Inhibition of noradrenergic signalling in rodent orbitofrontal cortex impairs the updating of goal-directed actions.

In a constantly changing environment, organisms must track the current relationship between actions and their specific consequences and use this information to guide decision-making. Such goal-directed behaviour relies on circuits involving cortical and subcortical structures. Notably, a functional heterogeneity exists within the medial prefrontal, insular, and orbitofrontal cortices (OFC) in rodents.

Dopamine and noradrenaline modulation of goal-directed behavior in orbital and medial prefrontal cortex: Toward a division of labor?

The prefrontal cortex is considered to be at the core of goal-directed behaviors. Notably, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is known to play an important role in learning action-outcome (A-O) associations, as well as in detecting changes in this contingency. Previous studies have also highlighted a specific engagement of the dopaminergic pathway innervating the mPFC in adapting to changes in action causality.

Targeting Catecholaminergic Systems in Transgenic Rats With a CAV-2 Vector Harboring a Cre-Dependent DREADD Cassette.

Techniques that allow the manipulation of specific neural circuits have greatly increased in the past few years. DREADDs (Designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs) provide an elegant way to manipulate individual brain structures and/or neural circuits, including neuromodulatory pathways. Considerable efforts have been made to increase cell-type specificity of DREADD expression while decreasing possible limitations due to multiple viral vectors injections.

Corticosteroid-Binding Globulin Deficiency Specifically Impairs Contextual and Recognition Memory Consolidation in Male Mice.

Background/aims: Glucocorticoids are essential in modulating memory processes of emotionally arousing experiences and we have shown that corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) influences glucocorticoid delivery to the brain. Here, we investigated the role of CBG in contextual and recognition long-term memory according to stress intensity.

Method: We used adult male mice totally deficient in CBG (Cbg KO) or brain-specific Cbg KO (CbgCamk KO) to examine their performance in contextual fear conditioning (CFC) and au-ditory fear conditioning, both at short (1 h) and long-term (24 h).

Distinct regional patterns in noradrenergic innervation of the rat prefrontal cortex.

The anatomy and functions of the rodent prefrontal cortex (PFC) have been extensively studied. It is now clear that the PFC is at the core of various executive functions and that these functions depend on monoaminergic neuromodulation. The PFC receives extensive projections from monoaminergic nuclei and, in particular, from the locus cœruleus (LC) which is the major source of noradrenaline (NA) in the cortex.