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Ecevitoglu A, Edelstein GA, Presby RE, Rotolo RA, Yang JH, Quiles T, Okifo K, Conrad RT, Kovach A, Correa M, Salamone JD. Effects of the atypical antipsychotic and D3/D2 dopamine partial agonist cariprazine on effort-based choice behavior: implications for modeling avolition. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2023; 240:1747-1757. [PMID: 37358806 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-023-06405-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Cariprazine is an atypical antipsychotic that acts as a D3/D2 receptor partial agonist. In addition to treating positive symptoms of schizophrenia, cariprazine may have utility for treating negative symptoms. Rodent studies have focused on the effects of cariprazine on cognitive functions and behaviors thought to be related to anhedonia. Avolition, which is characterized by reduced initiation and persistence of goal-directed behavior, is another important negative symptom. OBJECTIVES Effort-related choice tasks have been used as animal models of avolition. In these studies, cariprazine was assessed for its effects on effort-based choice in both rats and mice. Previous work has shown that D2 antagonists such as haloperidol and eticlopride produce a low-effort bias in rodents tested on effort-based choice tasks. RESULTS Low doses of cariprazine produced a low-effort bias in rats tested on the fixed ratio 5/chow feeding choice task, decreasing lever pressing for high carbohydrate pellets but increasing chow intake. Cariprazine did not alter preference or intake of these foods in free-feeding tests. The effort-related effects of cariprazine were reversed by co-administration of the adenosine A2A antagonist istradefylline, and cariprazine failed to reverse the effort-related effects of the dopamine-depleting agent tetrabenazine. In mouse touchscreen choice tests, low doses of cariprazine also produced a low-effort bias, shifting behavior away from panel pressing. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate that with these rodent models of avolition, cariprazine appears to act like a D2-family antagonist even at very low doses. Furthermore, the pharmacological regulation of avolition may differ from that of other negative symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alev Ecevitoglu
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
| | - Gayle A Edelstein
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
| | - Rose E Presby
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
- Scintillon Institute, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Renee A Rotolo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
- Sage Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Jen-Hau Yang
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
- Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Taina Quiles
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
| | - Kevin Okifo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
| | - Ryan T Conrad
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
| | - Ashley Kovach
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
| | - Merce Correa
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
- Àrea de Psicobiologia, Universitat Jaume I, Campus de Riu Sec, 12071, Castellón de La Plana, Castelló, Spain
| | - John D Salamone
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
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2
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Bacharach SZ, Martin DA, Stapf CA, Sun F, Li Y, Cheer JF, Calu DJ. Decreased Ventral Tegmental Area CB1R Signaling Reduces Sign Tracking and Shifts Cue-Outcome Dynamics in Rat Nucleus Accumbens. J Neurosci 2023; 43:4684-4696. [PMID: 37208179 PMCID: PMC10286939 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1486-22.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Revised: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Sign-tracking (ST) rats show enhanced cue sensitivity before drug experience that predicts greater discrete cue-induced drug seeking compared with goal-tracking or intermediate rats. Cue-evoked dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a neurobiological signature of sign-tracking behaviors. Here, we examine a critical regulator of the dopamine system, endocannabinoids, which bind the cannabinoid receptor-1 (CB1R) in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to control cue-evoked striatal dopamine levels. We use cell type-specific optogenetics, intra-VTA pharmacology, and fiber photometry to test the hypothesis that VTA CB1R receptor signaling regulates NAc dopamine levels to control sign tracking. We trained male and female rats in a Pavlovian lever autoshaping (PLA) task to determine their tracking groups before testing the effect of VTA → NAc dopamine inhibition. We found that this circuit is critical for mediating the vigor of the ST response. Upstream of this circuit, intra-VTA infusions of rimonabant, a CB1R inverse agonist, during PLA decrease lever and increase food cup approach in sign-trackers. Using fiber photometry to measure fluorescent signals from a dopamine sensor, GRABDA (AAV9-hSyn-DA2m), we tested the effects of intra-VTA rimonabant on NAc dopamine dynamics during autoshaping in female rats. We found that intra-VTA rimonabant decreased sign-tracking behaviors, which was associated with increases in NAc shell, but not core, dopamine levels during reward delivery [unconditioned stimulus (US)]. Our results suggest that CB1R signaling in the VTA influences the balance between the conditioned stimulus-evoked and US-evoked dopamine responses in the NAc shell and biases behavioral responding to cues in sign-tracking rats.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Substance use disorder (SUD) is a chronically relapsing psychological disorder that affects a subset of individuals who engage in drug use. Recent research suggests that there are individual behavioral and neurobiological differences before drug experience that predict SUD and relapse vulnerabilities. Here, we investigate how midbrain endocannabinoids regulate a brain pathway that is exclusively involved in driving cue-motivated behaviors of sign-tracking rats. This work contributes to our mechanistic understanding of individual vulnerabilities to cue-triggered natural reward seeking that have relevance for drug-motivated behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sam Z Bacharach
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
| | - David A Martin
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
| | - Cassie A Stapf
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
| | - Fangmiao Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at PKU, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
| | - Yulong Li
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at PKU, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
| | - Joseph F Cheer
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
| | - Donna J Calu
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
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3
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Lefner MJ, Stelly CE, Fonzi KM, Zurita H, Wanat MJ. Critical periods when dopamine controls behavioral responding during Pavlovian learning. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2022; 239:2985-2996. [PMID: 35796814 PMCID: PMC10039755 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-022-06182-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/17/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Learning the association between rewards and predictive cues is critical for appetitive behavioral responding. The mesolimbic dopamine system is thought to play an integral role in establishing these cue-reward associations. The dopamine response to cues can signal differences in reward value, though this emerges only after significant training. This suggests that the dopamine system may differentially regulate behavioral responding depending on the phase of training. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine whether antagonizing dopamine receptors elicited different effects on behavior depending on the phase of training or the type of Pavlovian task. METHODS Separate groups of male rats were trained on Pavlovian tasks in which distinct audio cues signaled either differences in reward size or differences in reward rate. The dopamine receptor antagonist flupenthixol was systemically administered prior to either the first ten sessions of training (acquisition phase) or the second ten sessions of training (expression phase), and we monitored the effect of these manipulations for an additional ten training sessions. RESULTS We identified acute effects of dopamine receptor antagonism on conditioned responding, the latency to respond, and post-reward head entries in both Pavlovian tasks. Interestingly, dopamine receptor antagonism during the expression phase produced persistent deficits in behavioral responding only in rats trained on the reward size Pavlovian task. CONCLUSIONS Together, our results illustrate that dopamine's control over behavior in Pavlovian tasks depends upon one's prior training experience and the information signaled by the cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Merridee J Lefner
