Journal: Cerebral Cortex (New York, NY)

Article Title: Motivational Impairment is Accompanied by Corticoaccumbal Dysfunction in the BACHD-Tg5 Rat Model of Huntington’s Disease

doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhz009

Figure Lengend Snippet: Early and sustained motivational and hedonic deficits in the absence of gross motor abnormalities in HD. (a) Representative cumulative response records from 3 mo. WT and Tg5 rats performing the PR task. (b) Tg5 rats show reduced breakpoints under a PR schedule across all ages (n = 89). (c) Significant age-related decline in locomotor activity counts in both genotypes (n = 44). (d) Similar consumption of highly-palatable food pellets under free-access conditions across all ages in Tg5 vs. WT rats (n = 50). At 6 mo., WT rats consume significantly more pellets than at 12 mo. (e–g) On matched PR trials, Tg5 rats show similar latency as WT rats to complete each response ratio at 3 mo. of age before declining in performance at 6 and 12 mo. of age (n = 73). (h–j) Tg5 rats demonstrate lower preference for saccharin solution than WT rats at all ages (n = 50). Unless otherwise stated, data are represented as mean ± SEM; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 vs. Tg5; # P < 0.05 vs. other ages.

Article Snippet: Progressive Ratio (PR) Task Rats were tested in operant conditioning chambers (MedAssociates, Inc., St. Albans, VT) as previously described ( Hernandez and Cheer 2012 ), and data collection and programming were conducted using PC computers with a Med-PC interface (MedAssociates, Inc.).

Techniques: Activity Assay

Journal: Cerebral Cortex (New York, NY)

Article Title: Motivational Impairment is Accompanied by Corticoaccumbal Dysfunction in the BACHD-Tg5 Rat Model of Huntington’s Disease

doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhz009

Figure Lengend Snippet: Progressive corticostriatal network dysfunction in HD. (a) Multi-electrode extracellular recording sites in the PFC and NAc. (b) Representative simultaneous LFP recordings collected during PR task performance. (c) Representative power spectrum illustrating functional frequency bandwidths [Δ: 0–3 Hz, θ: 3.1–7 Hz, α: 7.1–12 Hz, β: 12.1–30 Hz, low γ: 30.1–55 Hz, high γ: 55.1–120 Hz]. Inset: Magnification of 0–12 Hz range. (d–f) Intra-PFC power spectra demonstrate attenuated high gamma power at 12 mo. in Tg5 vs. WT rats. Insets: AUC of frequency bandwidth power (n = 47). (g–i) Intra-NAc power spectra reveal genotype differences in gamma frequency power across ages. Compared to WT rats, Tg5 rats display lower power in both low and high gamma frequency ranges at 3 mo., normalization of power at 6 mo., and then reemergence of abnormally lower power in the high gamma range at 12 mo. Insets: AUC of frequency bandwidth power (n = 48). (j–l) LFP–LFP coherence between the PFC and NAc is diminished in Tg5 rats at 6 and 12 mo., but not 3 mo. Insets: AUC of frequency bandwidth coherence (n = 47). Unless otherwise stated, data are represented as mean or mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05 vs. Tg5.

Article Snippet: Progressive Ratio (PR) Task Rats were tested in operant conditioning chambers (MedAssociates, Inc., St. Albans, VT) as previously described ( Hernandez and Cheer 2012 ), and data collection and programming were conducted using PC computers with a Med-PC interface (MedAssociates, Inc.).

Techniques: Functional Assay

Journal: Cerebral Cortex (New York, NY)

Article Title: Motivational Impairment is Accompanied by Corticoaccumbal Dysfunction in the BACHD-Tg5 Rat Model of Huntington’s Disease

doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhz009

Figure Lengend Snippet: Summary of behavioral and neurophysiological impairments in Tg5 vs. WT rats across ages

Article Snippet: Progressive Ratio (PR) Task Rats were tested in operant conditioning chambers (MedAssociates, Inc., St. Albans, VT) as previously described ( Hernandez and Cheer 2012 ), and data collection and programming were conducted using PC computers with a Med-PC interface (MedAssociates, Inc.).

Techniques: Functional Assay