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Ferguson LA, Matamales M, Nolan C, Balleine BW, Bertran-Gonzalez J. Adaptation of sequential action benefits from timing variability related to lateral basal ganglia circuitry. iScience 2024; 27:109274. [PMID: 38496293 PMCID: PMC10943431 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Streamlined action sequences must remain flexible should stable contingencies in the environment change. By combining analyses of behavioral structure with a circuit-specific manipulation in mice, we report on a relationship between action timing variability and successful adaptation that relates to post-synaptic targets of primary motor cortical (M1) projections to dorsolateral striatum (DLS). In a two-lever instrumental task, mice formed successful action sequences by, first, establishing action scaffolds and, second, smoothly extending action duration to adapt to increased task requirements. Interruption of DLS neurons in M1 projection territories altered this process, evoking higher-rate actions that were more stereotyped in their timing, reducing opportunities for success. Based on evidence from neuronal tracing experiments, we propose that DLS neurons in M1 projection territories supply action timing variability to facilitate adaptation, a function that may involve additional downstream subcortical processing relating to collateralization of descending motor pathways to multiple basal ganglia centers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lachlan A. Ferguson
- Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Miriam Matamales
- Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Christopher Nolan
- Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Bernard W. Balleine
- Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Jesus Bertran-Gonzalez
- Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Liang T, Peng RC, Rong KL, Li JX, Ke Y, Yung WH. Disparate processing of numerosity and associated continuous magnitudes in rats. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadj2566. [PMID: 38381814 PMCID: PMC10881051 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adj2566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
The studies of number sense in different species are severely hampered by the inevitable entanglement of non-numerical attributes inherent in nonsymbolic stimuli representing numerosity, resulting in contrasting theories of numerosity processing. Here, we developed an algorithm and associated analytical methods to generate stimuli that not only minimized the impact of non-numerical magnitudes in numerosity perception but also allowed their quantification. We trained number-naïve rats with these stimuli as sound pulses representing two or three numbers and demonstrated that their numerical discrimination ability mainly relied on numerosity. Also, studying the learning process revealed that rats used numerosity before using magnitudes for choices. This numerical processing could be impaired specifically by silencing the posterior parietal cortex. Furthermore, modeling this capacity by neural networks shed light on the separation of numerosity and magnitudes extraction. Our study helps dissect the relationship between magnitude and numerosity processing, and the above different findings together affirm the independent existence of innate number and magnitudes sense in rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuo Liang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Rong-Chao Peng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, Guangdong, China
| | - Kang-Lin Rong
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jia-Xin Li
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ya Ke
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wing-Ho Yung
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- Department of Neuroscience, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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3
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Mármol Contreras Y, Vasquez TES, Shah P, Payne K, Di Re J, Laezza F, Green TA. Bar press durations as a reliable and robust measure of frustration-related operant behavior: Sensitivity to incentive downshift and dose-response paradigms. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0296090. [PMID: 38127939 PMCID: PMC10734988 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
In humans, frustrating experiences are known to trigger relapse events and individuals with higher frustration intolerance show increased risk of developing substance use disorders (SUDs). Despite this clear relationship, frustration-related behavior is seldom studied concurrently with self-administration behavior in rodent models. A major obstacle has been the lack of robust, quantitative assays of frustration-related operant behavior thus far. In previous work, we identified increased bar press (BP) durations in response to frustrating conditions in rats self-administering natural or drug rewards. Here, to propose BP durations as a measure of frustration-related behavior, we conducted an operant successive negative contrast (oSNC) study and found that increases in BP durations are observed in the absence of increased effort, providing evidence that this is a psychological phenomenon. Moreover, we assess the viability of widespread use of BP duration measurements as a behavioral tool by quantifying performance as it pertains to sensitivity, robustness, replicability, and sex differences. We conclude that increases in BP durations are a highly sensitive psychological response to frustrating conditions and that this measure is robust, replicable, and applicable to both sexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yorkiris Mármol Contreras
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Center for Addiction Sciences and Therapeutics, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Mental Health Research Group, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Tileena E. S. Vasquez
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Center for Addiction Sciences and Therapeutics, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Mental Health Research Group, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Poonam Shah
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Center for Addiction Sciences and Therapeutics, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Mental Health Research Group, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Kelsey Payne
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Center for Addiction Sciences and Therapeutics, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Mental Health Research Group, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Jessica Di Re
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Center for Addiction Sciences and Therapeutics, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Mental Health Research Group, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Fernanda Laezza
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Center for Addiction Sciences and Therapeutics, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Mental Health Research Group, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Thomas A. Green
