TY - JOUR

T1 - Mapping the neuroanatomical abnormalities in a phenotype of male compulsive rats

AU - Martín-González, Elena

AU - Prados-Pardo, Ángeles

AU - Sawiak, Stephen J.

AU - Dalley, Jeffrey W.

AU - Padro, Daniel

AU - Ramos-Cabrer, Pedro

AU - Mora, Santiago

AU - Moreno-Montoya, Margarita

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Compulsivity is considered a transdiagnostic dimension in obsessive–compulsive and related disorders, characterized by heterogeneous cognitive and behavioral phenotypes associated with abnormalities in cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical circuitry. The present study investigated the structural morphology of white and gray matter in rats selected for low- (LD) and high- (HD) compulsive drinking behavior on a schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) task. Regional brain morphology was assessed using ex-vivo high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Voxel-based morphometry of segmented MRI images revealed larger white matter volumes in anterior commissure and corpus callosum of HD rats compared with LD rats. HD rats also showed significantly larger regional volumes of dorsolateral orbitofrontal cortex, striatum, amygdala, hippocampus, midbrain, sub-thalamic nucleus, and cerebellum. By contrast, the medial prefrontal cortex was significantly smaller in HD rats compared with LD rats with no significant group differences in whole brain, ventricular, or cerebrospinal fluid volumes. These findings show that limbic cortico-basal ganglia structures implicated in impulse control disorders are distinct in rats that are vulnerable to develop compulsive behavior. Such abnormalities may be relevant to the etiology of compulsive disorders in humans.

AB - Compulsivity is considered a transdiagnostic dimension in obsessive–compulsive and related disorders, characterized by heterogeneous cognitive and behavioral phenotypes associated with abnormalities in cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical circuitry. The present study investigated the structural morphology of white and gray matter in rats selected for low- (LD) and high- (HD) compulsive drinking behavior on a schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) task. Regional brain morphology was assessed using ex-vivo high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Voxel-based morphometry of segmented MRI images revealed larger white matter volumes in anterior commissure and corpus callosum of HD rats compared with LD rats. HD rats also showed significantly larger regional volumes of dorsolateral orbitofrontal cortex, striatum, amygdala, hippocampus, midbrain, sub-thalamic nucleus, and cerebellum. By contrast, the medial prefrontal cortex was significantly smaller in HD rats compared with LD rats with no significant group differences in whole brain, ventricular, or cerebrospinal fluid volumes. These findings show that limbic cortico-basal ganglia structures implicated in impulse control disorders are distinct in rats that are vulnerable to develop compulsive behavior. Such abnormalities may be relevant to the etiology of compulsive disorders in humans.

KW - Compulsive behavior

KW - Cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical circuit

KW - Magnetic resonance imaging

KW - Schedule-Induced Polydipsia

KW - Voxel-based morphometry

KW - White matter

U2 - 10.1186/s12993-023-00221-y

DO - 10.1186/s12993-023-00221-y

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37932782

AN - SCOPUS:85175820277

VL - 19

JO - Behavioral and Brain Functions

JF - Behavioral and Brain Functions

SN - 1744-9081

IS - 1

M1 - 19

ER -