Neuregulin and dopamine modulation of hippocampal gamma oscillations is dependent on dopamine D4 receptors

The neuregulin/ErbB signaling network is genetically associated with schizophrenia and modulates hippocampal γ oscillations—a type of neuronal network activity important for higher brain processes and altered in psychiatric disorders. Because neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) dramatically increases extracellular dopamine levels in the hippocampus, we investigated the relationship between NRG/ErbB and dopamine signaling in hippocampal γ oscillations. Using agonists for different D1- and D2-type dopamine receptors, we found that the D4 receptor (D4R) agonist PD168077, but not D1/D5 and D2/D3 agonists, increases γ oscillation power, and its effect is blocked by the highly specific D4R antagonist L-745,870. Using double in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence histochemistry, we show that hippocampal D4R mRNA and protein are more highly expressed in GAD67-positive GABAergic interneurons, many of which express the NRG-1 receptor ErbB4. Importantly, D4 and ErbB4 receptors are coexpressed in parvalbumin-positive basket cells that are critical for γ oscillations. Last, we report that D4R activation is essential for the effects of NRG-1 on network activity because L-745,870 and the atypical antipsychotic clozapine dramatically reduce the NRG-1–induced increase in γ oscillation power. This unique link between D4R and ErbB4 signaling on γ oscillation power, and their coexpression in parvalbumin-expressing interneurons, suggests a cellular mechanism that may be compromised in different psychiatric disorders affecting cognitive control. These findings are important given the association of a DRD4 polymorphism with alterations in attention, working memory, and γ oscillations, and suggest potential benefits of D4R modulators for targeting cognitive deficits

Development of research skills in the future foreign language teacher in the system of continuing education

Modern education, implemented in specially targeted institutions, in most cases cannot ensure high performance of graduates. A future teacher should possess not only a high level of qualifications but also creative thinking, the ability to use innovative methods and technologies. The improvement of the integrated abilities of future teachers is based on the appropriate competent combination of the Russian educational tradition with innovative types of education. University programs usually only follow the state educational standards, without contributing to the individual self-identification of young citizens. Today, education should be positioned as a daily intellectual work that reveals the potential of a schoolchild or student and contributes to building the required competencies. Consequently, non-formal education should become part of a teacher’s life, implying both personal cognitive activity and spontaneous education, carried out due to a personal activity in a rapidly developing educational space. The student should not only know a foreign language and master teaching methods, but also demonstrate an adequate intellectual level, the ability to reflect, to conduct scientific research, to predict learning outcomes. Unfortunately, at this stage, the potential of non-formal education in the field of foreign languages is not sufficiently used, which makes it difficult to improve the research skills of future school teachers