1 Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.
2 Department of Psychiatry and Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montréal, QC, Canada.
3 Department of Psychology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Staten Island, NY, USA.
4 CUNY Neuroscience Collaborative, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
5 Department of Psychology, Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada.

Early Adolescence is a Critical Period for the Maturation of Inhibitory Behavior.

Cereb Cortex. 2018 Oct 06;:

Authors: Reynolds LM, Yetnikoff L, Pokinko M, Wodzinski M, Epelbaum JG, Lambert LC, Cossette MP, Arvanitogiannis A, Flores C

Abstract

Psychiatric conditions marked by impairments in cognitive control often emerge during adolescence, when the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and its inputs undergo structural and functional maturation and are vulnerable to disruption by external events. It is not known, however, whether there exists a specific temporal window within the broad range of adolescence when the development of PFC circuitry and its related behaviors are sensitive to disruption. Here we show, in male mice, that repeated exposure to amphetamine during early adolescence leads to impaired behavioral inhibition, aberrant PFC dopamine connectivity, and reduced PFC dopamine function in adulthood. Remarkably, these deficits are not observed following exposure to the exact same amphetamine regimen at later times. These findings demonstrate that there is a critical period for the disruption of the adolescent maturation of cognitive control and PFC dopamine function and suggest that early adolescence is particularly relevant to the emergence of psychopathology in humans.

PMID: 30295713 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]