Steele, Oliver G.

ABSTRACT Cues such as fast‐food advertisements associated with food can provoke food cravings which may lead to unhealthy overeating. To effectively control such cravings, we need to better understand the factors that reduce food cue reactivity and reveal corresponding ‘anti‐craving’ brain mechanisms. We previously reported that access to environmental enrichment (EE), that provides cognitive and physical stimulation in mice, reduced cue‐evoked sucrose seeking and prelimbic cortex (PL) neuronal reactivity. To date, the phenotype of PL neurons that undergo EE‐induced adaptations has not been fully elucidated. Therefore, we used brain slice electrophysiology to investigate how EE modulated intrinsic excitability in the general population of PL interneurons and pyramidal cells. Additionally, we used retrograde tracing and the neuronal activity marker ‘Fos’ to investigate how EE modulated cue‐evoked recruitment of pyramidal cells projecting to the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) and nucleus accumbens core (NAc). Before the cue‐evoked sucrose seeking test, EE increased the general, baseline excitability of inhibitory interneurons, but not pyramidal cells. During cue‐evoked sucrose seeking, EE selectively suppressed recruitment of corticothalamic (PL → PVT), but not corticoaccumbens (PL → NAc), projections. Collectively, these findings advance our understanding of EE's ‘anti–food‐seeking’ actions by demonstrating both cell type‐specific increases in local inhibitory tone and circuit‐specific modulation of PL output pathways.

Abstract Cues such as fast-food advertisements associated with food can provoke food cravings which may lead to unhealthy overeating. To effectively control such cravings, we need to better understand the factors that reduce food cue reactivity and reveal corresponding ‘anti-craving’ brain mechanisms. We previously reported that access to environmental enrichment (EE) that provides cognitive and physical stimulation in mice reduced cue-evoked sucrose seeking and prelimbic cortex (PL) neuronal reactivity. To date, the phenotype of PL neurons that undergo EE-induced adaptations has not been fully elucidated. Therefore, we used brain slice electrophysiology to investigate how EE modulated intrinsic excitability in the general population of PL interneurons and pyramidal cells. Additionally, we used retrograde tracing and the neuronal activity marker ‘Fos’ to investigate how EE modulated cue-evoked recruitment of pyramidal cells projecting to the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) and nucleus accumbens core (NAc). Before the cue-evoked sucrose seeking test, EE enhanced the general, baseline excitability of inhibitory interneurons, but not pyramidal cells, thereby promoting inhibitory ‘overdrive’. During cue-evoked sucrose seeking, EE suppressed recruitment of PVT-, but not NAc-projecting, neurons thereby selectively promoting corticothalamic, but not corticoaccumbens, excitatory ‘underdrive’. Collectively, we further illuminate EE’s ‘anti-food seeking’ actions whereby EE promotes both cell type-specific (inhibitory interneuron ‘overdrive’) and circuit-specific (excitatory corticothalamic ‘underdrive’) neuroadaptations in the PL.

Abstract Cues associated with food, such as fast-food advertising, can provoke food cravings and may lead to unhealthy overeating. Environmental enrichment (EE) that enhances cognitive and physical stimulation can reduce cue-evoked sucrose seeking in mice and recruitment of sucrose cue-reactive neurons or ‘neuronal ensembles’ in the prelimbic cortex (PL), which regulates appetitive behaviors. Hence, EE provides us with a behavioral model and neuronal targets to identify ‘anti-craving’ relevant mechanisms. Here, we investigated in the PL how EE modulated neuronal excitability and activity patterns in cue-reactive neuronal populations. Chemogenetic inhibition of cue-reactive neurons in PL blocked cue-evoked sucrose seeking, thereby confirming the function of these neurons in sucrose cue memory. EE boosted the baseline excitability of ‘originally’, or before EE exposure, cue-reactive, excitatory pyramidal cells in PL. Furthermore, their sucrose cue-specificity was lost – resulting in their persistent activation and non-cue selective activation or ‘excitatory overdrive’. Furthermore, EE reduced recruitment of cue-reactive, inhibitory interneurons reflecting ‘inhibitory underdrive’. Taken together, impaired neuronal food cue processing due to simultaneous prefrontal cortical excitatory ‘overdrive’ and inhibitory ‘underdrive’ likely underlies EE’s anti-craving action, thereby serving as potential neurophysiological targets to develop novel medications that help control food cravings.