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Nepomoceno EB, Rodrigues S, de Melo KS, Ferreira TL, Freestone D, Caetano MS. Insular and prelimbic cortices control behavioral accuracy and precision in a temporal decision-making task in rats. Behav Brain Res 2024; 465:114961. [PMID: 38494127 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114961] [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: 01/23/2024] [Revised: 03/02/2024] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
The anterior insular cortex (AIC) comprises a region of sensory integration. It appears to detect salient events in order to guide goal-directed behavior, code tracking errors, and estimate the passage of time. Temporal processing in the AIC may be instantiated by the integration of representations of interoception. Projections between the AIC and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) - found both in rats and humans - also suggest a possible role for these structures in the integration of autonomic responses during ongoing behavior. Few studies, however, have investigated the role of AIC and mPFC in decision-making and time estimation tasks. Moreover, their findings are not consistent, so the relationship between temporal decision-making and those areas remains unclear. The present study employed bilateral inactivations to explore the role of AIC and prelimbic cortex (PL) in rats during a temporal decision-making task. In this task, two levers are available simultaneously (but only one is active), one predicting reinforcement after a short, and the other after a long-fixed interval. Optimal performance requires a switch from the short to the long lever after the short-fixed interval elapsed and no reinforcement was delivered. Switch behavior from the short to the long lever was dependent on AIC and PL. During AIC inactivation, switch latencies became more variable, while during PL inactivation switch latencies became both more variable and less accurate. These findings point to a dissociation between AIC and PL in temporal decision-making, suggesting that the AIC is important for temporal precision, and PL is important for both temporal accuracy and precision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Estela B Nepomoceno
- Center for Mathematics, Computing and Cognition, Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Brazil; Neuropsychology laboratory, Universidade Municipal de São Caetano do Sul (USCS), Brazil.
| | - Samanta Rodrigues
- Center for Mathematics, Computing and Cognition, Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Brazil; Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Brazil
| | - Katia S de Melo
- Center for Mathematics, Computing and Cognition, Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Brazil
| | - Tatiana L Ferreira
- Center for Mathematics, Computing and Cognition, Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Brazil
| | | | - Marcelo S Caetano
- Center for Mathematics, Computing and Cognition, Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia sobre Comportamento, Cognição e Ensino (INCT-ECCE), Brazil
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2
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Alonso L, Peeva P, Fernández-del Valle Alquicira T, Erdelyi N, Gil Nolskog Á, Bader M, Winter Y, Alenina N, Rivalan M. Poor Decision Making and Sociability Impairment Following Central Serotonin Reduction in Inducible TPH2-Knockdown Rats. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:5003. [PMID: 38732220 PMCID: PMC11084943 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25095003] [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: 03/08/2024] [Revised: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Serotonin is an essential neuromodulator for mental health and animals' socio-cognitive abilities. However, we previously found that a constitutive depletion of central serotonin did not impair rat cognitive abilities in stand-alone tests. Here, we investigated how a mild and acute decrease in brain serotonin would affect rats' cognitive abilities. Using a novel rat model of inducible serotonin depletion via the genetic knockdown of tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2), we achieved a 20% decrease in serotonin levels in the hypothalamus after three weeks of non-invasive oral doxycycline administration. Decision making, cognitive flexibility, and social recognition memory were tested in low-serotonin (Tph2-kd) and control rats. Our results showed that the Tph2-kd rats were more prone to choose disadvantageously in the long term (poor decision making) in the Rat Gambling Task and that only the low-serotonin poor decision makers were more sensitive to probabilistic discounting and had poorer social recognition memory than other low-serotonin and control individuals. Flexibility was unaffected by the acute brain serotonin reduction. Poor social recognition memory was the most central characteristic of the behavioral network of low-serotonin poor decision makers, suggesting a key role of social recognition in the expression of their profile. The acute decrease in brain serotonin appeared to specifically amplify the cognitive impairments of the subgroup of individuals also identified as poor decision makers in the population. This study highlights the great opportunity the Tph2-kd rat model offers to study inter-individual susceptibilities to develop cognitive impairment following mild variations of brain serotonin in otherwise healthy individuals. These transgenic and differential approaches together could be critical for the identification of translational markers and vulnerabilities in the development of mental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucille Alonso
- Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany; (L.A.); (T.F.-d.V.A.); (Y.W.)
- Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany (M.B.)
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, IINS, UMR 5297, F-33000 Bordeaux, France
| | - Polina Peeva
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Tania Fernández-del Valle Alquicira
- Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany; (L.A.); (T.F.-d.V.A.); (Y.W.)
- Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany (M.B.)
| | - Narda Erdelyi
- Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany; (L.A.); (T.F.-d.V.A.); (Y.W.)
| | - Ángel Gil Nolskog
- Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany (M.B.)
| | - Michael Bader
- Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany (M.B.)
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
- DZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Berlin, 10785 Berlin, Germany
- Institute for Biology, University of Lübeck, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - York Winter
- Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany; (L.A.); (T.F.-d.V.A.); (Y.W.)
- Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany (M.B.)
| | - Natalia Alenina
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany
- DZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Berlin, 10785 Berlin, Germany
| | - Marion Rivalan
- Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany; (L.A.); (T.F.-d.V.A.); (Y.W.)
- Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany (M.B.)
