Altered risk-based decision making following adolescent alcohol use results from an imbalance in reinforcement learning in rats

Alcohol use during adolescence has profound and enduring consequences on decision-making under risk. However, the fundamental psychological processes underlying these changes are unknown. Here, we show that alcohol use produces over-fast learning for better-than-expected, but not worse-than-expected, outcomes without altering subjective reward valuation. We constructed a simple reinforcement learning model to simulate altered decision making using behavioral parameters extracted from rats with a history of adolescent alcohol use. Remarkably, the learning imbalance alone was sufficient to simulate the divergence in choice behavior observed between these groups of animals. These findings identify a selective alteration in reinforcement learning following adolescent alcohol use that can account for a robust change in risk-based decision making persisting into later life.     

The effect of administering corticoliberin into the striatum on the open-field and shuttle-box behaviors of KHA and KLA strain rats]

The effects of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) injected into the dorsal neostriatum on the open-field and shuttle-box behavior were studied in rats with high (Koltushi high avoidance, KHA) and low (Koltushi low avoidance, KLA) capability for avoidance learning. The effects of this hormone on the behavior of these rat strains were different. In KLA rats with passive strategy of behavior the CRH injection led to a rapid locomotor activation in the open field, while the rats with active behavioral strategy (KHA) reacted to the injection by a significant decrease in locomotion and change for the passive mode of behavior. The same CRH effects on locomotion were obtained in the shuttle-box experiments. Moreover, in the KLA rats the neurohormone injection resulted in an improvement of avoidance learning in contrast to the KHA rats, in which CRH substantially impaired avoidance learning. The obtained evidence is discussed in terms of the important role of striatal CRH in the choice of behavioral strategy in stress.     

Effectiveness of different types of reinforcement in a controlled experiment

The paper shows the possibility for animals to learn to change the form of their own evoked electrical brain activity in the course of a controlled experiment. The stimulation of the brain and cutaneous pain stimuli served for rats as the reinforcing factor. The presence of two factos, functioning throughout such reinforcement, is shown: specific one, providing for the adaptive change in the evoked response, and non-specific one, always lowering the EP amplitude due to general activation. The learning is successful only in case when both factors act in one direction.     

叶酸联合成体神经干细胞治疗创伤性脑损伤大鼠的实验

目的观察叶酸联合成体神经干细胞对创伤性脑损伤大鼠的治疗作用,探讨其可能作用机制。方法 120只Wistar大鼠随机分为6组,正常组,模型组,假手术组,叶酸注射组,成体神经干细胞移植组,成体神经干细胞移植＋叶酸注射组。倒置显微镜下观察神经干细胞形态学变化;流式细胞仪检测神经干细胞表面标记物CD105、CD45、CD44、CD29的表达;免疫荧光法检测神经元特异性烯醇酶（NSE成熟神经元的特异性标志）、胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP胶质细胞的标记物）的表达;平衡木实验检测大鼠运动协调与整和能力;Morris水迷宫实验测试各组大鼠的学习记忆能力;HE染色及Brdu免疫组化实验观察脑组织形态学变化;酶联免疫吸附试验检测大鼠脑组中脑源性神经生长因子（BDNF）、神经生长因子（NGF）的表达;蛋白质印迹法检测脑组织中凋亡相关蛋白BCL-2、Bax、Caspase-3的表达。结果分离所得细胞能在体外传代培养,流式细胞仪检测发现细胞阳性表达CD44、CD29,阴性表达CD105、CD45,细胞经胎牛血清诱导分化后能形成NSE或GFAP阳性细胞。实验表明,叶酸与成体神经干细胞干预创伤性脑损伤大鼠模型后能显著改善其行为学变化,减轻脑组织的炎症反应,恢复受损神经细胞,增加脑组织内BDNF、NGF的含量,上调BCL-2的表达,下调Bax、Caspase-3的表达。结论叶酸联合成体神经干细胞干预创伤性脑损伤大鼠能显著改善中枢神经功能,对维持神经元微环境稳态具有重要的作用。     

The role of individual characteristics and learning in the manifestation of motor asymmetry in rats

