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Translational approach to apathy‐like behavior in mice: From the practical point of view
Author(s) -
Tanaka Kenji F.,
Hamaguchi Takuya
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/pcn.12915
Subject(s) - apathy , striatum , neuroscience , psychology , translational research , optogenetics , dopamine , medicine , cognition , pathology
Apathy is a pervasive clinical phenomenon that deserves more attention at the translational and pre‐clinical levels. To study apathy‐like behavior in mice, we relied on an operational definition of apathy: the quantitative reduction of voluntary, goal‐directed behaviors. We recently found that the chronic loss of function of a specific cell type (striatal dopamine receptor type 2‐expressing medium spiny neurons, D2‐MSN) in a restricted region (the ventrolateral striatum, VLS) was sufficient to induce apathy‐like behavior in a food‐seeking operant task. We further showed that VLS D2‐MSN are activated at the preparatory period, and that optogenetic inhibition of VLS D2‐MSN during that period resulted in transient decreases in instrumental motivation, strengthening the hypothesis that VLS D2‐MSN mediate apathy‐like behavior in mice. Mice bearing VLS D2‐MSN dysfunction can thus be regarded as an apathy model for future translational studies.