Individual Differences in Impulsive Action Reflect Variation in the Cortical Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor System

Neuropsychopharmacology. 2015 Jul;40(8):1957-68. doi: 10.1038/npp.2015.46. Epub 2015 Feb 10.

Abstract

Impulsivity is an important feature of multiple neuropsychiatric disorders, and individual variation in the degree of inherent impulsivity could play a role in the generation or exacerbation of problematic behaviors. Serotonin (5-HT) actions at the 5-HT2AR receptor (5-HT2AR) promote and 5-HT2AR antagonists suppress impulsive action (the inability to withhold premature responses; motor impulsivity) upon systemic administration or microinfusion directly into the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a node in the corticostriatal circuit that is thought to play a role in the regulation of impulsive action. We hypothesized that the functional capacity of the 5-HT2AR, which is governed by its expression, localization, and protein/protein interactions (eg, postsynaptic density 95 (PSD95)), may drive the predisposition to inherent impulsive action. Stable high-impulsive (HI) and low-impulsive (LI) phenotypes were identified from an outbred rodent population with the 1-choice serial reaction time (1-CSRT) task. HI rats exhibited a greater head-twitch response following administration of the preferential 5-HT2AR agonist 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI) and were more sensitive to the effects of the selective 5-HT2AR antagonist M100907 to suppress impulsive action relative to LI rats. A positive correlation was observed between levels of premature responses and 5-HT2AR binding density in frontal cortex ([(3)H]-ketanserin radioligand binding). Elevated mPFC 5-HT2AR protein expression concomitant with augmented association of the 5-HT2AR with PSD95 differentiated HI from LI rats. The observed differential sensitivity of HI and LI rats to 5-HT2AR ligands and associated distinct 5-HT2AR protein profiles provide evidence that spontaneously occurring individual differences in impulsive action reflect variation in the cortical 5-HT2AR system.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Choice Behavior / physiology
  • Dimethoxyphenylethylamine / analogs & derivatives
  • Dimethoxyphenylethylamine / pharmacology
  • Fluorobenzenes / pharmacology
  • Head Movements / drug effects
  • Immunoprecipitation
  • Impulsive Behavior / drug effects
  • Impulsive Behavior / physiology*
  • Individuality*
  • Ketanserin / pharmacokinetics
  • Male
  • Piperidines / pharmacology
  • Prefrontal Cortex / drug effects
  • Prefrontal Cortex / metabolism*
  • Protein Binding / drug effects
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Reaction Time / drug effects
  • Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A / metabolism*
  • Serotonin Agents / pharmacology
  • Tritium / pharmacokinetics

Substances

  • Dimethoxyphenylethylamine
  • Fluorobenzenes
  • Piperidines
  • Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A
  • Serotonin Agents
  • Tritium
  • Ketanserin
  • volinanserin
  • 4-iodo-2,5-dimethoxy-beta-phenethylamine