Relative role was studied of the "initial" preference (caused by animals individual properties) and learning in real preference of one limb in rats. After a short-time learning to get food from a narrow horizontal pipe only by the left paw a retrograde amnesia was evoked in rats. At preference determination after three weeks, in conditions which allowed to get food by any paw, in the group of animals without amnesia the number of the left-handed rats was 5.7 times more than of the right-handed ones. In the group of animals with amnesia the numbers of the left-handed, right-handed and ambidextrous were approximately equal. Correlation was revealed between the speed of learning to get food by the left paw and the number of attempts to use the right paw. It has been shown that the initial preference may be stably changed even by a short-time learning (3 food seizures). By the degree of manifestation of the initial preference the rats form a continuum with a gradual transition from pronounced right-handed animals to pronounced left-handed ones. The weaker is the initial preference, the greater the role of learning in the real preference of one of the paws.     

Rats’ learning of a new motor skill: Insight into the evolution of motor sequence learning

Recent behavioral and neural evidence has suggested that ethologically relevant sub-movements (movement primitives) are used by primates for more complex motor skill learning. These primitives include extending the hand, grasping an object, and holding food while moving it toward the mouth. In prior experiments with rats performing a reach-to-grasp-food task, we observed that especially during early task learning, rats appeared to have movement primitives similar to those seen in primates. Unlike primates, however, during task learning the rats performed these sub-movements in a disordered manner not seen in humans or macaques, e.g. with the rat chewing before placing the food pellet in its mouth. Here, in two experiments, we tested the hypothesis that for rats, learning this ecologically relevant skill involved learning to concatenate the sub-movements in the correct order. The results confirmed our initial observations, and suggested that several aspects of forepaw/hand use, taken for granted in primate studies, must be learned by rats to perform a logically connected and seemingly ecologically important series of sub-movements. We discuss our results from a comparative and evolutionary perspective.     

Effect of microinjections of a selective blocker of M1-muscarinic receptors pirenzepine into the neostriatum on the rat motor activity

In simulated discrimination conditioned reflex of active avoidance (CRAA) in T-maze, the effect of bilateral microinjections of the muscarinic receptor M1 selective blocker pirenzepine on the CRAA formation and behaviour in the "open filed" test, was studied in rats. A sharp worsening of the CRAA learning and a significant increase in the motor activity were shown to occur in rats following the microinjections as compared with control rats. The change in the motor responses seems to account for the worsening of the CRAA learning. Another reason of the phenomenon could involve a disorder in perception of conditioned signals and their poor differentiation. The data obtained and the literature data suggest a complex character of changes induced by the blockade of the M1 muscarinic receptors of the neostriatum.     

Maternal methyl-containing dietary supplementation alters the ability to learn in adult rats in swimming Morris test

Maternal choline diet influences the spatial learning processes. In this work, the learning ability of adult progeny of mothers who had received methyl diet enriched with choline and betain during pregnancy and lactation was studied in Morris test. The introduction of the diet to pregnant rats resulted in an increase in the time of search for invisible platform and time of swimming near the pool walls in offsprings, which meant a worsening of their learning ability. It was also found that change in platform searching strategy was not associated with an increase in anxiety of male rats. Possible involvement of maternal methyl diet in the change of expression of genes which control development of the nervous system is discussed.     

Shifts in preferred learning strategy across the estrous cycle in female rats

The current status of the effects of ovarian steroids on learning and memory remains somewhat unclear, despite a large undertaking to evaluate these effects. What is emerging from this literature is that estrogen, and perhaps progesterone, influences learning and memory, but does so in a task-dependent manner. Previously, we have shown that ovariectomized rats given acute treatments of estrogen acquire allocentric or "place" tasks more easily than do rats deprived of estrogen, but acquire egocentric or "response" learning tasks more slowly than do those deprived of hormone, suggesting that estrogen treatment may bias the strategy a rat is able to use to solve tasks. To determine if natural fluctuations in ovarian hormones influence cognitive strategy, we tested whether strategy use fluctuated across the estrous cycle in reproductively intact female rats. We found that in two tasks in which rats freely choose the strategy used to solve the task, rats were more likely to use place strategies at proestrous, that is, when ovarian steroids are high. Conversely, estrous rats were biased toward response strategies. The data suggest that natural fluctuations in ovarian steroids may bias the neural system used and thus the cognitive strategies chosen during learning and memory.     

