Electrolytic lesions of the bilateral ventrolateral orbital cortex not only directly reduce depression-like behavior but also decreased desperate behavior induced by chronic unpredicted mild stress in rats

Liu Yang,Zheng Chu,Peng Liu,Fei Liu,Gang Lei,Lisha Deng,Wei Han,Yonghui Dang

doi:10.1186/s12868-021-00677-6

Abstract

BackgroundPrevious studies have revealed that ventrolateral orbital cortex (VLO) may play an important role in the regulation of emotional behavior. However, it is not known what effect VLO damage will have on emotion regulation.ResultsData showed that damage of VLO increased the anxiety-like behavior in open field test and elevated plus maze, and decreased the depressive behavior in forced swimming test and learned helplessness test. Besides, the impulsive aggressive behaviors were also increased while the attack latency decreased after VLO lesion. What’s more, damage of VLO decreased depressive behaviors induced by chronic unpredicted mild stress in rats.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the integrity of VLO plays an important role in emotional regulation, and the damage of VLO may inhibit the development of depression-like behavior.

Highlights

Previous studies have revealed that ventrolateral orbital cortex (VLO) may play an important role in the regulation of emotional behavior
Effect of electrolytic lesions of the bilateral VLO on open filed test (OFT) and elevated plus maze (EPM) As shown in Fig. 3A, in the OFT, there was no significant differences between the two groups in the total distance (p > 0.05)
Effect of electrolytic lesions of the bilateral VLO on forced swimming test (FST) and learned helplessness test (LHT) As shown in Fig. 4A, electrolytic lesion of bilateral VLO significantly decreased the immobility time during total 6 min (p < 0.01). This anti-depressive behavior found in FST was reproduced in LHT

Summary

Introduction

Previous studies have revealed that ventrolateral orbital cortex (VLO) may play an important role in the regulation of emotional behavior. It is not known what effect VLO damage will have on emotion regulation. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a critical role in the generation and regulation of cognition and emotion [1, 2]. Our previous studies indicated that VLO may play an important role in the modulation of depressive disorder: microinjection of valproic. In the present study, we will detailedly evaluate the neurobehavioral changes when the VLO is damaged by electric current and hope to advance the understanding of the potential role of VLO in emotional modulation

Methods

Results

Conclusion