| First Author | Bourgeois JP | Year | 2012 |
| Journal | Cereb Cortex | Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 1007-15 |
| PubMed ID | 21810785 | Mgi Jnum | J:198111 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5495400 | Doi | 10.1093/cercor/bhr159 |
| Citation | Bourgeois JP, et al. (2012) Modulation of the mouse prefrontal cortex activation by neuronal nicotinic receptors during novelty exploration but not by exploration of a familiar environment. Cereb Cortex 22(5):1007-15 |
| abstractText | Organization of locomotor behavior is altered in mice knockout for the beta2 subunit of the nicotinic receptor-beta2-/- mice-during novelty exploration. We investigated the neuronal basis of this alteration by measuring activation of the immediate early gene c-fos in the brains of wild-type (WT) and beta2-/- mice after exploration of a novel or a familiar environment. Results show 1) no constitutive difference between WT and beta2-/- mice in c-fos gene expression in any brain region, 2) novelty exploration triggered activation of the hippocampus and the reward circuit while exploration of a familiar environment produced increased activation in the amygdala, and 3) in beta2-/- mice, exploration of novelty, but not familiarity, induced an increase in activation in the prelimbic prefrontal cortex (PFC) compared with WT mice. c-Fos immunoreactivity after different stages of learning in a maze increased similarly in the prelimbic area of both WT and beta2-/- mice, while their performance differed. In WT mice, exploration of a novel environment triggered an increase in c-Fos expression in the reward circuit and the hippocampus, while in beta2-/- mice, the amygdala and the motor cortex were additionally activated. We also highlight the role of nicotinic receptors during activation of the PFC, specifically during free exploration of a novel environment. |