- Department of Neuroscience Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Neurosciences Institute, Brain Health Consortium, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Claire E Stelly
- Department of Neuroscience Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Neurosciences Institute, Brain Health Consortium, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Kaitlyn M Fonzi
- Department of Neuroscience Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Neurosciences Institute, Brain Health Consortium, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Hector Zurita
- Department of Neuroscience Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Neurosciences Institute, Brain Health Consortium, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Matthew J Wanat
- Department of Neuroscience Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Neurosciences Institute, Brain Health Consortium, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
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Savchenko A, Müller C, Lubec J, Leo D, Korz V, Afjehi-Sadat L, Malikovic J, Sialana FJ, Lubec G, Sukhanov I. The Lack of Dopamine Transporter Is Associated With Conditional Associative Learning Impairments and Striatal Proteomic Changes. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:799433. [PMID: 35370807 PMCID: PMC8971526 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.799433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Dopamine (DA) is critically involved in different functions of the central nervous system (CNS) including control of voluntary movement, affect, reward, sleep, and cognition. One of the key components of DA neurotransmission is DA reuptake by the DA transporter (DAT), ensuring rapid clearance of DA from the synaptic cleft. Thus, lack of DAT leads to persistent high extracellular DA levels. While there is strong evidence for a role of striatal dopaminergic activity in learning and memory processes, little is known about the contribution of DAT deficiency to conditional learning impairments and underlying molecular processes. DAT-knockout (DAT-KO) rats were tested in a set of behavioral experiments evaluating conditional associative learning, which requires unaltered striatal function. In parallel, a large-scale proteomic analysis of the striatum was performed to identify molecular factors probably underlying behavioral patterns. DAT-KO rats were incapable to acquire a new operant skill in Pavlovian/instrumental autoshaping, although the conditional stimulus-unconditional stimulus (CS-US) association seems to be unaffected. These findings suggest that DAT directly or indirectly contributes to the reduction of transference of incentive salience from the reward to the CS. We propose that specific impairment of conditional learning might be caused by molecular adaptations to the hyperdopaminergic state, presumably by dopamine receptor 1 (DRD1) hypofunction, as proposed by proteomic analysis. Whether DRD1 downregulation can cause cognitive deficits in the hyperdopaminergic state is the subject of discussion, and further studies are needed to answer this question. This study may be useful for the interpretation of previous and the design of future studies in the dopamine field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Artem Savchenko
- Institute of Pharmacology, Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Carina Müller
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jana Lubec
- Programme for Proteomics, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Damiana Leo
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium
| | - Volker Korz
- Programme for Proteomics, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Leila Afjehi-Sadat
- Programme for Proteomics, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Jovana Malikovic
- Programme for Proteomics, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Fernando J Sialana
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gert Lubec
- Programme for Proteomics, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Ilya Sukhanov
- Institute of Pharmacology, Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, St. Petersburg, Russia
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5
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Natsheh JY, Espinoza D, Bhimani S, Shiflett MW. The effects of the dopamine D2/3 agonist quinpirole on incentive value and palatability-based choice in a rodent model of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2021; 238:3143-3153. [PMID: 34313801 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-05931-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2020] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Palatability and incentive value influence animal food choice. Dopamine D2/3 receptor signaling may mediate the effects of palatability and incentive value on choice. Dopamine signaling is disrupted in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Investigating behavioral choice processes under D2/3 receptor agonists will help elucidate behavioral and pharmacological correlates of ADHD. OBJECTIVES To determine (1) how changes in incentive value affects choice of actions for outcomes that differ in palatability; (2) the effects of the D2/3 agonist quinpirole on choice based on palatability and incentive value; (3) how choice differs in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR; ADHD model) compared with control strains. METHODS Rats responded instrumentally for two food outcomes (chocolate and grain pellets) that differed in palatability. Following specific satiety of one outcome, rats underwent a choice test. Prior to the choice test, rats were given intra-peritoneal quinpirole (0.01-0.1 mg/kg) body weight. These manipulations were conducted in three strains of rats: SHR rats; the normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) controls; and Wistar outbred (WIS) controls. RESULTS All rat strains responded more vigorously for chocolate pellets compared with grain pellets. Quinpirole reduced the effects of palatability and dose-dependently increased the effects of incentive value on choice. SHR rats were the least influenced by incentive value, whereas WKY rats were the least influenced by palatability. CONCLUSIONS These results show that D2/3 signaling modulates choice based on palatability and incentive value. Disruption of this process in SHR rats may mirror motivational impairments observed in ADHD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joman Y Natsheh
- Children's Specialized Hospital Research Center, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.,Palestinian Neuroscience Initiative, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine.,Kessler Foundation, East Hanover, NJ, USA.,Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Neurology, Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA
| | - Diego Espinoza
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 101 Warren St., 301 Smith Hall, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA
| | - Shaznaan Bhimani
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 101 Warren St., 301 Smith Hall, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA
| | - Michael William Shiflett
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 101 Warren St., 301 Smith Hall, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA.
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Effects of dopamine receptor antagonism and amphetamine-induced psychomotor sensitization on sign- and goal-tracking after extended training. Behav Brain Res 2021; 407:113238. [PMID: 33744334 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 02/20/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The dopamine system is important for incentive salience attribution, where motivational value is assigned to conditioned cues that predict appetitive reinforcers. However, the role of dopamine in this process may change with extended training. We tested the effects of dopamine D1-like and D2-like receptor antagonism on the expression of sign-tracking and goal-tracking conditioned responses following extended Pavlovian conditioned approach (PCA) training. We also tested if amphetamine-induced psychomotor sensitization accelerates the enhanced acquisition of sign-tracking that is observed with extended training. In experiment 1, 24 male Long-Evans rats received 20 PCA sessions in which one lever (CS+, 10 s) predicted 0.2 ml sucrose (10 %, w/v) delivery and the other lever (CS-) did not. SCH-23390 (D1-like antagonist) or eticlopride (D2-like antagonist) were administered before non-reinforced behavioural tests at doses of 0, 0.01, and 0.1 mg/kg (s.c.). In experiment 2, rats received vehicle or 2 mg/kg amphetamine (i.p.) for 7 days (n = 12/group). Ten days later, they received 16 PCA training sessions. Both doses of SCH-23390 reduced sign- and goal-tracking, but also reduced locomotor behaviour. A low dose of eticlopride (0.01 mg/kg) selectively reduced goal-tracking, without affecting sign-tracking or locomotor behaviour. Amphetamine produced psychomotor sensitization, and this did not affect the acquisition of sign- or goal-tracking. Following extended PCA training, dopamine D2-like receptor activity is required for the expression of goal-tracking but not sign-tracking. Psychomotor sensitization to amphetamine did not impact incentive salience attribution; however, more selective manipulations of the dopamine system may be needed.
