Summary: The head evaluates whether impulses are positive or negative, prompting approach or mitigation actions that are necessary for survival. A new study has discovered that D1 and D2 neurons, two different types of neurons in the nucleus accumbens, respond to enjoyable and unrewarding stimuli in different ways.
Researchers discovered that D2 cells are crucial for updating heard associations, such as recognizing when a hazard is no longer dangerous, using real-time scanning in mice. These insights may help explain why people with stress or PTSD struggle to let go of bad thoughts and may lead to specific procedures.
Important Information
- D1 and D2 Neurons: Both synapse sorts respond to rewards and risks but share diverse learning roles.
- When a signal is no longer aversive, D2 cells assist in erasing negative associations.
- Implications for Mental Health: Getting a handle on D2 work might help you find new treatments for PTSD and anxiety.
Origin: BIAL Foundation
trillions of neurons in the human mind are constantly recepting external stimuli and information. Cells evaluate every instant whether the signal is positive or negative in order to make decisions. Positive or negative, there is a tendency to process, while the latter causes an aversion reaction, which helps ensure survival.
Although the brain’s nucleus accumbens ( NAc ) is a significant component in the evaluation and codification of stimuli, how the NAc’s D1 and D2 neuronal populations encode aversive or appetitive stimuli is still poorly understood.
A team of researchers led by Ana Joo Rodrigues and Carina Soares-Cunha ( ICVS, U. Minho ) with the assistance of the BIAL Foundation studied the D1 and D2 neurons of the NAc to understand how they can tell apart stimuli from how they affect learning.
The researchers ‘ first demonstration of D1 and D2’s simultaneous responses to both stimulation by tracking hundreds of neurons in mice that were exposed to emotion and aversive stimuli in real-time.
The researchers ‘ work was revealed in the article Dynamic representation of instinctive and aversive stimuli in the nucleus accumbens tank D1- and D2-medium spiky neurons, published in the medical journal , Nature Communications, that using sophisticated scanning in mice, they were able to see that both types of neurons are activated and work together, but they do so in different ways.
The D2 cells are necessary for breaking up that opposing association when organizations change, such as when a bad stimulus no longer has an uncomfortable consequence.
Better understanding the role of D2 neurons may lead to the development of new treatments, according to Carina Soares-Cunha, given that difficulties in changing negative associations are related to anxiety and post-traumatic stress.
” The similar external stimulus can cause various reactions based on the individual’s environment and memories. For instance, lights is make people happy and celebrate. Even if a former fighter is in a safe setting, she exemplifies how it can cause an anxiety crisis that brings back memories of war.
This research demonstrates the ability of the brain to adapt to new situations and continually reclassify external stimulation based on previous experiences while also demonstrating the difficulty of the cerebral circuits involved in this type of storage.
The Allen Institute ( USA ) and Columbia University students Rui Costa and Gabriela Martins developed the project together.
Funding: The study received funding from the European Research Council, the La Caixa Foundation, and the Foundation for Science and Technology in addition to the BIAL Foundation.
About this information about science study
Author: Sandra Pinto
Source: BIAL Foundation
Contact: Sandra Pinto – BIAL Foundation
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
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” Dynamic picture of instinctive and aversive stimulation in nucleus accumbens tank D1- and D2-medium spiky neurons” by Carina Soares-Cunha et cetera. Nature Communications
Abstract
In the nucleus accumbens barrel D1- and D2-medium spiny neurons, active representation of instinctual and aversive stimuli is produced.
Although the nucleus accumbens ( NAc ) is a crucial area of the brain for motivated behaviors, how distinct neuronal populations encode aversive or appetitive stimuli is still a mystery.
We monitored NAc shell D1- or D2-medium spiny neurons’ ( MSNs ) activity when they were exposed to stimuli of opposing valence and associative learning using microendoscopic calcium imaging in mice.
Although personal neurons’ coding drifted, both D1- and D2-population activity was sufficient to distinguish between opposing valence stimulus stimuli, but not predicted cues.
Importantly, D1- and D2-MSNs were recruited during both aversive and instinctive conditioning, supporting a simultaneous role in associated learning.
In contrast, when contingencies changed, the NAc experienced an asymmetrical answer, with more significant changes in D2-MSN activity. The necessity of this people in the death of aversive associations was demonstrated by the use of opsogenetic manipulation of D2-MSNs as direct proof.
Our findings reveal mechanisms that underlie motivated behavior, Pavlovian organisations, and their death.
