EMBO Conference Series on the Assembly and Function of Neuronal Circuits

The 2011 EMBO Conference Series on the Assembly and Function of Neuronal Circuits was held from 25 to 30 September 2011 at Monte Verità in Ascona, Switzerland. Approximately 100 participants explored current challenges and approaches to studying neural circuit function and organization

Toward a multiscale modeling framework for understanding serotonergic function

Despite its importance in regulating emotion and mental wellbeing, the complex structure and function of the serotonergic system present formidable challenges toward understanding its mechanisms. In this paper, we review studies investigating the interactions between serotonergic and related brain systems and their behavior at multiple scales, with a focus on biologically-based computational modeling. We first discuss serotonergic intracellular signaling and neuronal excitability, followed by neuronal circuit and systems levels. At each level of organization, we will discuss the experimental work accompanied by related computational modeling work. We then suggest that a multiscale modeling approach that integrates the various levels of neurobiological organization could potentially transform the way we understand the complex functions associated with serotonin

Analysis of shared heritability in common disorders of the brain

ience, this issue p. eaap8757 Structured Abstract INTRODUCTION Brain disorders may exhibit shared symptoms and substantial epidemiological comorbidity, inciting debate about their etiologic overlap. However, detailed study of phenotypes with different ages of onset, severity, and presentation poses a considerable challenge. Recently developed heritability methods allow us to accurately measure correlation of genome-wide common variant risk between two phenotypes from pools of different individuals and assess how connected they, or at least their genetic risks, are on the genomic level. We used genome-wide association data for 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants, as well as 17 phenotypes from a total of 1,191,588 individuals, to quantify the degree of overlap for genetic risk factors of 25 common brain disorders. RATIONALE Over the past century, the classification of brain disorders has evolved to reflect the medical and scientific communities' assessments of the presumed root causes of clinical phenomena such as behavioral change, loss of motor function, or alterations of consciousness. Directly observable phenomena (such as the presence of emboli, protein tangles, or unusual electrical activity patterns) generally define and separate neurological disorders from psychiatric disorders. Understanding the genetic underpinnings and categorical distinctions for brain disorders and related phenotypes may inform the search for their biological mechanisms. RESULTS Common variant risk for psychiatric disorders was shown to correlate significantly, especially among attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia. By contrast, neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders, except for migraine, which was significantly correlated to ADHD, MDD, and Tourette syndrome. We demonstrate that, in the general population, the personality trait neuroticism is significantly correlated with almost every psychiatric disorder and migraine. We also identify significant genetic sharing between disorders and early life cognitive measures (e.g., years of education and college attainment) in the general population, demonstrating positive correlation with several psychiatric disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa and bipolar disorder) and negative correlation with several neurological phenotypes (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and ischemic stroke), even though the latter are considered to result from specific processes that occur later in life. Extensive simulations were also performed to inform how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity influence genetic correlations. CONCLUSION The high degree of genetic correlation among many of the psychiatric disorders adds further evidence that their current clinical boundaries do not reflect distinct underlying pathogenic processes, at least on the genetic level. This suggests a deeply interconnected nature for psychiatric disorders, in contrast to neurological disorders, and underscores the need to refine psychiatric diagnostics. Genetically informed analyses may provide important "scaffolding" to support such restructuring of psychiatric nosology, which likely requires incorporating many levels of information. By contrast, we find limited evidence for widespread common genetic risk sharing among neurological disorders or across neurological and psychiatric disorders. We show that both psychiatric and neurological disorders have robust correlations with cognitive and personality measures. Further study is needed to evaluate whether overlapping genetic contributions to psychiatric pathology may influence treatment choices. Ultimately, such developments may pave the way toward reduced heterogeneity and improved diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders

Slow motion

Optogenetic stimulation of serotonin neurons in the dorsal raphe causes mice to move more slowly without causing any apparent motor deficits or anxiety-like effects

Serotonergic neurons signal reward and punishment on multiple timescales

Serotonin's function in the brain is unclear. One challenge in testing the numerous hypotheses about serotonin's function has been observing the activity of identified serotonergic neurons in animals engaged in behavioral tasks. We recorded the activity of dorsal raphe neurons while mice experienced a task in which rewards and punishments varied across blocks of trials. We ‘tagged’ serotonergic neurons with the light-sensitive protein channelrhodopsin-2 and identified them based on their responses to light. We found three main features of serotonergic neuron activity: (1) a large fraction of serotonergic neurons modulated their tonic firing rates over the course of minutes during reward vs punishment blocks; (2) most were phasically excited by punishments; and (3) a subset was phasically excited by reward-predicting cues. By contrast, dopaminergic neurons did not show firing rate changes across blocks of trials. These results suggest that serotonergic neurons signal information about reward and punishment on multiple timescales

Serotonergic neurons signal reward and punishment on multiple timescales

Serotonin's function in the brain is unclear. One challenge in testing the numerous hypotheses about serotonin's function has been observing the activity of identified serotonergic neurons in animals engaged in behavioral tasks. We recorded the activity of dorsal raphe neurons while mice experienced a task in which rewards and punishments varied across blocks of trials. We ‘tagged’ serotonergic neurons with the light-sensitive protein channelrhodopsin-2 and identified them based on their responses to light. We found three main features of serotonergic neuron activity: (1) a large fraction of serotonergic neurons modulated their tonic firing rates over the course of minutes during reward vs punishment blocks; (2) most were phasically excited by punishments; and (3) a subset was phasically excited by reward-predicting cues. By contrast, dopaminergic neurons did not show firing rate changes across blocks of trials. These results suggest that serotonergic neurons signal information about reward and punishment on multiple timescales. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06346.00

Organization of Monosynaptic Inputs to the Serotonin and Dopamine Neuromodulatory Systems

Serotonin and dopamine are major neuromodulators. Here, we used a modified rabies virus to identify monosynaptic inputs to serotonin neurons in the dorsal and median raphe (DR and MR). We found that inputs to DR and MR serotonin neurons are spatially shifted in the forebrain, and MR serotonin neurons receive inputs from more medial structures. Then, we compared these data with inputs to dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). We found that DR serotonin neurons receive inputs from a remarkably similar set of areas as VTA dopamine neurons apart from the striatum, which preferentially targets dopamine neurons. Our results suggest three major input streams: a medial stream regulates MR serotonin neurons, an intermediate stream regulates DR serotonin and VTA dopamine neurons, and a lateral stream regulates SNc dopamine neurons. These results provide fundamental organizational principles of afferent control for serotonin and dopamine