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7
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Dopaminergic modulation of reward discounting in healthy rats: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2021; 238:711-723. [PMID: 33215269 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-020-05723-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Although numerous studies have suggested that pharmacological alteration of the dopamine (DA) system modulates reward discounting, these studies have produced inconsistent findings. OBJECTIVES Here, we conducted a systematic review and pre-registered meta-analysis to evaluate DA drug-mediated effects on reward discounting of time, probability, and effort costs in studies of healthy rats. This produced a total of 1343 articles to screen for inclusion/exclusion. From the literature, we identified 117 effects from approximately 1549 individual rats. METHODS Using random effects with maximum-likelihood estimation, we meta-analyzed placebo-controlled drug effects for (1) DA D1-like receptor agonists and (2) antagonists, (3) D2-like agonists and (4) antagonists, and (5) DA transporter-modulating drugs. RESULTS Meta-analytic effects showed that DAT-modulating drugs decreased reward discounting. While D1-like and D2-like antagonists both increased discounting, agonist drugs for those receptors had no significant effect on discounting behavior. A number of these effects appear contingent on study design features like cost type, rat strain, and microinfusion location. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest a nuanced relationship between DA and discounting behavior and urge caution when drawing generalizations about the effects of pharmacologically manipulating dopamine on reward-based decision-making.
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8
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Gheidi A, Cope LM, Fitzpatrick CJ, Froehlich BN, Atkinson R, Groves CK, Barcelo CN, Morrow JD. Effects of the cannabinoid receptor agonist CP-55,940 on incentive salience attribution. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2020; 237:2767-2776. [PMID: 32494975 PMCID: PMC7502542 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-020-05571-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2019] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Pavlovian conditioned approach paradigms are used to characterize the nature of motivational behaviors in response to stimuli as either directed toward the cue (i.e., sign-tracking) or the site of reward delivery (i.e., goal-tracking). Recent evidence has shown that activity of the endocannabinoid system increases dopaminergic activity in the mesocorticolimbic system, and other studies have shown that sign-tracking behaviors are dependent on dopamine. OBJECTIVES Therefore, we hypothesized that administration of a cannabinoid agonist would increase sign-tracking and decrease goal-tracking behaviors. METHODS Forty-seven adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were given a low, medium, or high dose of the cannabinoid agonist CP-55,940 (N = 12 per group) or saline (N = 11) before Pavlovian conditioned approach training. A separate group of rats (N = 32) were sacrificed after PCA training for measurement of cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) using in situ hybridization. RESULTS Contrary to our initial hypothesis, CP-55,940 dose-dependently decreased sign-tracking and increased goal-tracking behavior. CB1 expression was higher in sign-trackers compared with that in goal-trackers in the prelimbic cortex, but there were no significant differences in CB1 or FAAH expression in the infralimbic cortex, dorsal or ventral CA1, dorsal or ventral CA3, dorsal or ventral dentate gyrus, or amygdala. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate that cannabinoid signaling can specifically influence behavioral biases toward sign- or goal-tracking. Pre-existing differences in CB1 expression patterns, particularly in the prelimbic cortex, could contribute to individual differences in the tendency to attribute incentive salience to reward cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Gheidi
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan
| | - Lora M. Cope
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan,Addiction Center, University of Michigan
| | | | | | | | | | - Clair N. Barcelo
- Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan
| | - Jonathan D. Morrow
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan,Addiction Center, University of Michigan,Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan,Corresponding Author: Jonathan D. Morrow, Biomedical Science Research Building Room 5047, 109 Zina Pitcher Place Ann Arbor, MI 48109, 1-734-764-4283 (phone), 1-734-232-0244 (fax),
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Checking responses of goal- and sign-trackers are differentially affected by threat in a rodent analog of obsessive-compulsive disorder. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020; 27:190-200. [PMID: 32295839 PMCID: PMC7164513 DOI: 10.1101/lm.050260.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2019] [Accepted: 01/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), functional behaviors such as checking that a door is locked become dysfunctional, maladaptive, and debilitating. However, it is currently unknown how aversive and appetitive motivations interact to produce functional and dysfunctional behavior in OCD. Here we show a double dissociation in the effects of anxiogenic cues and sensitivity to rewarding stimuli on the propensity to develop functional and dysfunctional checking behavior in a rodent analog of OCD, the observing response task (ORT). While anxiogenic manipulations of perceived threat (presentation of threat-associated contextual cues) and actual threat (punishment of incorrect responding on the ORT) enhanced functional checking, dysfunctional checking was unaffected. In contrast, rats that had previously been identified as “sign-trackers” on an autoshaping task—and therefore were highly sensitive to the incentive salience of appetitive environmental cues—selectively showed elevated levels of dysfunctional checking under a range of conditions, but particularly so under conditions of uncertainty. These data indicate that functional and dysfunctional checking are dissociable and supported by aversive and appetitive motivational processes, respectively. While functional checking is modulated by perceived and actual threat, dysfunctional checking recruits appetitive motivational processes, possibly akin to the “incentive habits” that contribute to drug-seeking in addiction.
