Cognitive dysfunction is a major component of depression, and may in fact underlie many of the mood symptoms. Specifically, a deficit in cognitive flexibility, associated with hypoactivity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), creates negative biases about the self, the world and the future. Chronic stress is also a major risk factor for depression, and we have shown previously that performance on an attentional set-shifting test (AST), which is a measure of prefrontal-dependent cognitive flexibility in rats, is compromised by chronic stress. It is also facilitated by the monoamines, norepinephrine (NE), and serotonin (5-HT), and is responsive to antidepressant drugs that block the reuptake of NE and/or 5-HT. Such drugs are effective antidepressants, but their effectiveness is limited, as partial response and treatment resistance remain significant problems for the treatment of depression. As an alternative to pharmacotherapy, evidence-based psychotherapy, primarily involving cognitive therapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), has efficacy comparable to antidepressant drug treatment, and the combination of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy has efficacy greater than either alone. But little is known about the mechanisms involved. The cognitive set-shifting test, used extensively in the previous funding period to investigate antidepressant drug mechanisms, bears conceptual similarity to CBT, in that it requires rats to modify previously established contingencies based on feedback from a changing environment. Thus, to extend this work, the four specific aims comprising this competing renewal will address the neurobiological mechanisms underlying evidence-based psychotherapy, using cognitive set-shifting as a rat model of CBT.
In aim 1, the antidepressant-like effectiveness of this model of CBT will be further established. Chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) will be used to create a deficit of cognitive flexibility. The cognitive set-shifting test will be used as the model of psychotherapy. And to avoid learning effects, a second measure of prefrontal-dependent cognitive flexibility will be used as the dependent measure, the extinction of cue-conditioned fear.
In aim 2, based on our past results with antidepressant drugs, the role of 11-adrenergic receptors and 5-HT2A serotonin receptors in mPFC in the beneficial effects of CBT will be investigated, using local microinjections into mPFC.
In aim 3, the effectiveness of adjunct treatment with drugs that block reuptake of NE and 5-HT, in combination with CBT, will be studied. And in aim 4, the generality of this model will be tested by switching the roles of the two behavioral tasks - extinction will serve as the model of psychotherapy that engages prefrontal cortex, and set-shifting will be the dependent measure of cognitive flexibility that is compromised by chronic stress. This project addresses the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the efficacy of evidence-based psychotherapy, using a novel rat model of CBT, in the face of chronic stress- induced deficits of cognitive flexibility. The results will therefore generate new knowledge upon which to develop strategies that are more customized, rapid, specific and effective in the treatment of depression.

Public Health Relevance

These preclinical laboratory studies will address neurobiological mechanisms underlying the efficacy of evidence-based psychotherapy, using cognitive set-shifting as a rat model of cognitive-behavioral therapy. They will also address mechanisms underlying the increased efficacy of adjunct treatment, combining antidepressant drugs with psychotherapy. Understanding these processes will lead to new knowledge by which to develop strategies that are more customized, more rapid, more specific and more effective in the treatment of depression.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01MH072672-06A1
Application #
8236221
Study Section
Neuroendocrinology, Neuroimmunology, Rhythms and Sleep Study Section (NNRS)
Program Officer
Winsky, Lois M
Project Start
2004-12-01
Project End
2016-11-30
Budget Start
2011-12-01
Budget End
2012-11-30
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$369,715
Indirect Cost
$119,715
Name
University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
Department
Pharmacology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
800772162
City
San Antonio
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
78229
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Fucich, Elizabeth A; Morilak, David A (2018) Shock-probe Defensive Burying Test to Measure Active versus Passive Coping Style in Response to an Aversive Stimulus in Rats. Bio Protoc 8:
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Fucich, Elizabeth A; Paredes, Denisse; Morilak, David A (2016) Therapeutic Effects of Extinction Learning as a Model of Exposure Therapy in Rats. Neuropsychopharmacology 41:3092-3102
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Jett, Julianne D; Boley, Angela M; Girotti, Milena et al. (2015) Antidepressant-like cognitive and behavioral effects of acute ketamine administration associated with plasticity in the ventral hippocampus to medial prefrontal cortex pathway. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 232:3123-33
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Donegan, Jennifer J; Girotti, Milena; Weinberg, Marc S et al. (2014) A novel role for brain interleukin-6: facilitation of cognitive flexibility in rat orbitofrontal cortex. J Neurosci 34:953-62
Furr, Ashley; Lapiz-Bluhm, M Danet; Morilak, David A (2012) 5-HT2A receptors in the orbitofrontal cortex facilitate reversal learning and contribute to the beneficial cognitive effects of chronic citalopram treatment in rats. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 15:1295-305
Morilak, David A (2012) Modulating the modulators: interaction of brain norepinephrine and cannabinoids in stress. Exp Neurol 238:145-8

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