高脂膳食对肥胖易感和肥胖抵抗大鼠学习记忆能力的影响及机制

经过长期的高脂膳食后并非所有个体都会发生肥胖,还有些个体会产生肥胖抵抗现象。高脂膳食影响海马依赖的学习记忆等认知功能已被广泛证实,但目前关于高脂膳食对肥胖抵抗个体学习记忆能力影响的研究仍较少见。本文旨在对比研究高脂膳食对肥胖易感（obesity-prone, OP）和肥胖抵抗（obesity-resistant, OR）大鼠空间学习记忆能力的影响,并探讨其潜在的可能机制。Morris水迷宫结果显示,肥胖易感大鼠的学习能力显著低于对照大鼠和肥胖抵抗大鼠,但3组大鼠的记忆功能无显著性差异。Western印迹结果显示,与对照组相比,肥胖易感和肥胖抵抗大鼠海马内脑源性神经营养因子(BDNF)、血管内皮细胞生长因子(VEGF)和突触素(SYN)的含量均显著降低,丙二醛(MDA)和白介素1β(IL-1β)的含量均显著升高;且肥胖易感大鼠海马内上述蛋白质含量的变化更明显。免疫荧光染色和激光共聚焦显微镜扫描结果均显示,肥胖易感大鼠的海马神经发生水平显著低于肥胖抵抗大鼠和对照大鼠,但肥胖抵抗大鼠的海马神经发生水平与对照大鼠相比未见显著性变化。这些结果提示,高脂膳食可能是通过降低海马内突触可塑相关蛋白质的表达和神经发生,以及加剧炎症反应来损害肥胖易感大鼠的空间学习能力,而对肥胖抵抗大鼠的学习记忆能力影响不显著。     

绿茶多酚对脑缺血大鼠血脑屏障及学习记忆功能的影响

目的 研究绿茶多酚(Green tea polyphenols,GTPs)对脑缺血大鼠血脑屏障(Blood-brain barrier,BBB)及学习记忆功能的影响.方法 双侧颈总动脉结扎法制备脑缺血大鼠模型,大鼠随机分为假手术组、模型组和GTPs治疗组,每组8只,观察GTPs的保护作用.应用Morris水迷宫测试大鼠学习记忆能力,甲苯胺蓝染色法观察大鼠海马CA1区神经元形态变化,透射电镜观察BBB的变化以及海马CA1区神经元超微结构改变.结果模型组与假手术组相比BBB破坏,海马CA1区结构紊乱,学习记忆能力明显下降(P＜o.05),GTPs治疗组与模型组相比,缺血性脑损伤明显减轻,学习记忆能力明显改善(P＜0.05).结论 GTPs能够减轻缺血性脑损伤,从而发挥改善脑缺血SD大鼠学习记忆能力的作用.     

Spatial learning induces predominant downregulation of cytosolic proteins in the rat hippocampus

Spatial learning is known to depend on protein synthesis in the hippocampus. Whereas the role of the hippocampus in spatial memory is established, the biochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying this process are poorly understood. To comprehend the complex pattern of protein expression induced by spatial learning, we analyzed alterations in the rat hippocampus proteome after 7 days of spatial learning in the Morris water maze. Forty Wistar rats were randomized into two groups. Animals of group A learned to localize a hidden platform in the water maze. Animals of group B served as controls and spent exactly the same time in the water maze as animals of group A. However, no platform was used in this test and the rats could not learn to localize the target. After the last trial, hydrophilic proteins from the hippocampus were isolated. A proteome-wide study was performed, based on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. Compared with non-learning animals, 53 (70%) proteins were downregulated and 23 (30%) proteins were upregulated after 7 days in rats with spatial learning. The overall changes in protein expression, as quantified by the induction factor, ranged from -1.62 (downregulation to 62%) to 2.10 (upregulation by 110%) compared with controls (100%). Most identified proteins exhibit known functions in vesicle transport, cytoskeletal architecture, and metabolism as well as neurogenesis. These findings indicate that learning in the Morris water maze has a morphological correlate on the proteome level in the hippocampus.     