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10
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Colaizzi JM, Flagel SB, Joyner MA, Gearhardt AN, Stewart JL, Paulus MP. Mapping sign-tracking and goal-tracking onto human behaviors. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 111:84-94. [PMID: 31972203 PMCID: PMC8087151 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.01.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Revised: 01/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
As evidenced through classic Pavlovian learning mechanisms, environmental cues can become incentivized and influence behavior. These stimulus-outcome associations are relevant in everyday life but may be particularly important for the development of impulse control disorders including addiction. Rodent studies have elucidated specific learning profiles termed 'sign-tracking' and 'goal-tracking' which map onto individual differences in impulsivity and other behaviors associated with impulse control disorders' etiology, course, and relapse. Whereas goal-trackers are biased toward the outcome, sign-trackers fixate on features that are associated with but not necessary for achieving an outcome; a pattern of behavior that often leads to escalation of reward-seeking that can be maladaptive. The vast majority of the sign- and goal-tracking research has been conducted using rodent models and very few have bridged this concept into the domain of human behavior. In this review, we discuss the attributes of sign- and goal-tracking profiles, how these are manifested neurobiologically, and how these distinct learning styles could be an important tool for clinical interventions in human addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janna M Colaizzi
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 S Yale Ave, Tulsa, OK, USA.
| | - Shelly B Flagel
- University of Michigan Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, 205 Zina Pitcher Pl, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Michelle A Joyner
- University of Michigan, Department of Psychology, 530 Church St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Ashley N Gearhardt
- University of Michigan, Department of Psychology, 530 Church St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | | | - Martin P Paulus
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 S Yale Ave, Tulsa, OK, USA
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11
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Sala-Bayo J, Fiddian L, Nilsson SRO, Hervig ME, McKenzie C, Mareschi A, Boulos M, Zhukovsky P, Nicholson J, Dalley JW, Alsiö J, Robbins TW. Dorsal and ventral striatal dopamine D1 and D2 receptors differentially modulate distinct phases of serial visual reversal learning. Neuropsychopharmacology 2020; 45:736-744. [PMID: 31940660 PMCID: PMC7075980 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-020-0612-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Revised: 11/22/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Impaired cognitive flexibility in visual reversal-learning tasks has been observed in a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. Although both human and animal studies have implicated striatal D2-like and D1-like receptors (D2R; D1R) in this form of flexibility, less is known about the contribution they make within distinct sub-regions of the striatum and the different phases of visual reversal learning. The present study investigated the involvement of D2R and D1R during the early (perseverative) phase of reversal learning as well as in the intermediate and late stages (new learning) after microinfusions of D2R and D1R antagonists into the nucleus accumbens core and shell (NAcC; NAcS), the anterior and posterior dorsomedial striatum (DMS) and the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) on a touchscreen visual serial reversal-learning task. Reversal learning was improved after dopamine receptor blockade in the nucleus accumbens; the D1R antagonist, SCH23390, in the NAcS and the D2R antagonist, raclopride, in the NAcC selectively reduced early, perseverative errors. In contrast, reversal learning was impaired by D2R antagonism, but not D1R antagonism, in the dorsal striatum: raclopride increased errors in the intermediate phase after DMS infusions, and increased errors across phases after DLS infusions. These findings indicate that D1R and D2R modulate different stages of reversal learning through effects localised to different sub-regions of the striatum. Thus, deficits in behavioral flexibility observed in disorders linked to dopamine perturbations may be attributable to specific D1R and D2R dysfunction in distinct striatal sub-regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Júlia Sala-Bayo
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2EB, UK
| | - Leanne Fiddian
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2EB, UK
| | - Simon R O Nilsson
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2EB, UK
| | - Mona E Hervig
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2EB, UK
| | - Colin McKenzie
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2EB, UK
| | - Alexis Mareschi
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2EB, UK
| | - Maria Boulos
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2EB, UK
| | - Peter Zhukovsky
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2EB, UK
| | - Janet Nicholson
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Div. Research Germany, Biberach an der Riß, Germany
| | - Jeffrey W Dalley
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2EB, UK
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2QQ, UK
| | - Johan Alsiö
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2EB, UK
| | - Trevor W Robbins
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 2EB, UK.
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12
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Eagle DM, Schepisi C, Chugh S, Desai S, Han SYS, Huang T, Lee JJ, Sobala C, Ye W, Milton AL, Robbins TW. Dissociable dopaminergic and pavlovian influences in goal-trackers and sign-trackers on a model of compulsive checking in OCD. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2020; 237:3569-3581. [PMID: 32886158 PMCID: PMC7683452 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-020-05636-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Checking is a functional behaviour that provides information to guide behaviour. However, in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), checking may escalate to dysfunctional levels. The processes underpinning the transition from functional to dysfunctional checking are unclear but may be associated with individual differences that support the development of maladaptive behaviour. We examined one such predisposition, sign-tracking to a pavlovian conditioned stimulus, which we previously found associated with dysfunctional checking. How sign-tracking interacts with another treatment with emerging translational validity for OCD-like checking, chronic administration of the dopamine D2 receptor agonist quinpirole, is unknown. OBJECTIVES We tested how functional and dysfunctional checking in the rat observing response task (ORT) was affected by chronic quinpirole administration in non-autoshaped controls and autoshaped animals classified as sign-trackers or goal-trackers. METHODS Sign-trackers or goal-trackers were trained on the ORT before the effects of chronic quinpirole administration on checking were assessed. Subsequently, the effects on checking of different behavioural challenges, including reward omission and the use of unpredictable reinforcement schedules, were tested. RESULTS Prior autoshaping increased checking. Sign-trackers and goal-trackers responded differently to quinpirole sensitization, reward omission and reinforcement uncertainty. Sign-trackers showed greater elevations in dysfunctional checking, particularly during uncertainty. By contrast, goal-trackers predominantly increased functional checking responses, possibly in response to reduced discrimination accuracy in the absence of cues signalling which lever was currently active. CONCLUSIONS The results are discussed in terms of how pavlovian associations influence behaviour that becomes compulsive in OCD and how this may be dependent on striatal dopamine D2 receptors.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. M. Eagle
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - C. Schepisi
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK ,grid.7841.aSapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - S. Chugh
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - S. Desai
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - S. Y. S. Han
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - T. Huang
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - J. J. Lee
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK ,grid.5337.20000 0004 1936 7603University of Bristol, Bristol, UK ,grid.83440.3b0000000121901201University College London, London, UK
| | - C. Sobala
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - W. Ye
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK ,grid.4991.50000 0004 1936 8948Oxford University Clinical Academic Graduate School, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - A. L. Milton
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
| | - T. W. Robbins
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB UK
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13
