Abstract
Depression is a common neuropsychiatric illness observed worldwide, and reduced interest in exploration is one of its symptoms. The control of dysregulated medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) over the basolateral amygdala (BLA) is related to depression. However, the oscillation interaction in the mPFC-BLA circuit has remained elusive. Therefore, this study used phase–amplitude coupling (PAC), which provides complicated forms of information transmission by the phase of low-frequency rhythm, modulating the amplitude of high-frequency rhythm, and has a potential application for the treatment of neurological disease. The chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) was used to prepare the rat models of depression. Moreover, multichannel in vivo recording was applied to obtain the local field potentials (LFPs) of the mPFC, the BLA in rats in control, and CUMS groups, while they explored the open field. The results showed prominent coupling between the phase of theta oscillation (4–12 Hz) in the mPFC and the amplitude of high-gamma oscillation (70–120 Hz) in the BLA. Compared to the control group, this theta–gamma PAC was significantly decreased in the CUMS group, which was accompanied by the diminished exploratory behaviour. The results indicate that the coupling between the phase of theta in the mPFC and the amplitude of gamma in the BLA is involved in exploratory behaviour, and this decreased coupling may inhibit exploratory behaviour of rats exposed to CUMS.
Highlights
As one of the major leading causes of burden in diseases, depression is a common neuropsychiatric illness affecting over 320 million people globally (World Health Organization, 2017)
The results demonstrated that there was a prominent difference in the behavioural despair (FST) and the pleasure response to reward (SPT) after chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) procedure, which suggested that the CUMS-induced depression rats were prepared successfully
This study investigated the interaction of oscillations between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) during exploratory behaviour in the rats exposed to CUMS
Summary
As one of the major leading causes of burden in diseases, depression is a common neuropsychiatric illness affecting over 320 million people globally (World Health Organization, 2017). The mPFC and BLA are related to exploratory behaviour, which is one of the most basic activities of animals and is reduced in chronically stressed rats (Jacinto et al, 2013; Liu et al, 2020). These pieces of research indicate that the interaction between the mPFC and BLA is engaged in the regulation of negative emotions through inhibiting the activity of the BLA, and a decreased information communication between the mPFC and BLA may lead to depression-like behaviours
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