SCIENCE@home

On the central noradrenergic mechanism underlying the social play‐suppressant effect of methylphenidate in rats

M. Achterberg,R. Damsteegt,L. Vanderschuren

Published 2018 in Behavioural Brain Research

ABSTRACT

HighlightsThe social play‐suppressant effect of systemic methylphenidate treatment was not altered after brain region‐specific infusion of RX821002.Infusion of RX821002 into the anterior cingulate cortex modestly increased social play behaviour.Horizontal locomotor activity was enhanced as a result of methylphenidate treatment, which was partially counteracted by RX821002 infusion into the infralimbic cortex. ABSTRACT Social play behaviour is a vigorous, highly rewarding social activity abundant in the young of most mammalian species, including humans. Social play is thought to be important for social, emotional and cognitive development, yet its neural underpinnings are incompletely understood. We have previously shown that low doses of methylphenidate suppress social play behaviour through a noradrenergic mechanism of action, and that methylphenidate exerts its effect within the prefrontal cortex, amygdala and habenula. In the present study, we sought to reveal whether these regions work in parallel or in series to mediate the play‐suppressant effect of methylphenidate. To that aim, we tested whether infusion of the &agr;2‐adrenoceptor antagonist RX821002 into the anterior cingulate cortex, infralimbic cortex, basolateral amygdala or habenula prevents the effect of methylphenidate on social play behaviour, or the psychomotor stimulant effect of methylphenidate. We found that the social play‐suppressant effect of methylphenidate was not prevented by infusion of the &agr;2‐adrenoceptor antagonist into either region, or by infusion of RX821002 into both the anterior cingulate and infralimbic cortex. By contrast, RX821002 infusion into the anterior cingulate modestly enhanced social play, and infusion of the antagonist into the infralimbic cortex attenuated the psychomotor stimulant effect of methylphenidate. We conclude that there is redundancy in the neural circuitry that mediates the play‐suppressant effect of methylphenidate, whereby prefrontal cortical and subcortical limbic mechanisms act in parallel. Moreover, our data support the notion that prefrontal noradrenergic mechanisms contribute to the locomotor enhancing effect of psychostimulant drugs.

PUBLICATION RECORD

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-65 of 65 references · Page 1 of 1

CITED BY

Showing 1-9 of 9 citing papers · Page 1 of 1