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Kao KC, Hisatsune T. Differential effects of dopamine D1-like and D2-like receptor agonists on water drinking behaviour under thirsty conditions in mice with reduced dopamine secretion. Eur J Neurosci 2019; 51:584-597. [PMID: 31472080 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Revised: 08/08/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The mesolimbic dopamine system is important for reward-oriented behaviours, such as drinking and eating. However, the precise involvement of dopaminergic neurons and dopamine receptors in water drinking behaviour remains unclear. Here, we generated triple transgenic mice harbouring Slc6a3(DAT)-icre/ERT2, Camk2a-loxP-STOP-loxP-tetracycline transactivator and tetO-tetanus toxin constructs, in which the release of dopamine is blocked by tetanus toxin. These mice, referred to as dopamine secretion interference mice, had reduced dopamine secretion in the striatum (61.4%) and the nucleus accumbens (54.5%). They showed adequate limb strength and food consumption, similarly to control mice, but exhibited motor control impairment in a challenging rotarod test. Dopamine secretion interference mice made fewer licks and had fewer bursts than control mice during a licking test under thirsty conditions. To elucidate the influence of dopamine receptors in the altered drinking behaviour, a dopamine D1 or D2/D3 receptor agonist (A68930 or ropinirole, respectively) was administered prior to the licking microstructure analysis. Treatment with the D1 agonist restored the total number of licks but not the burst number in dopamine secretion interference mice. By contrast, the D2/3 agonist impeded water drinking behaviour in both transgenic and control mice. The present findings indicate that D1 receptor activation partially ameliorates the altered drinking behaviour of the dopamine secretion interference mice and suggest that D1 receptor activity impacts drinking under thirsty conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kung-Chun Kao
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
| | - Tatsuhiro Hisatsune
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
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14
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Campus P, Covelo IR, Kim Y, Parsegian A, Kuhn BN, Lopez SA, Neumaier JF, Ferguson SM, Solberg Woods LC, Sarter M, Flagel SB. The paraventricular thalamus is a critical mediator of top-down control of cue-motivated behavior in rats. eLife 2019; 8:e49041. [PMID: 31502538 PMCID: PMC6739869 DOI: 10.7554/elife.49041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2019] [Accepted: 08/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cues in the environment can elicit complex emotional states, and thereby maladaptive behavior, as a function of their ascribed value. Here we capture individual variation in the propensity to attribute motivational value to reward-cues using the sign-tracker/goal-tracker animal model. Goal-trackers attribute predictive value to reward-cues, and sign-trackers attribute both predictive and incentive value. Using chemogenetics and microdialysis, we show that, in sign-trackers, stimulation of the neuronal pathway from the prelimbic cortex (PrL) to the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) decreases the incentive value of a reward-cue. In contrast, in goal-trackers, inhibition of the PrL-PVT pathway increases both the incentive value and dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens shell. The PrL-PVT pathway, therefore, exerts top-down control over the dopamine-dependent process of incentive salience attribution. These results highlight PrL-PVT pathway as a potential target for treating psychopathologies associated with the attribution of excessive incentive value to reward-cues, including addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Campus
- Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience InstituteUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborUnited States
| | - Ignacio R Covelo
- Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience InstituteUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborUnited States
| | - Youngsoo Kim
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborUnited States
| | - Aram Parsegian
- Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience InstituteUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborUnited States
| | - Brittany N Kuhn
- Neuroscience Graduate ProgramUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborUnited States
| | - Sofia A Lopez
- Neuroscience Graduate ProgramUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborUnited States
| | - John F Neumaier
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesUniversity of WashingtonSeattleUnited States
| | - Susan M Ferguson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesUniversity of WashingtonSeattleUnited States
| | - Leah C Solberg Woods
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Molecular MedicineWake Forest School of MedicineWinston-SalemUnited States
| | - Martin Sarter
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborUnited States
- Neuroscience Graduate ProgramUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborUnited States
| | - Shelly B Flagel
- Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience InstituteUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborUnited States
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborUnited States
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15
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Fraser KM, Janak PH. Occasion setters attain incentive motivational value: implications for contextual influences on reward-seeking. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 26:291-298. [PMID: 31308248 PMCID: PMC6636542 DOI: 10.1101/lm.049320.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2019] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The context in which reward-paired cues are encountered can resolve ambiguity and set the occasion for appropriate reward-seeking. The psychological processes by which contexts regulate reward-seeking remain unclear as contexts are diffuse and difficult to isolate from other stimuli. To overcome this, we modeled a context as a phasic and discrete event—an occasion setter (OS)—which allowed for control over its presentation and influence on cue-driven reward-seeking. This allowed us to directly assess how OSs regulate the predictive and motivational significance of Pavlovian cues. Male rats (n = 50) were trained in a Pavlovian procedure where the presentation of an ambiguous conditioned stimulus (CS) was reinforced only if preceded by an occasion setting cue. We assessed the motivational value of the OS and CS alone or in combination using tests of conditioned reinforcement. Rats enhanced conditioned approach to the reward port during the CS when it was preceded by the OS. When allowed the opportunity, rats responded more to obtain presentations of the CS in combination with the OS than the CS alone. Critically, rats also worked to obtain presentations of the OS alone more than the CS alone, and this was resistant to manipulations of the value of the OS. We conclude that occasion setting can act via incentive motivational mechanisms and that, apart from resolving predictive information about ambiguous reward-paired cues, OSs themselves generate states of appetitive motivation that can facilitate reward-seeking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt M Fraser
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
| | - Patricia H Janak
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.,The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.,Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
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16
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Cannabinoid receptor-1 signaling contributions to sign-tracking and conditioned reinforcement in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2018; 235:3031-3043. [PMID: 30109373 PMCID: PMC6344029 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-018-4993-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2018] [Accepted: 08/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Endocannabinoids (eCBs) are critical gatekeepers of dopaminergic signaling, and disrupting cannabinoid receptor-1 (CB1) signaling alters DA dynamics to attenuate cue-motivated behaviors. Prior studies suggest that dopamine (DA) release plays a critical role in driving sign-tracking. OBJECTIVES Here, we determine whether systemic injections of rimonabant, a CB1 receptor inverse agonist, during Pavlovian lever autoshaping impair the expression of sign-tracking. We next examine whether rimonabant blocks the reinforcing properties of the Pavlovian lever cue in a conditioned reinforcement test. METHODS In Exp. 1, we trained rats in Pavlovian lever autoshaping prior to systemic rimonabant injections (0, 1, 3 mg/kg) during early and late Pavlovian lever autoshaping sessions. In Exp. 2, we trained rats in Pavlovian lever autoshaping prior to systemic rimonabant injections (0, 1 mg/kg) during a conditioned reinforcement test. RESULTS Rimonabant dose-dependently decreased lever contact and probability, and increased sign-tracker's latency to approach the lever cue early in Pavlovian training. With extended training, many previously goal-tracking and intermediate rats shifted to lever approach, which remained dose-dependently sensitive to rimonabant. Rimonabant attenuated cue-evoked food cup approach early, but not late, in conditioning, and did not affect pellet retrieval or consumption. The inserted lever cue served as a robust conditioned reinforcer after Pavlovian lever autoshaping, and 1 mg/kg rimonabant blocked conditioned reinforcement. CONCLUSIONS Together, our results suggest that CB1 signaling mediates two critical properties of incentive stimuli; their ability to attract (Exp. 1) and their ability to reinforce (Exp. 2) behavior.
