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Prefrontal cortex modulates desire and dread generated by nucleus accumbens glutamate disruption
Jocelyn M Richard1, Kent C Berridge
1Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. jocelyri@umich.edu
Biological Psychiatry
|September 18, 2012
Summary
The medial prefrontal cortex can control intense motivations like desire and fear originating in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Specific prefrontal cortex regions can bias motivation or suppress these intense subcortical drives.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Neurobiology
Background:
- Corticolimbic circuits enable top-down control of motivations.
- Nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell disruptions induce desire or dread.
- These motivations exhibit a rostrocaudal gradient in the NAc shell.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate medial prefrontal cortex modulation of NAc-generated motivations.
- Determine if specific prefrontal regions influence desire or dread.
Main Methods:
- Simultaneous microinjections in medial prefrontal cortex and NAc shell in rats.
- Examined modulation of NAc shell disruptions by activating/inhibiting medial orbitofrontal cortex, infralimbic cortex, and prelimbic cortex.
Main Results:
- Medial orbitofrontal cortex activation biased motivation towards appetite, amplifying eating behavior without affecting fear.
- Infralimbic cortex activation suppressed both appetitive eating and fear behaviors.
- Prelimbic cortex effects were not explicitly detailed but implied in the broader context.
Conclusions:
- Discrete prefrontal regions differentially modulate corticolimbic pathways.
- Prefrontal cortex can bias motivational valence or broadly suppress subcortical drives.
- Findings highlight the role of corticolimbic projections in regulating intense motivations.
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