Differential roles for cortical versus sub-cortical noradrenaline and modulation of impulsivity in the rat

<p><strong>Rationale</strong><br/>Atomoxetine is a noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitor licensed for the treatment of adult and childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Although atomoxetine has established efficacy, the mechanisms which mediate its effects are not wel...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Benn, A, Robinson, E
Format: Journal article
Published: Springer Verlag 2016
_version_ 1797079849536323584
author Benn, A
Robinson, E
author_facet Benn, A
Robinson, E
author_sort Benn, A
collection OXFORD
description <p><strong>Rationale</strong><br/>Atomoxetine is a noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitor licensed for the treatment of adult and childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Although atomoxetine has established efficacy, the mechanisms which mediate its effects are not well understood.</p> <p><strong>Objectives</strong><br/>In this study, we investigated the role of cortical versus sub-cortical noradrenaline by using focal dopamine beta hydroxylase-saporin-induced lesions, to the prefrontal cortex (n = 16) or nucleus accumbens shell (n = 18).</p> <p><strong>Methods</strong><br/>Healthy animals were tested by using the forced-choice serial reaction time task to assess the impact of the lesion on baseline performance and the response to atomoxetine and the psychostimulant amphetamine.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong><br/>We observed attenuation in the efficacy of atomoxetine in animals with lesions to the nucleus accumbens shell, but not the prefrontal cortex. Amphetamine-induced increases in premature responses were potentiated in animals with lesions to the prefrontal cortex, but not the nucleus accumbens shell.</p> <p><strong>Conclusions</strong><br/>These data suggest that noradrenaline in the nucleus accumbens shell plays an important role in the effects of atomoxetine. Under these conditions, prefrontal cortex noradrenaline did not appear to contribute to atomoxetine’s effects suggesting a lack of cortical-mediated “top-down” modulation. Noradrenaline in the prefrontal cortex appears to contribute to the modulation of impulsive responding in amphetamine-treated animals, with a loss of noradrenaline associated with potentiation of its effects. These data demonstrate a potential dissociation between cortical and sub-cortical noradrenergic mechanisms and impulse control in terms of the actions of atomoxetine and amphetamine.</p>
first_indexed 2024-03-07T00:51:42Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:869fb5f3-99de-496c-95f1-6e8dc56cf15b
institution University of Oxford
last_indexed 2024-03-07T00:51:42Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Springer Verlag
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:869fb5f3-99de-496c-95f1-6e8dc56cf15b2022-03-26T22:05:09ZDifferential roles for cortical versus sub-cortical noradrenaline and modulation of impulsivity in the ratJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:869fb5f3-99de-496c-95f1-6e8dc56cf15bSymplectic Elements at OxfordSpringer Verlag2016Benn, ARobinson, E<p><strong>Rationale</strong><br/>Atomoxetine is a noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitor licensed for the treatment of adult and childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Although atomoxetine has established efficacy, the mechanisms which mediate its effects are not well understood.</p> <p><strong>Objectives</strong><br/>In this study, we investigated the role of cortical versus sub-cortical noradrenaline by using focal dopamine beta hydroxylase-saporin-induced lesions, to the prefrontal cortex (n = 16) or nucleus accumbens shell (n = 18).</p> <p><strong>Methods</strong><br/>Healthy animals were tested by using the forced-choice serial reaction time task to assess the impact of the lesion on baseline performance and the response to atomoxetine and the psychostimulant amphetamine.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong><br/>We observed attenuation in the efficacy of atomoxetine in animals with lesions to the nucleus accumbens shell, but not the prefrontal cortex. Amphetamine-induced increases in premature responses were potentiated in animals with lesions to the prefrontal cortex, but not the nucleus accumbens shell.</p> <p><strong>Conclusions</strong><br/>These data suggest that noradrenaline in the nucleus accumbens shell plays an important role in the effects of atomoxetine. Under these conditions, prefrontal cortex noradrenaline did not appear to contribute to atomoxetine’s effects suggesting a lack of cortical-mediated “top-down” modulation. Noradrenaline in the prefrontal cortex appears to contribute to the modulation of impulsive responding in amphetamine-treated animals, with a loss of noradrenaline associated with potentiation of its effects. These data demonstrate a potential dissociation between cortical and sub-cortical noradrenergic mechanisms and impulse control in terms of the actions of atomoxetine and amphetamine.</p>
spellingShingle Benn, A
Robinson, E
Differential roles for cortical versus sub-cortical noradrenaline and modulation of impulsivity in the rat
title Differential roles for cortical versus sub-cortical noradrenaline and modulation of impulsivity in the rat
title_full Differential roles for cortical versus sub-cortical noradrenaline and modulation of impulsivity in the rat
title_fullStr Differential roles for cortical versus sub-cortical noradrenaline and modulation of impulsivity in the rat
title_full_unstemmed Differential roles for cortical versus sub-cortical noradrenaline and modulation of impulsivity in the rat
title_short Differential roles for cortical versus sub-cortical noradrenaline and modulation of impulsivity in the rat
title_sort differential roles for cortical versus sub cortical noradrenaline and modulation of impulsivity in the rat
work_keys_str_mv AT benna differentialrolesforcorticalversussubcorticalnoradrenalineandmodulationofimpulsivityintherat
AT robinsone differentialrolesforcorticalversussubcorticalnoradrenalineandmodulationofimpulsivityintherat