英国牛津大学Piergiorgio Salvan团队发现血清素通过血清素受体网络(SRNs)的大规模神经调节调节行为。相关论文于2022年12月15日发表在《自然—神经科学》杂志上。

他们开发了转录组-神经成像映射来描述与特定血清素受体相关的全脑功能特征: SRNs。通过在小鼠身上使用光遗传学功能磁共振成像(MRI)和药理学探针SRNs，他们发现中缝背5 -羟色胺神经元的激活对不同SRNs的振幅和功能连通性有不同的调节作用，表明受体的空间分布不仅可以在局部，而且可以在全脑网络水平上赋予特异性。在人类中，使用静息状态功能磁共振成像，SRNs复制了血清素对冲动和负面偏见的影响。

这些结果提供了令人信服的证据，表明不同血清素受体类型的脑内分布可能支持不同的行为模式的血清素调节。这表明血清素神经元可能通过调节大规模受体网络来调节人类行为的多个方面。

据悉，虽然人们知道血清素受体在单细胞水平上是如何发挥作用的，但不同的血清素受体在调节全脑活动以及人类行为方面发挥什么作用仍然未知。

附：英文原文

Title: Serotonin regulation of behavior via large-scale neuromodulation of serotonin receptor networks

Author: Salvan, Piergiorgio, Fonseca, Madalena, Winkler, Anderson M., Beauchamp, Antoine, Lerch, Jason P., Johansen-Berg, Heidi

Issue&Volume: 2022-12-15

Abstract: Although we understand how serotonin receptors function at the single-cell level, what role different serotonin receptors play in regulating brain-wide activity and, in turn, human behavior, remains unknown. Here, we developed transcriptomic–neuroimaging mapping to characterize brain-wide functional signatures associated with specific serotonin receptors: serotonin receptor networks (SRNs). Probing SRNs with optogenetics–functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and pharmacology in mice, we show that activation of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons differentially modulates the amplitude and functional connectivity of different SRNs, showing that receptors’ spatial distributions can confer specificity not only at the local, but also at the brain-wide, network level. In humans, using resting-state functional MRI, SRNs replicate established divisions of serotonin effects on impulsivity and negative biases. These results provide compelling evidence that heterogeneous brain-wide distributions of different serotonin receptor types may underpin behaviorally distinct modes of serotonin regulation. This suggests that serotonin neurons may regulate multiple aspects of human behavior via modulation of large-scale receptor networks.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01213-3

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-022-01213-3