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Prefronto-cortical dopamine D1 receptor sensitivity can critically influence working memory maintenance during
Melissa Reneaux1, Rahul Gupta1
1School of Computational and Integrative Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
Plos One
|May 30, 2018
Summary
Altered dopamine D1 receptor sensitivity in the prefrontal cortex can impair working memory. Higher sensitivity narrows the optimal dopamine range and reduces cognitive robustness, impacting conditions like aging and schizophrenia.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Psychiatry
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- The dopamine (DA) hypothesis posits that prefrontal cortex (PFC) DA levels critically influence working memory (WM).
- Optimal PFC DA concentration supports sustained neural activity for WM maintenance, while deviations impair function.
- Changes in D1 receptor (D1R) sensitivity are observed in neuropsychiatric conditions affecting cognition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of altered cortical D1 receptor sensitivity on working memory maintenance.
- To explore how changes in D1R-sensitivity affect the optimal dopamine range and WM robustness.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a quantitative neural mass model of the prefronto-mesoprefrontal system.
- Simulated the effects of varying D1R-sensitivity on neural activity and WM performance.
Main Results:
- Increased D1R-sensitivity was found to shrink the optimal DA concentration range for WM.
- Higher D1R-sensitivity shifts the optimal DA range towards lower concentrations.
- Reduced WM robustness against noise and exacerbated cognitive decline at abnormal DA levels were observed with higher D1R-sensitivity.
Conclusions:
- Cortical D1R-sensitivity significantly modulates WM maintenance and robustness.
- Findings highlight the importance of precise DA drug dosages due to patient variability in D1R-sensitivity.
- Impaired WM may persist even with normalized DA levels if D1R-sensitivity is altered.
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