Biology subjects

Parsegian, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Parsegian, A..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Differential acquisition of cocaine and heroin self-administration in a rat model of internalizing versus externalizing temperament

Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) constitute a major and rising public health concern. In addition, there is a growing appreciation that different classes of addictive substances are likely to lead to qualitatively different types of SUDs requiring differing treatment and relapse prevention strategies to be most effectively managed. Biological temperament, particularly on the internalizing - externalizing axis, is well established to influence addiction susceptibility. Externalizing behavior has long been understood to predispose individuals to addiction through novelty-seeking, sensation-seeking and impulsivity, while internalizing behavior provides an alternate pathway into addiction via increased occurrence of comorbid disorders (anxiety, depression). Here, we utilize a selectively bred rat model of internalizing vs externalizing temperament (bred High Responders, representing genetically mediated externalizing behavior and bred Low Responders, representing internalizing behavior) to examine differences in the acquisition of self-administration of the prototypical psychostimulant cocaine and the prototypical opioid heroin (diacetylmorphine). We found that, as predicted, cocaine and heroin drove different patterns of acquisition in the two different bred lines of rats. Further, this was influenced by temperament in complex ways. Notably, in females the "telescoping effect" for opioid addiction-like behavior was primarily specific to externalizing temperament. These findings highlight the impact and interaction of many factors, including drug class, temperament, and sex, on the acquisition of drug-taking behavior. Additionally, these findings indicate that sex differences in addiction vulnerability may be influenced in part by biological temperament.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2022

Cocaine during adolescence differentially impacts psychomotor sensitization and epigenetic profiles in adult male rats with divergent affective phenotypes

While early life drug use reliably predicts addiction liability in adulthood, the molecular mechanism by which this occurs, and the degree genetic predisposition is involved is not known. We used a unique genetic rat model of temperament to determine the impact of adolescent cocaine experience on adult psychomotor sensitization and epigenetic profiles in the striatum. Relative to adult bred low-responder (bLR) rats, bred high-responders (bHR) are more sensitive to the psychomotor-activating effects of cocaine and reinstate drug-seeking behavior more readily following prolonged cocaine exposure and a period of abstinence. We found that a 7-day sensitizing cocaine regimen (15 mg/kg/day) during either adolescence or adulthood produced psychomotor sensitization in bHRs only, while a dual cocaine exposure prevents further sensitization, suggesting limits on neuroplasticity. By contrast, adolescent cocaine in bLRs shifted their resilient phenotype, rendering them more responsive to cocaine in adulthood when initially challenged with cocaine We then assessed two functionally opposite epigenetic chromatin modifications, previously implicated in addiction liability, permissive acetylation (ac) and repressive tri-methylation (me3), on histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9) in four sub-regions of the striatum. In bHRs, decreased repressive histone, H3K9me3, and increased permissive histone, acH3K9, in nucleus accumbens core associated with cocaine sensitization. However, there were limits on these epigenetic changes that paralleled the behavioral limits on further sensitization. In bLRs, the combination of cocaine exposure in adolescence and adulthood, which lead to an increase in their responsiveness to a cocaine challenge, also increased acH3K9 expression in the core. Thus, adolescent cocaine experience interacts with genetic background to elicit different behavioral profiles relevant to addiction in adulthood, with concurrent modifications in the epigenetic histone profiles in the nucleus accumbens that associate with cocaine sensitization and with metaplasticity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTAdolescence is a critical period when brain developmental trajectories continue to be established and when most illicit drug use is initiated in humans. Notably, however, only a minority of adolescent drug users go on to develop substance use disorders in adulthood. We hypothesize that individual differences in genetic vulnerability, temperamental phenotype and adolescent drug history intersect to modify life-long drug abuse liability, with epigenetic modification playing an important role in this interplay. We tested this hypothesis in a genetic animal model of temperament. Our results show that adolescent cocaine experience induces psychomotor sensitization in vulnerable individuals, and that a dual exposure to cocaine (both in adolescence and adulthood) limits further sensitization in these individuals, an example of metaplasticity. By contrast, individuals who are typically resilient become more responsive to cocaine when exposed to this drug during adolescence and are then re-exposed as adults. Differences in behavioral response to cocaine were associated with unique epigenetic changes in the nucleus accumbens core. These findings shed light on the interplay of genes, environment and adolescent exposure to drugs in susceptibility to substance use disorders.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Neuroendocrine and behavioral measures of negative valence in male sign-tracker and goal-tracker rats

Environmental cues attain the ability to guide behavior via learned associations. As predictors, cues can elicit adaptive behavior and lead to valuable resources (e.g., food). For some individuals, however, cues are transformed into incentive stimuli and elicit motivational states that can be maladaptive. The goal-tracker/sign-tracker animal model captures individual differences in cue-motivated behaviors, with reward-associated cues serving as predictors of reward for both phenotypes but becoming incentive stimuli to a greater degree for sign-trackers. While these distinct phenotypes are characterized based on Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior, they exhibit differences on a number of behaviors relevant to psychopathology. To further characterize the neurobehavioral endophenotype associated with individual differences in cue-reward learning, neuroendocrine and behavioral profiles associated with stress and anxiety were investigated in male goal-tracker, sign-tracker, and intermediate responder rats. It was revealed that baseline corticosterone increases with Pavlovian learning, but to the same degree, regardless of phenotype. No significant differences in behavior were observed between goaltrackers and sign-trackers during an elevated plus maze or open field test, nor were there differences in corticosterone response to the open field test or physiological restraint. Upon examination of central markers associated with stress-reactivity, we found that sign-trackers have greater glucocorticoid receptor mRNA expression in the ventral hippocampus, with no phenotypic differences in the dorsal hippocampus or prelimbic cortex. These findings demonstrate that goal-trackers and sign-trackers do not differ on stress- and anxiety-related behaviors, and suggest that differences in neuroendocrine measures between these phenotypes can be attributed to distinct cue-reward learning styles. Significance StatementWhile the goal-tracker/ sign-tracker animal model derives from individual differences in Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior, other traits, including some of relevance to addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder, have been shown to co-exist with the propensity to sign-track. The extent to which this model encompasses differences in aversive arousal and associated neuroendocrine measures, however, remains largely unexplored. Here we show that behavioral and corticosterone response to stress-related paradigms do not differ between goal-trackers and sign-trackers. However, glucocorticoid receptor expression in the ventral hippocampus does differ between phenotypes, suggesting that this central marker that is typically associated with stress-responsivity, may, in fact, play an important role in appetitive motivation.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2019

The Paraventricular Thalamus is a Critical Mediator of Top-down Control of Cue-motivated Behavior

Cues in the environment can elicit complex emotional states, and thereby maladaptive behavior, as a function of their ascribed value. Here we capture individual variation in the propensity to attribute motivational value to reward-cues using the sign-tracker/goal-tracker animal model. Goal-trackers attribute predictive value to reward-cues, and sign-trackers attribute both predictive and incentive value. Using chemogenetics and microdialysis, we show that, in sign-trackers, stimulation of the neuronal pathway from the prelimbic cortex (PrL) to the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) decreases the incentive value of a reward-cue. In contrast, in goal-trackers, inhibition of the PrL-PVT pathway increases both the incentive value and dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens shell. The PrL-PVT pathway, therefore, exerts top-down control over the dopamine-dependent process of incentive salience attribution. These results highlight PrL-PVT pathway as a potential target for treating psychopathologies associated with the attribution of excessive incentive value to reward-cues, including addiction.

neuroscience↗