Synaptic Connectivity in Medium Spiny Neurons of the Nucleus Accumbens: A Sex-Dependent Mechanism Underlying Apathy in the HIV-1 Transgenic Rat.

ABSTRACT: Frontal-subcortical circuit dysfunction is commonly associated with apathy, a neuropsychiatric sequelae of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1). Behavioral and neurochemical indices of apathy in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key brain region involved in frontal-subcortical circuitry, are influenced by the factor of biological sex. Despite evidence of sex differences in HIV-1, the effect of biological sex on medium spiny neurons (MSNs), which are central integrators of frontal-subcortical input, has not been systematically evaluated. In the present study, a DiOlistic labeling technique was used to investigate the role of long-term HIV-1 viral protein exposure, the factor of biological sex, and their possible interaction, on synaptic dysfunction in MSNs of the NAc in the HIV-1 transg

SUBMITTER: McLaurin KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6262032 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature