Biology subjects

Torres-Herraez, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Torres-Herraez, A..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Altered striatal dopamine regulation in ADGRL3 knockout mice

Dopaminergic signaling is essential for regulating movement, learning, and reward. Disruptions in this system are linked to neuropsychiatric disorders such as ADHD. ADGRL3, an adhesion G protein-coupled receptor highly expressed in the brain, is genetically associated with increased ADHD risk. ADGRL3 knockout in animals alters expression of dopaminergic markers and induces dopamine-related behavioral changes. However, its precise role in modulating dopamine signaling remains unclear. We investigated how ADGRL3 knockout affects striatal dopamine release in mice using ex vivo fast-scan cyclic voltammetry and in vivo fiber photometry with a dopamine sensor. Ex vivo measurements showed increased electrically-evoked dopamine release across the striatum. Conversely, in vivo recordings revealed reduced task-induced dopamine signals in the nucleus accumbens during an operant fixed interval task. This reduction was not due to impaired dopamine availability, as amphetamine-evoked release was unchanged. These findings suggest ADGRL3 modulates dopamine release in complex ways via different pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Inhibition of striatal indirect pathway during second postnatal week leads to long lasting deficits in motivated behavior

Schizophrenia is a neuropsychiatric disorder with postulated neurodevelopmental etiology. Genetic and imaging studies have shown enhanced dopamine and D2 receptor occupancy in the striatum of patients with schizophrenia. However, whether alterations in postnatal striatal dopamine can lead to long lasting changes in brain function and behavior is still unclear. Here, we approximated striatal D2R hyperfunction in mice via designer receptor mediated activation of inhibitory Gi-protein signaling during a defined postnatal time window. We found that Gi-mediated inhibition of the indirect pathway during postnatal day 8-15 led to long lasting decreases in locomotor activity and motivated behavior measured in the adult animal. In vivo photometry further showed that the motivational deficit was associated with an attenuated adaptation of cue-evoked dopamine levels to changes in effort requirements. These data establish a sensitive time window of D2R-regulated striatal development with long lasting impacts on neuronal function and behavior.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2021

Dopamine D2Rs Coordinate Cue-Evoked Changes in Striatal Acetylcholine Levels

In the striatum, acetylcholine (ACh) neuron activity is modulated co-incident with dopamine (DA) release in response to unpredicted rewards and reward predicting cues and both neuromodulators are thought to regulate each other. While this co-regulation has been studied using stimulation studies, the existence of this mutual regulation in vivo during natural behavior is still largely unexplored. One long-standing controversy has been whether striatal DA is responsible for the induction of the cholinergic pause or whether D2R modulate a pause that is induced by other mechanisms. Here, we used genetically encoded sensors in combination with pharmacological and genetic inactivation of D2Rs from cholinergic interneurons (CINs) to simultaneously measure ACh and DA levels after CIN D2R inactivation. We found that CIN D2Rs are not necessary for the induction of cue induced dips in ACh levels but regulate dip lengths and rebound ACh levels. Importantly, D2R inactivation strongly decreased the temporal correlation between DA and Ach signals not only at cue presentation but also during the intertrial interval. This points to a general mechanism by which D2Rs coordinate both signals. At the behavioral level D2R antagonism increased the latency to lever press, which was not observed in CIN-selective D2R knock out mice. This latency correlated with the cue evoked dip length supporting a role of the ACh dip and its regulation by D2Rs in motivated behavior. Overall, our data indicate that striatal DA coordinate phasic ACh and DA signals via CIN D2Rs which is important for the regulation of motivated behavior.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Delta oscillations coordinate intra-cerebellar and cerebello-hippocampal network dynamics during sleep

During sleep, the widespread coordination of neuronal oscillations across both cortical and subcortical brain regions is thought to support various physiological functions, including memory consolidation. However, how sleep-related activity within the brains largest sensorimotor structure, the cerebellum, is multiplexed with well described sleep-related mechanisms in regions such as the hippocampus remains unknown. To address this gap in knowledge, we simultaneously recorded from the dorsal hippocampus and three distinct regions of the cerebellum (Crus I, lobule VI and lobules II/III) during natural murine sleep. We found that LFP oscillations are coordinated between the two structures in a sleep-stage specific manner. Particularly during non-REM sleep, prominent delta frequency coherence was observed between lobule VI and hippocampus. We additionally observed that non-REM associated hippocampal sharp wave ripple activity can drive discrete LFP modulation in all the recorded cerebellar regions, with the shortest latency effects observed in lobule VI. We also describe discrete phasic sharp potentials, synchronized across cerebellar regions, which were strongly phase locked to the peak of ongoing cerebellar delta oscillations and found in greatest numbers during REM. These phasic sharp potentials recorded within the cerebellar cortex were found to be phase-locked to the trough of the hippocampal theta oscillation, further suggesting cross-structural coordination. During REM, cerebellar delta oscillation phase significantly modulated hippocampal theta frequency, and this effect was greatest when phasic sharp potentials were most abundant. Within all three cerebellar regions, prominent LFP oscillations were observed at both low (delta, <4 Hz) and very high frequencies (~ 250 Hz) during non-REM and REM sleep. Intra-cerebellar cross-frequency analysis revealed that delta frequency oscillations strongly modulate those in the very high frequency range. Together, these results reveal multiple candidate physiological mechanisms to support offline, bi-directional interaction within distributed cerebello-hippocampal networks. In particular, we describe a prominent cerebellar delta oscillation, which appears to act as a temporal coordinator of cerebellar activity at both local (intra-cerebellar) and distributed (cerebello-hippocampal) network levels.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Anatomical and physiological foundations of cerebello-hippocampal interactions

Multiple lines of evidence suggest that functionally intact cerebello-hippocampal interactions are required for appropriate spatial processing. However, how the cerebellum anatomically and physiologically engages with the hippocampus to sustain such interactions remains unknown. Using rabies virus as retrograde transneuronal tracer, we reveal that the dorsal hippocampus receives input from topographically restricted and disparate regions of the cerebellum. By simultaneously recording local field potential from both the dorsal hippocampus and anatomically connected cerebellar regions, we additionally demonstrate that the two structures interact, in a behaviorally dynamic manner, through subregion-specific synchronization of neuronal oscillations in the 6-12Hz frequency range. Together, these results reveal a novel neural network macro-architecture through which we can understand how a brain region classically associated with motor control, the cerebellum, may influence hippocampal neuronal activity and related functions, such as spatial navigation.

neuroscience↗