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17
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Cell type-specific activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase in D1 receptor-expressing neurons of the nucleus accumbens potentiates stimulus-reward learning in mice. Sci Rep 2018; 8:14413. [PMID: 30258218 PMCID: PMC6158283 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-32840-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/12/2018] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Medium spiny neurons (MSN) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) are a fundamental component of various aspects of motivated behavior. Although mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling plays a crucial role in several types of learning, the cell type-specific role of MAPK pathway in stimulus-reward learning and motivation remains unclear. We herein investigated the role of MAPK in accumbal MSNs in reward-associated learning and memory. During the acquisition of Pavlovian conditioning, the number of phosphorylated MAPK1/3-positive cells was increased significantly and exclusively in the NAc core by 7-days of extensive training. MAPK signaling in the respective D1R- and D2R-MSNs was manipulated by transfecting an adeno-associated virus (AAV) plasmid into the NAc of Drd1a-Cre and Drd2-Cre transgenic mice. Potentiation of MAPK signaling shifted the learning curve of Pavlovian conditioning to the left only in Drd1a-Cre mice, whereas such manipulation in D2R-MSNs had negligible effects. In contrast, MAPK manipulation in D2R-MSNs of the NAc core significantly increased motivation for food rewards as found in Drd1a-Cre mice. These results suggest that MAPK signaling in the D1R-MSNs of NAc core plays an important role in stimulus-reward learning, while MAPK signaling in both D1R- and D2R-MSNs is involved in motivation for natural rewards.
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18
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López P, Alba R, Orduña V. Individual differences in incentive salience attribution are not related to suboptimal choice in rats. Behav Brain Res 2018; 341:71-78. [PMID: 29278696 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.12.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2017] [Revised: 12/15/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Previous research has shown great variation in the extent to which individual rats attribute incentive salience to stimuli that are predictors of reinforcement. When using the Pavlovian Conditioned Approach procedure, in which a discrete stimulus is presented contingently before the delivery of reinforcement, the attribution of incentive salience is demonstrated by sign-tracking behavior (responses directed toward the stimulus predictor of reinforcement), while an absence of this attribution is reflected by goal-tracking behavior (responses directed toward the source of reinforcement). It has been reported that sign-tracking subjects have a higher tendency to perform some maladaptive behaviors than goal-tracking subjects, and that in non-classified rats, increasing the incentive salience of the stimuli promotes suboptimal choice in the "suboptimal choice procedure". In this task, subjects are presented with two alternatives, one of them better in terms of the information provided by the discriminative stimuli, but worse in terms of probability of reinforcement (suboptimal alternative). Integrating these ideas, we hypothesized that sign-trackers would behave suboptimally, in contrast to goal-trackers. In the present study, 45 rats were classified according to their performance in the Pavlovian Conditioned Approach procedure and subjects with extreme values (sign-trackers, and goal-trackers) were evaluated in the suboptimal choice procedure. Both groups were found to behave optimally, with no differences between them. The difference between groups in capacity of attribution of incentive salience was preserved during the entire experiment, suggesting that this variable is not related to choice performance in the suboptimal choice procedure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulina López
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F. 04510, México
| | - Rodrigo Alba
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F. 04510, México
| | - Vladimir Orduña
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F. 04510, México.
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19
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Nasser HM, Lafferty DS, Lesser EN, Bacharach SZ, Calu DJ. Disconnection of basolateral amygdala and insular cortex disrupts conditioned approach in Pavlovian lever autoshaping. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2018; 147:35-45. [PMID: 29169849 PMCID: PMC5972554 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2017.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2017] [Revised: 10/20/2017] [Accepted: 11/18/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Previously established individual differences in appetitive approach and devaluation sensitivity observed in goal- and sign-trackers may be attributed to differences in the acquisition, modification, or use of associative information in basolateral amygdala (BLA) pathways. Here, we sought to determine the extent to which communication of associative information between BLA and anterior portions of insular cortex (IC) supports ongoing Pavlovian conditioned approach behaviors in sign- and goal-tracking rats, in the absence of manipulations to outcome value. We hypothesized that the BLA mediates goal-, but not sign- tracking approach through interactions with the IC, a brain region involved in supporting flexible behavior. We first trained rats in Pavlovian lever autoshaping to determine their sign- or goal-tracking tendency. During alternating test sessions, we gave unilateral intracranial injections of vehicle or a cocktail of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor agonists, baclofen and muscimol, unilaterally into the BLA and contralaterally or ipsilaterally into the IC prior to reinforced lever autoshaping sessions. Consistent with our hypothesis we found that contralateral inactivation of BLA and IC increased the latency to approach the food cup and decreased the number of food cup contacts in goal-trackers. While contralateral inactivation of BLA and IC did not affect the total number of lever contacts in sign-trackers, this manipulation increased the latency to approach the lever. Ipsilateral inactivation of BLA and IC did not impact approach behaviors in Pavlovian lever autoshaping. These findings, contrary to our hypothesis, suggest that communication between BLA and IC maintains a representation of initially learned appetitive associations that commonly support the initiation of Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior regardless of whether it is directed at the cue or the location of reward delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen M Nasser
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Danielle S Lafferty
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Ellen N Lesser
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Sam Z Bacharach
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Donna J Calu
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
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20
