Cited by 98Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorTreatment of Major DepressionNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Progress in understanding mood disorders: optogenetic dissection of neural circuits

Open access
Lammel, S., Tye, K. M., Warden, M. R.·2014·Genes, Brain and Behavior

Abstract

Major depression is characterized by a cluster of symptoms that includes hopelessness, low mood, feelings of worthlessness and inability to experience pleasure. The lifetime prevalence of major depression approaches 20%, yet current treatments are often inadequate both because of associated side effects and because they are ineffective for many people. In basic research, animal models are often used to study depression. Typically, experimental animals are exposed to acute or chronic stress to generate a variety of depression‐like symptoms. Despite its clinical importance, very little is known about the cellular and neural circuits that mediate these symptoms. Recent advances in circuit‐targeted approaches have provided new opportunities to study the neuropathology of mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. We review recent progress and highlight some studies that have begun tracing a functional neuronal circuit diagram that may prove essential in establishing novel treatment strategies in mood disorders. First, we shed light on the complexity of mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) responses to stress by discussing two recent studies reporting that optogenetic activation of midbrain DA neurons can induce or reverse depression‐related behaviors. Second, we describe the role of the lateral habenula circuitry in the pathophysiology of depression. Finally, we discuss how the prefrontal cortex controls limbic and neuromodulatory circuits in mood disorders.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/gbb.12049

Cites

177 of 177 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The PFC exerts top-down control over a variety of subcortical regions, and recent research has identified a number of circuits originating in the PFC that control behaviors relevant to the treatment of depression, anxiety, and addiction.

    “The PFC is known to exert top-down control over a variety of subcortical regions, and recent research has identified a number of circuits originating in the PFC that control behaviors relevant to the treatment of depression, anxiety, and addiction (Figure 3) (56, 173).”

    From Psychedelics and Other Psychoplastogens for Treating Mental Illness. (2021) · cites this paper as [173]

    The section “Prefrontal control of limbic and neuromodulatory circuits in mood disorders” reports that stimulating specific mPFC projections to subcortical regions changes depression-related behavior. Figure 3 also identifies projections to several limbic regions. The copy discusses fear extinction and addiction elsewhere, but does not establish that identified PFC-originating circuits control behaviors relevant to treating all three conditions. Page numbers were not available in the indexed passages. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Chronic stress models produce depressive-like behavior resembling human depression symptom domains and alter brain circuits in parallel with human imaging findings.

    “These chronic stress models induce depressive-like behavioral states, resembling the symptom domains of human depression, and alter the putative underlying brain circuits in parallel with functional imaging findings in depressed humans [18,[37][38][39].”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Beck, A.T. & Alford, B.A. (2009) Depression: Causes and Treatments, 2nd edn. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Lammel, S., Tye, K. M., & Warden, M. R.
Affiliations
  • Stanford Medicine (US)
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
  • Cornell University (US)
Corresponding author
Tye, K. M.
Venue
Genes, Brain and Behavior
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2013-06-11
Volume
13
Issue
1
Pages
38-51
ISSN
  • 1601-183X (ISSN-L)
  • 1601-1848
OpenAlex
W1539176877
Cited by
98
References
176
Citations by year
2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 2
FWCI
1.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Genes Brain & Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords
major depressive disorder, mood disorders, optogenetics, neural circuits, midbrain dopaminergic neurons, chronic stress, lateral habenula, prefrontal cortex, anxiety, depression-like behavior
MeSH terms
Animals, Brain, Dopamine, Humans, Nerve Net, Mood Disorders, Optogenetics, Connectome

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review