右美托咪定对慢性应激抑郁妊娠大鼠子代发育及空间学习记忆能力的影响

妊娠期抑郁症可以通过影响孕妇的生理和心理变化,进而影响新生儿的正常生长发育,右美托咪定(dexmedetomidine,Dex)可以有效缓解抑郁情绪,降低产后抑郁症的发生。为探讨Dex对慢性应激抑郁妊娠大鼠子代发育及空间学习记忆能力的影响,将60只妊娠大鼠随机分为对照组、模型组、低剂量右美托咪定组和高剂量右美托咪定组,统计各组大鼠孕育率、平均产仔率和平均仔鼠成活率,并记录子代大鼠出生后体质量变化及学习记忆能力;检测子鼠脑组织乙酰胆碱(acetylcholine,Ach)、5-HT含量、TChE活力及海马组织CREB、p-CREB及BDNF的表达。结果显示,Dex可以以剂量依赖的方式提高慢性应激抑郁妊娠大鼠子代的平均成活率,调节脑组织Ach、5-HT、CREB、p-CREB和BDNF的水平,改善子鼠的学习记忆能力。结果表明,Dex可能通过调控神经递质和促进CREB信号传导,改善慢性应激抑郁妊娠大鼠的子代鼠学习记忆能力。研究探究了 Dex对妊娠期抑郁症大鼠子代生长发育和空间学习记忆能力的影响,以期指导临床治疗。     

Level of neuroactive steroids in the brain and sex-related peculiarities of formation and extinction of conditioned reflex in rats

Sex-related peculiarities of dynamics of brain sex steroids in the process of learning and extinction of the conditioned reflex of passive avoidance have been studied in model experiment. Prior to learning of the conditioned reflex, female rats were found to be distinguished by manifestation of anxiety and fear as compared with male rats. At formation of the conditioned reflex, no significant sex-related differences were detected between males and females, whereas extinction of the conditioned reaction of passive avoidance in males occurred by 2–3 days faster than in females. At learning of conditioned reaction of passive avoidance, in sexually mature male rats there was revealed an increase of the testosterone content in various brain structures, especially in hippocampus and frontal cortex, while its level in blood plasma remained unchanged. Also shown was an elevation of estradiol concentration in female amygdale, whereas at extinction of the conditioned reaction of passive avoidance, a rise of estradiol values was noted in hippocampus and cingular cortex. At the same time, the testosterone level in blood plasma did not change, whereas after extinction of the conditioned reflex the estradiol concentration decreased statistically significantly. Different dynamics of changes of the sex steroid levels in brain and blood plasma can indicate a possibility of their formation in the nervous tissue. The performed correlation analysis confirms the concept of selective involvement of testosterone and estradiol of individual brain structures in realization of processes of learning and memory in sexually mature male and female rats.     

Alpha1-adrenergic receptor antagonist tamsulosin ameliorates aging-induced memory impairment by enhancing neurogenesis and suppressing apoptosis in the hippocampus of old-aged rats

Age-related memory decline is closely associated with decreased neurogenesis and increased apoptosis in the hippocampus. Noradrenaline exerts its effect by selectively binding to and activating adrenergic receptors (ARs). Tamsulosin, α₁-AR antagonist, is reported to have access to the brain and interact with α₁-AR. In this study, the effects of tamsulosin on short-term and spatial learning memory in terms of neurogenesis and apoptosis were investigated using rats. Step-down avoidance test for short-term memory and radial 8-arm maze test for spatial learning memory were conducted. Neurogenesis was detected by 5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine (BrdU) immunohistochemistry and apoptosis was evaluated by caspase-3 immunohistochemisty and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling (TUNE) staining. Western blot for protein kinase C (PKC), cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), tyrosine kinase B (TrkB), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase), Akt, Bcl-2, and Bax was conducted. In the aged rats, short-term and spatial learning memory was declined. Hippocampal nerogenesis was suppressed and hippocampal apoptosis was enhanced in the aged rats. In addition, phosphorylation of PKCα, CREB, PI-3 kinase, and Akt was decreased in the hippocampus of old-aged rats. Tamsulosin activated PKC/CREB and PI-3 kinase/Akt pathways. With these pathways, BDNF-TrkB signaling enhanced hippocampal neurogenesis and suppressed apoptosis in the old-aged rats. As the results, tamsulosin improved performance of short-term and spatial learning memory in the aged rats.     