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Fraser KM, Janak PH. Long-lasting contribution of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens core, but not dorsal lateral striatum, to sign-tracking. Eur J Neurosci 2017; 46:2047-2055. [PMID: 28699296 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2017] [Revised: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 07/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The attribution of incentive salience to reward-paired cues is dependent on dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens core (NAcC). These dopamine signals conform to traditional reward-prediction error signals and have been shown to diminish with time. Here we examined whether the diminishing dopamine signal in the NAcC has functional implications for the expression of sign-tracking, a Pavlovian conditioned response indicative of the attribution of incentive salience to reward-paired cues. Food-restricted male Sprague Dawley rats were trained in a Pavlovian paradigm in which an insertable lever predicted delivery of food reward in a nearby food cup. After 7 or 14 training sessions, rats received infusions of saline, the dopamine antagonist flupenthixol, or the GABA agonists baclofen and muscimol into the NAcC or the dorsal lateral striatum (DLS). Dopamine antagonism within the NAcC attenuated sign-tracking, whereas reversible inactivation did not affect sign-tracking but increased non-specific food cup checking behaviors. Neither drug in the DLS affected sign-tracking behavior. Critically, extended training did not alter these effects. Although extended experience with an incentive stimulus may reduce cue-evoked dopamine in the NAcC, this does not remove the dependence on dopamine in this region to promote Pavlovian cue approach nor result in the recruitment of dorsal lateral striatal systems for this behavior. These data support the notion that dopamine within the mesoaccumbal system, but not the nigrostriatal system, contributes critically to incentive motivational processes independent of the length of training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt M Fraser
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N Charles St, 224 Dunning Hall, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Patricia H Janak
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N Charles St, 224 Dunning Hall, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.,The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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21
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Frameworking memory and serotonergic markers. Rev Neurosci 2017; 28:455-497. [DOI: 10.1515/revneuro-2016-0079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2016] [Accepted: 01/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Abstract:The evidence for neural markers and memory is continuously being revised, and as evidence continues to accumulate, herein, we frame earlier and new evidence. Hence, in this work, the aim is to provide an appropriate conceptual framework of serotonergic markers associated with neural activity and memory. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) has multiple pharmacological tools, well-characterized downstream signaling in mammals’ species, and established 5-HT neural markers showing new insights about memory functions and dysfunctions, including receptors (5-HT1A/1B/1D, 5-HT2A/2B/2C, and 5-HT3-7), transporter (serotonin transporter [SERT]) and volume transmission present in brain areas involved in memory. Bidirectional influence occurs between 5-HT markers and memory/amnesia. A growing number of researchers report that memory, amnesia, or forgetting modifies neural markers. Diverse approaches support the translatability of using neural markers and cerebral functions/dysfunctions, including memory formation and amnesia. At least, 5-HT1A, 5-HT4, 5-HT6, and 5-HT7receptors and SERT seem to be useful neural markers and therapeutic targets. Hence, several mechanisms cooperate to achieve synaptic plasticity or memory, including changes in the expression of neurotransmitter receptors and transporters.
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Naltrexone moderates the relationship between cue-induced craving and subjective response to methamphetamine in individuals with methamphetamine use disorder. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2017; 234:1997-2007. [PMID: 28357460 PMCID: PMC5480611 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-017-4607-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2016] [Accepted: 03/14/2017] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Reductions in cue-induced craving and subjective response to drugs of abuse are commonly used as initial outcome measures when testing novel medications for the treatment of addiction. Yet neither the relationship between these two measures at the individual level nor the moderating effects of pharmacotherapies on this relationship has been examined. OBJECTIVE This secondary data analysis sought to examine (1) the predictive relationship between cue-induced craving and subsequent acute subjective response to methamphetamine (MA) and (2) whether the opioid-receptor antagonist naltrexone moderated this association in a sample of non-treatment-seeking individuals who met DSM-IV criteria for MA use disorder (abuse or dependence). METHODS Participants (n = 30) completed two 4-day medication regimens (oral naltrexone 50 mg or placebo, in a randomized, counterbalanced, and double-blind fashion). On day 4 of each medication regimen, participants completed a cue-reactivity paradigm followed by intravenous MA administration. Methamphetamine craving was assessed after the cue-reactivity paradigm, and subjective response to MA was assessed during MA infusion. RESULTS Cue-induced craving for MA was positively associated with post-infusion subjective MA effects, including positive (i.e., stimulation, good effects, feel drug, high), negative (i.e., anxious and depressed), and craving-related (i.e., want more, would like access to drug, crave) responses. Naltrexone, vs. placebo, significantly reduced the association between cue-induced craving and positive subjective response to MA. CONCLUSIONS The findings indicate that naltrexone moderates the predictive relationship between cue-induced craving and positive subjective effects of MA, thereby suggesting a behavioral mechanism by which naltrexone may be efficacious in treating MA use disorder.
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Flagel SB, Robinson TE. Neurobiological Basis of Individual Variation in Stimulus-Reward Learning. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2017; 13:178-185. [PMID: 28670608 PMCID: PMC5486979 DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Cues in the environment can guide behavior in adaptive ways, leading one towards valuable resources such as food, water, or a potential mate. However, cues in the environment may also serve as powerful motivators that lead to maladaptive patterns of behavior, such as addiction. Importantly, and central to this article, there is considerable individual variation in the extent to which reward cues gain motivational control over behavior. Here we describe an animal model that captures this individual variation, allowing us to better understand the psychological and neurobiological processes that contribute to cue-evoked behaviors. When a discrete cue is paired with a food reward in a Pavlovian manner it acquires greater control over motivated behavior in some rats ("sign-trackers, STs) than in others ("goal-trackers", GTs). We review studies that have exploited this animal model to parse the neurobiological mechanisms involved in learning associations between stimuli vs. those involved in attributing incentive salience to those same stimuli. The latter seems to be dependent on dopamine and subcortical circuits, whereas the former may engage more cortical "top-down" mechanisms.
