatum of dopamine. Following such depletions, striatal neurons immunoreactive for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) or dopamine appear. The presence of dopamine-producing neurons in the striatum has relevance for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, but whether these catecholaminergic phenotypes all produce dopamine is unclear. In the present study we establish that after unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions or methamphetamine administration, striatal TH-immunoreactive neurons differ in size, morphology and location from those that are immunopositive for AADC or dopamine. The TH-positive cells which were localized either to ventral parts of the striatum or to the central and dorsal areas of the caudate-putamen generally have the morphological features of projection neurons, whereas those containing AADC or dopamine were confined to subcallosal positions in the dorsal medial quadrant of the caudate-putamen and resemble small, local-circuit neurons. The fact that AADC-immunoreactive neurons overlap in size, morphology and location with the cells that produce dopamine suggests strongly that this population is dopaminergic. However, the simultaneous appearance of neurons that contain the TH enzyme but clearly do not make dopamine raises questions about the functional role of these cells and the cellular mechanisms responsible for their induction following striatal dopamine loss.

Chronic haloperidol treatment impairs glutamate transport in the rat striatum.

High-affinity, Na(+)-dependent transport of glutamate into neurons and glial cells maintains the extracellular concentration of this neurotransmitter at a sub-toxic level. Chronic blockade of dopamine D(2) receptors with haloperidol elevates extracellular glutamate levels in the striatum. The present study examines the effect of long-term haloperidol treatment on glutamate transporter activity using an assay based on measuring the uptake of D-[3H]aspartate in striatal synaptosomes prepared from male Wistar rats. The maximal rate of glutamate transport in the striatum is reduced by 63% following 27 weeks of haloperidol treatment. This impairment of glutamate transport may be important in chronic neuroleptic drug action.

The synaptic framework for chemical signaling in nucleus accumbens.

Our knowledge of the organization of the nucleus accumbens has been greatly advanced in the last two decades, but only now are we beginning to understand the complex neural circuitry that underlies the mix of behaviors attributed to this nucleus. Superimposed on the neurochemically defined territories of the shell and core are four or more conduits for information flow. Each of these behaviorally relevant pathways can be characterized by the spatial distribution of inputs to its central unit: the GABAergic projection neuron, a spiny cell that also contains the opioid peptides, enkephalin or dynorphin. In this review, current models of accumbal circuits will be examined and, with the aid of recent anatomical findings, further extended to shed light on how functionally diverse information is processed in this nucleus. However complex, accumbal wiring is not fixed, and, as we will show, psychostimulants, dopamine-deleting lesions, and chronic blockade of dopaminergic receptors can alter the anatomical substrate, synaptology, and neurotrophic factors that govern circuits through the shell and core.

Radiological determination of the posterior limits of the temporal lobe for volumetric analysis.

The posterior peri-Sylvian area is the most highly lateralized part of the human brain due to its specialised role in language. Currently, there is no clearly defined posterior boundary of the temporal lobe which takes account of language lateralization and which can be reliably determined radiologically. However, there have been a number of recent advances in magnetic resonance technology including volume visualisation techniques which have as their goal the realistic three-dimensional representation of the brain which is acquired in two-dimensional slices. These have enabled the identification of precise macroanatomical and cytoarchitectural boundaries from which an efficient and reproducible posterior limit may be demarcated. Such limit standardisation is important for volumetric investigations of both neurological and psychiatric disease. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of 20 normal subjects (10 male and 10 female), aged between 18 and 42 years, were acquired as part of a study of normal temporal lobe volume variation. In order to demonstrate the method of posterior limit placement, a thin slice (1.5 mm) 3D spoiled gradient magnetic resonance image of the brain of a 30 year-old right-handed male, without neurological disease, was acquired on a 1.5 tesla GE magnetic resonance machine. The data set was transferred via network to the hard disk of a 166 MHz Pentium processor PC. A software package called MEASURE allowed reformation of the data set in all three orthogonal planes. Then, using a high resolution algorithm, the brain was aligned along the newly proposed posterior plane which runs from the limit of the Sylvian fissure, identified on a 3D rendering, to the posterior/inferior splenium. It is hoped that this procedure will be utilised as a standard method for radiological determination of the limit of the posterior temporal lobe in order to allow volumetric measurements of this structure to be compared in a meaningful way.

