title: Prenatal Nicotine Exposure Impairs Executive Control Signals in Medial Prefrontal Cortex.
abstract: Prenatal nicotine exposure (PNE) is linked to numerous psychiatric disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Current literature suggests that core deficits observed in ADHD reflect abnormal inhibitory control governed by the prefrontal cortex. Yet, it is unclear how neural activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is modulated during tasks that assess response inhibition or if these neural correlates, along with behavior, are affected by PNE. To address this issue, we recorded from single mPFC neurons in control and PNE rats as they performed a stop-signal task. We found that PNE rats were faster for all trial-types, made more premature responses, and were less likely to inhibit behavior on 'STOP' trials during which rats had to inhibit an already initiated response. Activity in mPFC was modulated by response direction and was positively correlated with accuracy and movement time in control but not PNE rats. Although the number of single neurons correlated with response direction was significantly reduced by PNE, neural activity observed on general STOP trials was largely unaffected. However, dramatic behavioral deficits on STOP trials immediately following non-conflicting (GO) trials in the PNE group appear to be mediated by the loss of conflict monitoring signals in mPFC. We conclude that prenatal nicotine exposure makes rats impulsive and disrupts firing of mPFC neurons that carry signals related to response direction and conflict monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.|Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Bryden
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.|Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Burton
authors.affiliation: Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.affiliation: Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Valerie J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Taylor N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Hearn
authors.affiliation: Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8180-3267
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Reshma J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kariyil
authors.affiliation: Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3002-8317
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kunin
authors.affiliation: Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Sae In
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.affiliation: Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Brooke L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Lubinski
authors.affiliation: Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Gautam K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.|Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Roesch
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D056344:Executive Function / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009538:Nicotine / Q000633:toxicity*; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000633:toxicity*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans
chemical_list: D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D009538:Nicotine