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Haight JL, Fuller ZL, Fraser KM, Flagel SB. A food-predictive cue attributed with incentive salience engages subcortical afferents and efferents of the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus. Neuroscience 2016; 340:135-152. [PMID: 27793779 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.10.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2016] [Revised: 09/27/2016] [Accepted: 10/18/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) has been implicated in behavioral responses to reward-associated cues. However, the precise role of the PVT in these behaviors has been difficult to ascertain since Pavlovian-conditioned cues can act as both predictive and incentive stimuli. The "sign-tracker/goal-tracker" rat model has allowed us to further elucidate the role of the PVT in cue-motivated behaviors, identifying this structure as a critical component of the neural circuitry underlying individual variation in the propensity to attribute incentive salience to reward cues. The current study assessed differences in the engagement of specific PVT afferents and efferents in response to presentation of a food-cue that had been attributed with only predictive value or with both predictive and incentive value. The retrograde tracer fluorogold (FG) was injected into the PVT or the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of rats, and cue-induced c-Fos in FG-labeled cells was quantified. Presentation of a predictive stimulus that had been attributed with incentive value elicited c-Fos in PVT afferents from the lateral hypothalamus, medial amygdala (MeA), and the prelimbic cortex (PrL), as well as posterior PVT efferents to the NAc. PVT afferents from the PrL also showed elevated c-Fos levels following presentation of a predictive stimulus alone. Thus, presentation of an incentive stimulus results in engagement of subcortical brain regions; supporting a role for the hypothalamic-thalamic-striatal axis, as well as the MeA, in mediating responses to incentive stimuli; whereas activity in the PrL to PVT pathway appears to play a role in processing the predictive qualities of reward-paired stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua L Haight
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Zachary L Fuller
- Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Kurt M Fraser
- Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Shelly B Flagel
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States; Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States; Department of Psychiatry, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States; Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
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Chow JJ, Nickell JR, Darna M, Beckmann JS. Toward isolating the role of dopamine in the acquisition of incentive salience attribution. Neuropharmacology 2016; 109:320-331. [PMID: 27371135 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2016.06.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2016] [Revised: 06/22/2016] [Accepted: 06/23/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Stimulus-reward learning has been heavily linked to the reward-prediction error learning hypothesis and dopaminergic function. However, some evidence suggests dopaminergic function may not strictly underlie reward-prediction error learning, but may be specific to incentive salience attribution. Utilizing a Pavlovian conditioned approach procedure consisting of two stimuli that were equally reward-predictive (both undergoing reward-prediction error learning) but functionally distinct in regard to incentive salience (levers that elicited sign-tracking and tones that elicited goal-tracking), we tested the differential role of D1 and D2 dopamine receptors and nucleus accumbens dopamine in the acquisition of sign- and goal-tracking behavior and their associated conditioned reinforcing value within individuals. Overall, the results revealed that both D1 and D2 inhibition disrupted performance of sign- and goal-tracking. However, D1 inhibition specifically prevented the acquisition of sign-tracking to a lever, instead promoting goal-tracking and decreasing its conditioned reinforcing value, while neither D1 nor D2 signaling was required for goal-tracking in response to a tone. Likewise, nucleus accumbens dopaminergic lesions disrupted acquisition of sign-tracking to a lever, while leaving goal-tracking in response to a tone unaffected. Collectively, these results are the first evidence of an intraindividual dissociation of dopaminergic function in incentive salience attribution from reward-prediction error learning, indicating that incentive salience, reward-prediction error, and their associated dopaminergic signaling exist within individuals and are stimulus-specific. Thus, individual differences in incentive salience attribution may be reflective of a differential balance in dopaminergic function that may bias toward the attribution of incentive salience, relative to reward-prediction error learning only.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Justin R Nickell
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Kentucky, USA
| | - Mahesh Darna
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Kentucky, USA
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Cocker PJ, Vonder Haar C, Winstanley CA. Elucidating the role of D4 receptors in mediating attributions of salience to incentive stimuli on Pavlovian conditioned approach and conditioned reinforcement paradigms. Behav Brain Res 2016; 312:55-63. [PMID: 27275521 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2016] [Revised: 06/03/2016] [Accepted: 06/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The power of drug-associated cues to instigate drug 'wanting' and consequently promote drug seeking is a corner stone of contemporary theories of addiction. Gambling disorder has recently been added to the pantheon of addictive disorders due to the phenomenological similarities between the diseases. However, the neurobiological mechanism that may mediate increased sensitivity towards conditioned stimuli in addictive disorders is unclear. We have previously demonstrated using a rodent analogue of a simple slot machine that the dopamine D4 receptor is critically engaged in controlling animals' attribution of salience to stimuli associated with reward in this paradigm, and consequently may represent a target for the treatment of gambling disorder. Here, we investigated the role of acute administration of a D4 receptor agonist on animals' responsivity to conditioned stimuli on both a Pavlovian conditioned approach (autoshaping) and a conditioned reinforcement paradigm. Following training on one of the two tasks, separate cohorts of rats (male and female) were administered a dose of PD168077 shown to be maximally effective at precipitating errors in reward expectancy on the rat slot machine task (10mg/kg). However, augmenting the activity of the D4 receptors in this manner did not alter behaviour on either task. These data therefore provide novel evidence that the D4 receptor does not alter incentive motivation in response to cues on simple behavioural tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- P J Cocker
- Department of Psychology, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
| | - C Vonder Haar
- Department of Psychology, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - C A Winstanley
- Department of Psychology, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
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Lloyd K, Dayan P. Safety out of control: dopamine and defence. BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN FUNCTIONS : BBF 2016; 12:15. [PMID: 27216176 PMCID: PMC4878001 DOI: 10.1186/s12993-016-0099-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2016] [Accepted: 05/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
We enjoy a sophisticated understanding of how animals learn to predict appetitive outcomes and direct their behaviour accordingly. This encompasses well-defined learning algorithms and details of how these might be implemented in the brain. Dopamine has played an important part in this unfolding story, appearing to embody a learning signal for predicting rewards and stamping in useful actions, while also being a modulator of behavioural vigour. By contrast, although choosing correct actions and executing them vigorously in the face of adversity is at least as important, our understanding of learning and behaviour in aversive settings is less well developed. We examine aversive processing through the medium of the role of dopamine and targets such as D2 receptors in the striatum. We consider critical factors such as the degree of control that an animal believes it exerts over key aspects of its environment, the distinction between 'better' and 'good' actual or predicted future states, and the potential requirement for a particular form of opponent to dopamine to ensure proper calibration of state values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Lloyd
- Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, 25 Howland Street, London, UK
| | - Peter Dayan
- Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, 25 Howland Street, London, UK
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