Evaluation of the effect of arginine vasopressin on the formation of the conditioned reaction of active avoidance in rats

The effect was studied of arginine-vasopressin (AVP) intraperitoneal administration in a doze of 0.001 mg/kg on elaboration of conditioned reaction (CR) of active avoidance in rats. Estimation of reaction dynamics by dynamic delta index allowed to increase the informational value of the experimental data with taking into account the direction of reaction shift and individual characteristic of the animal. AVP improved the elaboration of active avoidance CR, lowered variability of individual learning ability and did not influence the change of the number of intersignal reactions and short-latency escapes in the process of learning. It is suggested that the main site of AVP effect is the animal's reaction to conditioned sound stimulus.     

bFGF对血管性痴呆大鼠海马神经干细胞的影响

目的皮下注射bFGF于血管性痴呆大鼠,研究用药前后对大鼠海马神经干细胞增殖能力的影响。方法制作VD大鼠模型,随机取用VD大鼠模型12只,分治疗组6只,痴呆组6只。另外,取假手术组6只。皮下注射bFGF于治疗组中血管性痴呆大鼠。治疗5周后,以Morris水迷宫定位航行试验和空间探索试验来检测大鼠的学习记忆能力,巢蛋白（nestin）免疫组织化学染色,观察海马nestin阳性细胞数的变化。结果治疗组大鼠海马nestin阳性细胞数较痴呆组明显增多。结论皮下注射bFGF后能迁移至海马,诱导海马产生nestin阳性细胞,刺激大鼠海马神经干细胞增殖,修复受损组织。     

Dynamics of population code for working memory in the prefrontal cortex

Some neurons (delay cells) in the prefrontal cortex elevate their activities throughout the time period during which the animal is required to remember past events and prepare future behavior, suggesting that working memory is mediated by continuous neural activity. It is unknown, however, how working memory is represented within a population of prefrontal cortical neurons. We recorded from neuronal ensembles in the prefrontal cortex as rats learned a new delayed alternation task. Ensemble activities changed in parallel with behavioral learning so that they increasingly allowed correct decoding of previous and future goal choices. In well-trained rats, considerable decoding was possible based on only a few neurons and after removing continuously active delay cells. These results show that neural activity in the prefrontal cortex changes dynamically during new task learning so that working memory is robustly represented and that working memory can be mediated by sequential activation of different neural populations.     

Human structural plasticity at record speed

How rapidly does learning shape our brains? A new study in this issue of Neuron by Sagi et?al. (2012) that uses diffusion magnetic resonance imaging in both humans and rats suggests that just 2?hr of spatial learning is sufficient to change brain structure.     

Plasticity in the Rat Prefrontal Cortex: Linking Gene Expression and an Operant Learning with a Computational Theory

The plasticity in the medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) of rodents or lateral prefrontal cortex in non human primates (lPFC), plays a key role neural circuits involved in learning and memory. Several genes, like brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cAMP response element binding (CREB), Synapsin I, Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CamKII), activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc), c-jun and c-fos have been related to plasticity processes. We analysed differential expression of related plasticity genes and immediate early genes in the mPFC of rats during learning an operant conditioning task. Incompletely and completely trained animals were studied because of the distinct events predicted by our computational model at different learning stages. During learning an operant conditioning task, we measured changes in the mRNA levels by Real-Time RT-PCR during learning; expression of these markers associated to plasticity was incremented while learning and such increments began to decline when the task was learned. The plasticity changes in the lPFC during learning predicted by the model matched up with those of the representative gene BDNF. Herein, we showed for the first time that plasticity in the mPFC in rats during learning of an operant conditioning is higher while learning than when the task is learned, using an integrative approach of a computational model and gene expression.