NMDA receptor blockade attenuates the haloperidol induction of Fos protein in the dorsal but not the ventral striatum.

Neuroleptic blockade of dopamine receptors is known to produce an increase in the expression of Fos. This increase may be related to elevations in glutamate transmission which in turn activates N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. In the present study, we examine the role of these receptors in the haloperidol-induced augmentation of Fos in the caudate-putamen and nucleus accumbens of Wistar rats. Animals were divided into four groups for each experiment and each was injected either with saline; a noncompetitive NMDA antagonist, dizocilpine maleate (MK801, 5 mg/kg); haloperidol (0.5 mg/kg); or MK801 followed by an injection of haloperidol. Fos-immunoreactive cells appear in large numbers in all parts of the striatum 3 h after the administration of haloperidol. Pretreatment with MK801 attenuates the haloperidol-induced increase in Fos in the caudate-putamen. However, antagonism of the NMDA receptor does not significantly reduce the density of Fos-immunoreactive cells in any territory of nucleus accumbens, i.e., shell, core, or rostral pole. These data suggest that haloperidol acts in an NMDA-dependent manner in the caudate-putamen, but independently in parts of nucleus accumbens traditionally considered to be targets of antipsychotic drugs.

Topographical organization of projections from the entorhinal cortex to the striatum of the rat.

The efferent projections of the entorhinal cortex to the striatum were studied with retrograde (horseradish peroxidase wheat germ agglutinin) and anterograde (biocytin and biotinylated dextran amine) tracing methods. The bulk of the entorhinal cortical fibres were found to project to the nucleus accumbens in the ventral striatum, but the caudate putamen is only sparsely and diffusely innervated, rostrally, along its dorsal and medial borders. Fibres arising from neurons in the lateral entorhinal cortex project throughout the rostrocaudal extent of the nucleus accumbens but are most abundant in the core and lateral shell of that nucleus. The rostral neurons of the medial entorhinal cortex were found to project sparsely to the striatum, whereas caudal neurons provide a dense input to the rostral one-third of the nucleus accumbens, especially to the rostral pole, where they concentrate more in the core than in the shell. Contralateral entorhinal projections, which are very sparse, were found in the same parts of the nucleus accumbens and the caudate-putamen as the ipsilateral terminal fields. The present observations that entorhinal inputs to the nucleus accumbens are regionally aligned suggest that disruption of these connections could produce site-specific deficits with, presumably, specific behavioural consequences.

Morphological changes in met(5)-enkephalin-immunoreactive synaptic boutons in the rat neostriatum after haloperidol decanoate treatment.

The morphological plasticity of an identified population of synaptic boutons in the rat neostriatum was investigated 24 h (short-term treatment) or 14 days (long-term treatment) after administration of the depot neuroleptic, haloperidol decanoate. Specific methionine(5)-enkephalin antiserum was used to label bouton profiles in the dorsal neostriatum. The size and shape of these boutons was subsequently analysed with quantitative methods at the ultrastructural level. Immunoreactive synaptic bouton profiles were found to have a larger cross-sectional area, to be less circular in shape and to have a longer maximum diameter after long-term neuroleptic treatment. These parameters were not significantly affected by short-term neuroleptic treatment. The morphological parameters indicate that methionine(5)-enkephalin-immunoreactive boutons become enlarged, probably by elongating. This suggests that boutons containing methionine(5)-enkephalin increase their potential synaptic efficacy in the long term after neuroleptic treatment.

Shell and core in monkey and human nucleus accumbens identified with antibodies to calbindin-D28k.

