Abstract
Apathy is a pervasive clinical phenomenon that deserves more attention at the translational and pre-clinical levels. To study apathy-like behavior in mice, we relied on an operational definition of apathy: the quantitative reduction of voluntary, goal-directed behaviors. We recently found that the chronic loss of function of a specific cell type (striatal dopamine receptor type 2-expressing medium spiny neurons, D2-MSN) in a restricted region (the ventrolateral striatum, VLS) was sufficient to induce apathy-like behavior in a food-seeking operant task. We further showed that VLS D2-MSN are activated at the preparatory period, and that optogenetic inhibition of VLS D2-MSN during that period resulted in transient decreases in instrumental motivation, strengthening the hypothesis that VLS D2-MSN mediate apathy-like behavior in mice. Mice bearing VLS D2-MSN dysfunction can thus be regarded as an apathy model for future translational studies.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 685-689 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences |
Volume | 73 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2019 Nov 1 |
Keywords
- fiberphotometry
- goal-directed behavior
- motivation
- operant conditioning
- optogenetics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)
- Neurology
- Clinical Neurology
- Psychiatry and Mental health