Cited by 368Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorStress Responses and CortisolTreatment of Major Depression

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 48 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Anhedonia requires MC4R-mediated synaptic adaptations in nucleus accumbens

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Abstract

Chronic stress is a strong diathesis for depression in humans and is used to generate animal models of depression. It commonly leads to several major symptoms of depression, including dysregulated feeding behaviour, anhedonia and behavioural despair. Although hypotheses defining the neural pathophysiology of depression have been proposed, the critical synaptic adaptations in key brain circuits that mediate stress-induced depressive symptoms remain poorly understood. Here we show that chronic stress in mice decreases the strength of excitatory synapses on D1 dopamine receptor-expressing nucleus accumbens medium spiny neurons owing to activation of the melanocortin 4 receptor. Stress-elicited increases in behavioural measurements of anhedonia, but not increases in measurements of behavioural despair, are prevented by blocking these melanocortin 4 receptor-mediated synaptic changes in vivo. These results establish that stress-elicited anhedonia requires a neuropeptide-triggered, cell-type-specific synaptic adaptation in the nucleus accumbens and that distinct circuit adaptations mediate other major symptoms of stress-elicited depression.

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Metadata

Authors
Lim, B. K., Huang, K. W., Grueter, B. A., Rothwell, P. E., & Malenka, R. C.
Affiliations
Stanford Medicine (US)
Corresponding author
Malenka, Robert C.
Venue
Nature
Published
2012-07
Volume
487
Issue
7406
Pages
183-189
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2022082745
Cited by
368
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 40 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 4
FWCI
11.86
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (F32MH096491)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (P01DA008227)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology (medical) › Treatment of Major Depression
Keywords
anhedonia, chronic stress, depression, melanocortin-4 receptor, nucleus accumbens, medium spiny neurons, dopamine D1 receptor, excitatory synapses, synaptic plasticity, behavioural despair, feeding behaviour, cocaine reward, neuropeptides
MeSH terms
alpha-MSH, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Cocaine, Depression, Feeding Behavior, Nucleus Accumbens, Stress, Psychological, Signal Transduction, Weight Loss, Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors, Receptor, Melanocortin, Type 4, Mice, Electrical Synapses, Gene Knockdown Techniques, Anhedonia

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