The neurochemical division of the rodent nucleus accumbens into shell and core is now a widely accepted concept. However, such divisions in the primate nucleus accumbens have yet to be fully clarified and described. In the present study, the forebrains of three primates--marmoset, rhesus monkey, and human--and a Wistar rat, were immunoreacted with antibodies directed against calbindin-D28k. The patterns of immunoreactivity in the primates' ventral striatum were mapped and compared to that of rat. Calbindin staining was uneven in all species and there was no evidence of a bicompartmental organization, i.e., striosome/patch and matrix, in central parts of the nucleus. Nucleus accumbens in primates, as in rat, could be divided immunohistochemically into a crescent-shaped outer shell--medially, ventrally and laterally--and an inner core. In general, medial parts of the shell stained less intensely for calbindin than did lateral parts. However, interspecific variation in the intensity of the immunoreactive staining and the mediolateral extent of the shell was obvious. The core, which immunostained unevenly, was consistently more intensely immunoreactive than either medial or lateral shell in all species except the marmoset. These results suggest that the neurochemical subdivisions of shell and core established for nucleus accumbens of rodents are also present in primates. However, further work is needed to establish whether these territories are homologous and, if so, the full extent of that homology.

Effects of dopamine depletion on the morphology of medium spiny neurons in the shell and core of the rat nucleus accumbens.

Nucleus accumbens receives a dense dopaminergic innervation which is important in regulating motivated states of behavior such as goal-directed actions, stimulus-reward associations and reinforcement of addictive substances. The shell and core territories of this nucleus each receive functionally and morphologically distinct dopaminergic inputs and lesions of the ascending pathways totally deprive the core but not the shell of dopaminergic fibers. Medium spiny neurons are the principal targets of dopaminergic terminals. The present study explored whether the loss of dopamine inputs can affect these neurons and whether cells in the shell and core would be equally susceptible to such a loss. Intracellular injection in fixed slices and neuronal reconstruction were used to analyze the dendritic trees of 62 neurons in the shell and core of animals that received a unilateral, chronic 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of the medial forebrain bundle. In the dopamine-depleted core, dendrites are significantly shorter (16% decrease) than in the intact core and in both the dopamine-depleted core and lateral shell, dendrites are less spiny than in respective control regions. Dopamine loss in the medial shell is associated with significantly more tortuous dendrites that are lower in spine density. However, the number of spines is not reduced which may mean that the increase recorded for segment length, although insignificant in tests, could be responsible for the change in spine density. These data suggest that the loss of dopamine can affect accumbal neuronal morphology and, moreover, can affect neuronal structures differentially in the shell and core.

Synaptic relationships of enkephalinergic and cholinergic neurons in the nucleus accumbens of the rat.

Leucine5-enkephalin- and choline acetyltransferase-containing, presumably cholinergic, neurons revealed by dual label immunocytochemistry were found in the shell and core of the rat nucleus accumbens. The perikarya, dendrites and boutons of cholinergic neurons were labeled with the diaminobenzidine precipitate, whereas those of the enkephalinergic neurons were labeled with silver-intensified colloidal gold. Ultrastructural examination revealed that both the enkephalinergic and the cholinergic boutons generally formed symmetric synapses with unlabeled dendrites and, occasionally, with unlabeled dendritic spines. Enkephalin-immunoreactive terminals which were much larger than cholinergic boutons, seldom apposed or formed synapses with cholinergic structures in the nucleus. In the core, cholinergic terminals were frequently found apposed to enkephalin-immunoreactive dendrites and perikarya and were often seen in synaptic contact with enkephalinergic dendrites, whereas in the shell, cholinergic boutons seldom apposed or contacted enkephalinergic targets. These findings show that enkephalinergic and cholinergic neurons differ in their synaptic arrangements within the nucleus accumbens and provide further evidence for differentially organized intrinsic connections of shell and core territories.