Study of the neural processing of meso-cortico-limbic circuitry during anhedonic-type behavior and its modulation by the endocannabinoid system

• Grant number: 20/01510-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2020
• End date: July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology
• Principal Investigator: João Pereira Leite
• Grantee: Matheus Teixeira Rossignoli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/17882-4 - Drug-resistant epilepsies: diagnostic challenges, associated comorbidities and new experimental approaches, AP.TEM

Abstract

Depression is the most prevalent psychiatric comorbidity in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE). Clinical and experimental works point to dysfunctional activity in neural circuits shared by both pathologies. In this sense, discriminating these circuits involved in ELT associated with depression is still a challenge, but investigated circuits associated with depressive-like behaviors per se could help in the future to understand this comorbidity. In rodents, the anhedonic behavior has been related to modulation of the endocannabinoid system in mesocorticolimbic circuits. However, despite this evidence, few studies investigated the neural processing of these circuits in anhedonia and their modulation by the endocannabinoid system. Therefore, the present project will record the electrophysiological activity of the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC), the Basolateral Amygdala (BLA) and the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) during the anhedonic behavior associated to cannabinoid receptors type 1 (CB1) activity in the CPF. Also, we will specifically investigate the role of VTA-CPF dopaminergic projections via optogenetic stimulation and its relationship with the endocannabinoid system in anhedonia. Thus, we expect to better understand the neural processing of circuits and behaviors related to depression and psychiatric comorbidities associated with ELT. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MARQUES, DANILO BENETTE; RUGGIERO, RAFAEL NAIME; BUENO-JUNIOR, LEZIO SOARES; ROSSIGNOLI, MATHEUS TEIXEIRA; LEITE, JOAO PEREIRA. Prediction of Learned Resistance or Helplessness by Hippocampal-Prefrontal Cortical Network Activity during Stress. JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, v. 42, n. 1, p. 81-96, JAN 5 2022. (18/02303-4, 16/17882-4, 11/04467-5, 20/01510-6, 12/06123-4)

GODOY, LIVEA DORNELA; PRIZON, TAMIRIS; ROSSIGNOLI, MATHEUS TEIXEIRA; LEITE, JOAO PEREIRA; LIBERATO, JOSE LUIZ. Parvalbumin Role in Epilepsy and Psychiatric Comorbidities: From Mechanism to Intervention. FRONTIERS IN INTEGRATIVE NEUROSCIENCE, v. 16, p. 28-pg., 2022-02-17. (16/17882-4, 20/01510-6)

RUGGIERO, RAFAEL NAIME; ROSSIGNOLI, MATHEUS TEIXEIRA; MARQUES, DANILO BENETTE; DE SOUSA, BRUNO MONTEIRO; ROMCY-PEREIRA, RODRIGO NEVES; LOPES-AGUIAR, CLEITON; LEITE, JOAO PEREIRA. Neuromodulation of Hippocampal-Prefrontal Cortical Synaptic Plasticity and Functional Connectivity: Implications for Neuropsychiatric Disorders. FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE, v. 15, OCT 11 2021. (20/01510-6, 16/17882-4, 18/02303-4)