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Center for Addiction Sciences and Therapeutics, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Mental Health Research Group, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
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Gür E, Duyan YA, Balcı F. Mice make temporal inferences about novel locations based on previously learned spatiotemporal contingencies. Anim Cogn 2022; 26:771-779. [PMID: 36394657 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01715-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Animals learn multiple spatiotemporal contingencies and organize their anticipatory responses accordingly. The representational/computational capacity that underlies such spatiotemporally guided behaviors is not fully understood. To this end, we investigated whether mice make temporal inferences of novel locations based on previously learned spatiotemporal contingencies. We trained 18 C57BL/6J mice to anticipate reward after three different intervals at three different locations and tested their temporal expectations of a reward at five locations simultaneously, including two locations that were not previously associated with reward delivery but adjacent to the previously trained locations. If mice made spatiotemporal inferences, they were expected to interpolate between duration pairs associated with previously reinforced hoppers surrounding the novel hopper. We found that the maximal response rate at the novel locations indeed fell between the two intervals reinforced at the surrounding hoppers. We argue that this pattern of responding might be underlain by spatially constrained Bayesian computations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ezgi Gür
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, 50 Sifton Road, Room 222, Winnipeg, R3T 2M5, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Yalçın A Duyan
- Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
- Department of Psychology, MEF University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Fuat Balcı
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, 50 Sifton Road, Room 222, Winnipeg, R3T 2M5, Canada.
- Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey.
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Count-based decision-making in mice: numerosity vs. stimulus control. Anim Cogn 2022; 25:1621-1630. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01652-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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Clarke KH, McEwan JS, Cameron KE, Bizo LA. Assessing the performance of brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) on the Mechner counting procedure. Anim Cogn 2022; 25:1493-1503. [PMID: 35524865 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01630-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2021] [Revised: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
This study assessed brushtail possums' performance on the Mechner counting procedure. Six brushtail possums were required to produce different Fixed-Ratio (FR) response targets by lever pressing. Their responses provided access to food reinforcement delivered either upon completing the target FR response requirement on a single lever or, in different conditions, on completing the target FR before producing an additional response on a second lever. The mean number of responses on the first lever before switching to the second lever typically occurred just above the target FR response requirement (FR: 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64). The variability in the number of switches between the levers around the target FR decreased from the first 10 days to the last 10 days, indicating an improvement in counting accuracy over sessions. The time to switch between the first and second lever was consistently variable across response requirements suggesting that it is unlikely the possums were using time to predict when to switch levers. This research further supports the use of the Mechner procedure as a method for measuring counting ability in animals and confirms the possibility of numerical competence in a marsupial species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Kristie E Cameron
- School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology, Carrington Road, Auckland, New Zealand.
| | - Lewis A Bizo
- University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
- University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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Gür E, Duyan YA, Balcı F. Numerical averaging in mice. Anim Cogn 2020; 24:497-510. [PMID: 33150473 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-020-01444-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2020] [Revised: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Rodents can be trained to associate different durations with different stimuli (e.g., light/sound). When the associated stimuli are presented together, maximal responding is observed around the average of individual durations (akin to averaging). The current study investigated whether mice can also average independently trained numerosities. Mice were initially trained to make 10 or 20 lever presses on a single (run) lever to obtain a reward and each fixed-ratio schedule was signaled either with an auditory or visual stimulus. Then, mice were trained to press another lever to obtain the reward after they responded on the run lever for the minimum number of presses [Fixed Consecutive Number (FCN)-10 or -20 trials] signaled by the corresponding discriminative stimulus. Following this training, FCN trials with the compound stimulus were introduced to test the counting behavior of mice when they encountered conflicting information regarding the number of responses required to obtain the reward. Our results showed that the numbers of responses on these compound test trials were around the average of the number of responses in FCN-10 and FCN-20 trials particularly when the auditory stimulus was associated with a fewer number of required responses. The counting strategy explained the behavior of the majority of the mice in the FCN-Compound test trials (as opposed to the timing strategy). The number of responses in FCN-Compound trials was accounted for equally well by the arithmetic, geometric, and Bayesian averages of the number of responses observed in FCN-10 and FCN-20 trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ezgi Gür
- Timing and Decision-Making Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer, 34450, Istanbul, Turkey.,Research Center for Translational Medicine, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Yalçın Akın Duyan
- Timing and Decision-Making Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer, 34450, Istanbul, Turkey.,Department of Psychology, MEF University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Fuat Balcı
- Timing and Decision-Making Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer, 34450, Istanbul, Turkey. .,Research Center for Translational Medicine, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey.
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