Neuropeptide Y Variation Is Associated With Altered Static and Dynamic Functional Connectivity of the Salience Network.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a neurotransmitter that has been implicated in the development of anxiety and mood disorders. Low levels of NPY have been associated with risk for these disorders, and high levels with resilience. Anxiety and depression are associated with altered intrinsic functional connectivity of brain networks, but the effect of NPY on functional connectivity is not known.

Sex differences in the human reward system: convergent behavioral, autonomic and neural evidence.

Several studies have suggested that females and males differ in reward behaviors and their underlying neural circuitry. Whether human sex differences extend across neural and behavioral levels for both rewards and punishments remains unclear. We studied a community sample of 221 young women and men who performed a monetary incentive task known to engage the mesoaccumbal pathway and salience network.

Neuropeptide Y and representation of salience in human nucleus accumbens.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) produces anxiolytic effects in rodent models, and naturally occurring low NPY expression in humans has been associated with negative emotional phenotypes. Studies in rodent models have also demonstrated that NPY elicits reward behaviors through its action in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), but the impact of NPY on the human NAc is largely unexplored. We recruited 222 healthy young adults of either sex and genetically selected 53 of these subjects at the extremes of NPY expression (Low-NPY and High-NPY) to participate in functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Striatal dopamine release and genetic variation of the serotonin 2C receptor in humans.

Mesoaccumbal and nigrostriatal projections are sensitive to stress, and heightened stress sensitivity is thought to confer risk for neuropsychiatric disorders. Serotonin 2C (5-HT(2C)) receptors mediate the inhibitory effects of serotonin on dopaminergic circuitry in experimental animals, and preclinical findings have implicated 5-HT(2C) receptors in motivated behaviors and psychotropic drug mechanisms. In humans, a common missense single-nucleotide change (rs6318, Cys23Ser) in the 5-HT(2C) receptor gene (HTR2C) has been associated with altered activity in vitro and with clinical mood disorders.