Neurotensin orchestrates valence assignment in the amygdala
The ability to associate temporally segregated information and assign positive or negative valence to environmental cues is paramount for survival. Studies have shown that different projections from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) are potentiated following reward or punishment learning1-7. However, w...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2023
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148792 |
| _version_ | 1826214327690985472 |
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| author | Fiete, Ila Zhang, Feng |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Fiete, Ila Zhang, Feng |
| author_sort | Fiete, Ila |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The ability to associate temporally segregated information and assign positive or negative valence to environmental cues is paramount for survival. Studies have shown that different projections from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) are potentiated following reward or punishment learning1-7. However, we do not yet understand how valence-specific information is routed to the BLA neurons with the appropriate downstream projections, nor do we understand how to reconcile the sub-second timescales of synaptic plasticity8-11 with the longer timescales separating the predictive cues from their outcomes. Here we demonstrate that neurotensin (NT)-expressing neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) projecting to the BLA (PVT-BLA:NT) mediate valence assignment by exerting NT concentration-dependent modulation in BLA during associative learning. We found that optogenetic activation of the PVT-BLA:NT projection promotes reward learning, whereas PVT-BLA projection-specific knockout of the NT gene (Nts) augments punishment learning. Using genetically encoded calcium and NT sensors, we further revealed that both calcium dynamics within the PVT-BLA:NT projection and NT concentrations in the BLA are enhanced after reward learning and reduced after punishment learning. Finally, we showed that CRISPR-mediated knockout of the Nts gene in the PVT-BLA pathway blunts BLA neural dynamics and attenuates the preference for active behavioural strategies to reward and punishment predictive cues. In sum, we have identified NT as a neuropeptide that signals valence in the BLA, and showed that NT is a critical neuromodulator that orchestrates positive and negative valence assignment in amygdala neurons by extending valence-specific plasticity to behaviourally relevant timescales. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:03:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/148792 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:03:25Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1487922023-03-28T03:03:59Z Neurotensin orchestrates valence assignment in the amygdala Fiete, Ila Zhang, Feng Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences The ability to associate temporally segregated information and assign positive or negative valence to environmental cues is paramount for survival. Studies have shown that different projections from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) are potentiated following reward or punishment learning1-7. However, we do not yet understand how valence-specific information is routed to the BLA neurons with the appropriate downstream projections, nor do we understand how to reconcile the sub-second timescales of synaptic plasticity8-11 with the longer timescales separating the predictive cues from their outcomes. Here we demonstrate that neurotensin (NT)-expressing neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) projecting to the BLA (PVT-BLA:NT) mediate valence assignment by exerting NT concentration-dependent modulation in BLA during associative learning. We found that optogenetic activation of the PVT-BLA:NT projection promotes reward learning, whereas PVT-BLA projection-specific knockout of the NT gene (Nts) augments punishment learning. Using genetically encoded calcium and NT sensors, we further revealed that both calcium dynamics within the PVT-BLA:NT projection and NT concentrations in the BLA are enhanced after reward learning and reduced after punishment learning. Finally, we showed that CRISPR-mediated knockout of the Nts gene in the PVT-BLA pathway blunts BLA neural dynamics and attenuates the preference for active behavioural strategies to reward and punishment predictive cues. In sum, we have identified NT as a neuropeptide that signals valence in the BLA, and showed that NT is a critical neuromodulator that orchestrates positive and negative valence assignment in amygdala neurons by extending valence-specific plasticity to behaviourally relevant timescales. 2023-03-27T17:48:16Z 2023-03-27T17:48:16Z 2022 2023-03-27T17:41:36Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148792 Fiete, Ila and Zhang, Feng. 2022. "Neurotensin orchestrates valence assignment in the amygdala." Nature, 608 (7923). en 10.1038/S41586-022-04964-Y Nature Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf Springer Science and Business Media LLC PMC |
| spellingShingle | Fiete, Ila Zhang, Feng Neurotensin orchestrates valence assignment in the amygdala |
| title | Neurotensin orchestrates valence assignment in the amygdala |
| title_full | Neurotensin orchestrates valence assignment in the amygdala |
| title_fullStr | Neurotensin orchestrates valence assignment in the amygdala |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neurotensin orchestrates valence assignment in the amygdala |
| title_short | Neurotensin orchestrates valence assignment in the amygdala |
| title_sort | neurotensin orchestrates valence assignment in the amygdala |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148792 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fieteila neurotensinorchestratesvalenceassignmentintheamygdala AT zhangfeng neurotensinorchestratesvalenceassignmentintheamygdala |