Using brain microdialysis, we compared the relative role of 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT; serotonin) blockade and somatodendritic 5‐HT_1A and/or terminal 5‐HT_1B autoreceptor activation in the control of 5‐HT output. Fluoxetine (10 mg kg⁻¹ i.p.) doubled the 5‐HT output in frontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus. The 5‐HT_1A receptor antagonist WAY 100635, (0.3 mg kg⁻¹ s.c.) potentiated the effect of fluoxetine only in frontal cortex (to ∼500 % of baseline). Methiothepin (10 mg kg⁻¹ s.c.) further enhanced the 5‐HT rise induced by fluoxetine+WAY 100635, to 835±179% in frontal cortex and 456±24% in dorsal hippocampus. Locally applied, methiothepin potentiated the fluoxetine‐induced 5‐HT rise more in the former area. The selective 5‐HT_1B receptor antagonist SB‐224289 (4 mg kg⁻¹ i.p.) enhanced the effect of fluoxetine (10 mg kg⁻¹ i.p.) in both areas. As with methiothepin, SB‐224289 (4 mg kg⁻¹ i.p.) further enhanced the 5‐HT increase produced by fluoxetine+WAY 100635 more in frontal cortex (613±134%) than in dorsal hippocampus (353±59%). Locally applied, fluoxetine (10–300 μM; EC₅₀=28–29 μM) and citalopram (1–30 μM; EC₅₀=1.0–1.4 μM) increased the 5‐HT output two to three times more in frontal cortex than in dorsal hippocampus. These data suggest that the comparable 5‐HT increase produced by systemic fluoxetine in frontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus results from a greater effect of reuptake blockade in frontal cortex that is offset by a greater autoreceptor‐mediated inhibition of 5‐HT release. As a result, 5‐HT autoreceptor antagonists preferentially potentiate the effect of fluoxetine in frontal cortex. British Journal of Pharmacology (2000) 130, 160–166; doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0703297

In rodents, repeated exposure to unavoidable aggression followed by sustained sensory treat can lead to prolonged social aversion. The chronic social defeat stress model explores that phenomenon and it has been used as an animal model for human depression. However, some authors have questioned whether confounding effects may arise as the model also boosts anxiety-related behaviors. Despite its wide acceptance, most studies extract limited information from the behavior of the defeated animal. Often, the normalized occupancy around the social stimulus, the interaction zone, is taken as an index of depression. We hypothesized that this parameter is insufficient to fully characterize the behavioral consequences of this form of stress. Using an ethological approach, we showed that repeated social defeat delayed the expression of social investigation in long (10 min) sessions of social interaction. Also, the incidence of defensive behaviors, including stretched-attend posture and high speed retreats, was significantly higher in defeated mice in comparison to controls. Interestingly, a subpopulation of defeated mice showed recurrent and non-habituating stretched-attend posture and persistent flights during the entire session. Two indexes were created based on defensive behaviors to show that only recurrent flights correlates with sucrose intake. Together, the present study corroborates the idea that this model of social stress can precipitate a myriad of behaviors not readily disentangled. We propose that long sessions (> 150 s) and detailed ethological evaluation during social interaction tests are necessary to provide enough information to correctly classify defeated animals in terms of resilience and susceptibility to social defeat stress.

It is widely accepted that cortical neurons are similarly more activated during waking and paradoxical sleep (PS; aka REM) than during slow-wave sleep (SWS). However, we recently reported using Fos labeling that only a few limbic cortical structures including the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACA) contain a large number of neurons activated during PS hypersomnia. Our aim in the present study was to record local field potentials and unit activity from these two structures across all vigilance states in freely moving male rats to determine whether the RSC and the ACA are electrophysiologically specifically active during basal PS episodes. We found that theta power was significantly higher during PS than during active waking (aWK) similarly in the RSC and hippocampus (HPC) but not in ACA. Phase–amplitude coupling between HPC theta and gamma oscillations strongly and specifically increased in RSC during PS compared with aWK. It did not occur in ACA. Further, 68% and 43% of the units recorded in the RSC and ACA were significantly more active during PS than during aWK and SWS, respectively. In addition, neuronal discharge of RSC but not of ACA neurons increased just after the peak of hippocampal theta wave. Our results show for the first time that RSC neurons display enhanced spiking in synchrony with theta specifically during PS. We propose that activation of RSC neurons specifically during PS may play a role in the offline consolidation of spatial memories, and in the generation of vivid perceptual scenery during dreaming. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Fifty years ago, Michel Jouvet used the term paradoxical to define REM sleep because of the simultaneous occurrence of a cortical activation similar to waking accompanied by muscle atonia. However, we recently demonstrated using functional neuroanatomy that only a few limbic structures including the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACA) are activated during PS. In the present study, we show for the first time that the RSC and ACA contain neurons firing more during PS than in any other state. Further, RSC neurons are firing in phase with the hippocampal theta rhythm. These data indicate that the RSC is very active during PS and could play a key role in memory consolidation taking place during this state.

Bridging Integrator 1 (BIN1) is the second most important Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk gene, but its physiological roles in neurons and its contribution to brain pathology remain largely elusive. In this work, we show that BIN1 plays a critical role in the regulation of calcium homeostasis, electrical activity, and gene expression of glutamatergic neurons. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing on cerebral organoids generated from isogenic BIN1 wild type (WT), heterozygous (HET) and homozygous knockout (KO) human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), we show that BIN1 is mainly expressed by oligodendrocytes and glutamatergic neurons, like in the human brain. Both BIN1 HET and KO cerebral organoids show specific transcriptional alterations, mainly associated with ion transport and synapses in glutamatergic neurons. We then demonstrate that BIN1 cell-autonomously regulates gene expression in glutamatergic neurons by using a novel protocol to generate pure culture of hiPSC-derived induced neurons (hiNs). Using this system, we also show that BIN1 plays a key role in the regulation of neuronal calcium transients and electrical activity via its interaction with the L-type voltage-gated calcium channel Cav_1.2. BIN1 KO hiNs show reduced activity-dependent internalization and higher Cav_1.2 expression compared to WT hiNs. Pharmacological blocking of this channel with clinically relevant doses of nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker, partly rescues electrical and gene expression alterations in BIN1 KO glutamatergic neurons. Further, we show that transcriptional alterations in BIN1 KO hiNs that affect biological processes related to calcium homeostasis are also present in glutamatergic neurons of the human brain at late stages of AD pathology. Together, these findings suggest that BIN1-dependent alterations in neuronal properties could contribute to AD pathophysiology and that treatment with low doses of clinically approved calcium blockers should be considered as an option to slow disease-onset and progression.

Hippocampal (HPC) theta oscillation during post-training rapid eye movement (REM) sleep supports spatial learning. Theta also modulates neuronal and oscillatory activity in the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) during REM sleep. To investigate the relevance of theta-driven interaction between these two regions to memory consolidation, we computed the Granger causality within theta range on electrophysiological data recorded in freely behaving rats during REM sleep, both before and after contextual fear conditioning. We found a training-induced modulation of causality between HPC and RSC that was correlated with memory retrieval 24 h later. Retrieval was proportional to the change in the relative influence RSC exerted upon HPC theta oscillation. Importantly, causality peaked during theta acceleration, in synchrony with phasic REM sleep. Altogether, these results support a role for phasic REM sleep in hippocampo-cortical memory consolidation and suggest that causality modulation between RSC and HPC during REM sleep plays a functional role in that phenomenon.