Differential effects of allopregnanolone and diazepam on social behavior through modulation of neural oscillation dynamics in basolateral amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex.

Effective treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD) have long been needed. One hypothesis for the mechanism of depression involves a decrease in neuroactive steroids such as allopregnanolone, an endogenous positive allosteric modulator of the γ-aminobutyric acid-gated chloride channel (GABA) receptor. In our previous study, we discovered that allopregnanolone, not diazepam, exhibited antidepressant-like effects in the social interaction test (SIT) of social defeat stress (SDS) model mice.

Mesolimbic dopamine release precedes actively sought aversive stimuli in mice.

In some models, animals approach aversive stimuli more than those housed in an enriched environment. Here, we found that male mice in an impoverished and unstimulating (i.e.

Answering hastily retards learning.

Appropriate decisions involve at least two aspects: the speed of the decision and the correctness of the decision. Although a quick and correct decision is generally believed to work favorably, these two aspects may be interdependent in terms of overall task performance. In this study, we scrutinized learning behaviors in an operant task in which rats were required to poke their noses into either of two holes by referring to a light cue.