Effects of an electrolytic lesion of the prelimbic area on anxiety-related and cognitive tasks in the rat

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to study the role of the prelimbic area of rats in response selection• A bilateral electrolytic lesion was made in the prelimbic area. The rats were tested in the Morris water-maze, the conditioned shock-prod burying test, the elevated plus-maze, a modified open field test, and the step-through passive avoidance test. In the water-maze during initial acquisition, the latency times of the lesioned rats were not different from those of the controls, but they found the platform faster than the shamoperated rats after the platform was placed in a new position. The lesion did not affect performance in the shock-prod burying test. In the elevated plus-maze the lesioned rats were more active than the sham-operated rats and spent more time on the open arms. In the open field there was no difference between lesioned and sham-operated rats with regard to distance travelled or the time spent near the object in the center of the open field. In the passive avoidance test the lesioned rats had a shorter latency time to enter the shock compartment during the retention trial than the sham-operated rats did. The results were discussed in relation to those of similar studies. The extent and precise localisation of the lesion seems to be crucial for the outcome: lesions confined to the prelimbic area may have the opposite effects of larger lesions. Furthermore, it may well be that the prelimbic area is only involved in processing of stimuli of a specific sensory modality, as made probable by the results of different conditioned reinforcement tasks. Finally, it was stated that we still lack a hypothesis about the precise role of the prelimbic area in response selections.

Medial prefrontal cortex lesions in mice do not impair effort-based decision making

“…Our results are consistent with these, demonstrating the comparability and effectiveness of the lesions. Furthermore, our results are also consistent with the majority of the available rat data, showing that excitotoxic mPFC lesions resulted in attenuated fear-responses in the plus maze (Lacroix et al, 2000;Maaswinkel et al, 1996;Shah and Treit, 2003).…”

Oxytocin in the prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex reduces anxiety-like behavior in female and male rats

“…In this study, we targeted the PL mPFC which when stimulated increases anxiety-like behavior but when inhibited or lesioned diminishes anxiety-like behavior (Maaswinkel et al, 1996; Sullivan and Gratton, 2002; Shah and Treit, 2003; Shah et al, 2004; Stern et al, 2010; Bi et al, 2010; but see Jinks and McGregor, 1997; Covington et al, 2010; Stack et al, 2010). Thus, PL mPFC typically promotes anxiety and is thought to do so via indirect glutamatergic projections to central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), key structures in the expression of anxiety-like behavior (Maaswinkel et al, 1996; Lacroix et al, 2000; Stern et al, 2010). How might OT in the PL mPFC reduce anxiety?…”

“…However, these areas are likely to be part of a widespread network that may also include the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Lesion, inactivation, and molecular approaches have shown that the prelimbic (PL) subregion of the mPFC plays a role in regulating anxiety-like behavior as assessed in a variety of rodent behavioral paradigms including the elevated plus maze (EPM), open field (OF), and social interaction (SI) test (Maaswinkel et al, 1996; Gonzalez et al, 2000; Lacroix et al, 2000; Sullivan and Gratton, 2002; Shah and Treit, 2003; Shah et al, 2004; Resstel et al, 2008; Stack et al, 2010; Stern et al, 2010). The mPFC also contains OT-sensitive neurons (Ninan, 2011), abundantly expresses OT receptors (Insel and Shapiro, 1992; Gould and Zingg, 2003; Liu et al, 2005; Smeltzer et al, 2006), and may receive long range axonal projections from OT producing neurons in the hypothalamus (Sofroniew, 1983; Knobloch et al, 2012).…”

The Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Innate Fear Regulation in Infants, Juveniles, and Adolescents

“…Lesion studies have also produced mixed results. Prelimbic mPFC lesion in rats reduced (Maaswinkel et al, 1996) or increased anxiety in the elevated plus-maze (Jinks and McGregor, 1997), increased anxiety in the open field test (Jinks and McGregor, 1997) or had no effect (Burns et al, 1996; Maaswinkel et al, 1996). Lesion of both the infralimbic and prelimbic mPFC decreased fear behavior in the elevated plus-maze and open field (Lacroix et al, 2000).…”