- NeuroPSI—Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience, CNRS—Université Paris-Saclay, F-91400 Saclay, France
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3
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Casile A, Marraudino M, Bonaldo B, Micioni Di Bonaventura MV, Nasini S, Cifani C, Gotti S. Novel rat model of gaming disorder: assessment of social reward and sex differences in behavior and c-Fos brain activity. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2024:10.1007/s00213-024-06576-y. [PMID: 38575792 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-024-06576-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
RATIONALE In 2018, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) classified Gaming Disorder (GD) as a mental disorder. GD mainly occurs among adolescents, who, after developing addiction, show psychopathological traits, such as social anxiety, depression, social isolation, and attention deficit. However, the different studies conducted in humans so far show several limitations, such as the lack of demographic heterogeneity and equal representation of age, differences in the type of game and in the follow-up period. Furthermore, at present, no animal models specific to GD are available. OBJECTIVES To address the lack of an experimental model for GD, in the present work, we proposed a new GD rat model to investigate some peculiar tracts of the disorder. METHODS Two-month-old Wistar Kyoto rats, both males and females, were subject to a five-week training with a new innovative touch-screen platform. After five weeks of training, rats were assessed for: (a) their attachment to the play under several conditions, (b) their hyperactivity during gaming, and (c) the maintenance of these conditions after a period of game pause and reward interruption. After sacrifice, using immunohistochemistry techniques, the immunoreactivity of c-Fos (a marker of neuronal activity) was analyzed to study different neural areas. RESULTS After the training, the rats subjected to GD protocol developed GD-related traits (e.g., hyperactivity, loss control), and the behavioral phenotype was maintained consistently over time. These aspects were completely absent in the control groups. Lastly, the analysis of c-Fos immunoreactivity in prelimbic cortex (PrL), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), nucleus Accumbens, amygdala and bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) highlighted significant alterations in the GD groups compared to controls, suggesting modifications in neural activity related to the development of the GD phenotype. CONCLUSIONS The proposal of a new GD rat model could represent an innovative tool to investigate, in both sexes, the behavioral and neurobiological features of this disorder, the possible role of external factors in the predisposition and susceptibility and the development of new pharmacological therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonino Casile
- School of Pharmacy, Pharmacology Unit, Pharmacology Unit, University of Camerino, Via Madonna delle Carceri, 9, Camerino, 62032, Italy.
- Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO), University of Turin, Regione Gonzole, 10, Orbassano, Turin, TO, 10043, Italy.
| | - Marilena Marraudino
- Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO), University of Turin, Regione Gonzole, 10, Orbassano, Turin, TO, 10043, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience "Rita Levi-Montalcini", Via Cherasco 15, Turin, TO, 10126, Italy
| | - Brigitta Bonaldo
- Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO), University of Turin, Regione Gonzole, 10, Orbassano, Turin, TO, 10043, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience "Rita Levi-Montalcini", Via Cherasco 15, Turin, TO, 10126, Italy
- Department of Health Sciences and Research Center on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases (CAAD), University of Piemonte Orientale (UPO), Novara, Italy
| | | | - Sofia Nasini
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Padua, Largo Egidio Meneghetti, 2, Padua, 35131, Italy
| | - Carlo Cifani
- School of Pharmacy, Pharmacology Unit, Pharmacology Unit, University of Camerino, Via Madonna delle Carceri, 9, Camerino, 62032, Italy.
| | - Stefano Gotti
- Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO), University of Turin, Regione Gonzole, 10, Orbassano, Turin, TO, 10043, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience "Rita Levi-Montalcini", Via Cherasco 15, Turin, TO, 10126, Italy
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Diehl GW, Redish AD. Differential processing of decision information in subregions of rodent medial prefrontal cortex. eLife 2023; 12:82833. [PMID: 36652289 PMCID: PMC9848391 DOI: 10.7554/elife.82833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Decision-making involves multiple cognitive processes requiring different aspects of information about the situation at hand. The rodent medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been hypothesized to be central to these abilities. Functional studies have sought to link specific processes to specific anatomical subregions, but past studies of mPFC have yielded controversial results, leaving the precise nature of mPFC function unclear. To settle this debate, we recorded from the full dorso-ventral extent of mPFC in each of 8 rats, as they performed a complex economic decision task. These data revealed four distinct functional domains within mPFC that closely mirrored anatomically identified subregions, including novel evidence to divide prelimbic cortex into dorsal and ventral components. We found that dorsal aspects of mPFC (ACC, dPL) were more involved in processing information about active decisions, while ventral aspects (vPL, IL) were more engaged in motivational factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey W Diehl
- Department of Neuroscience, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
| | - A David Redish
- Department of Neuroscience, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
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Hultman C, Tjernström N, Vadlin S, Rehn M, Nilsson KW, Roman E, Åslund C. Exploring decision-making strategies in the Iowa gambling task and rat gambling task. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:964348. [DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.964348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Decision-making requires that individuals perceive the probabilities and risks associated with different options. Experimental human and animal laboratory testing provide complimentary insights on the psychobiological underpinnings of decision-making. The Iowa gambling task (IGT) is a widely used instrument that assesses decision-making under uncertainty and risk. In the task participants are faced with a choice conflict between cards with varying monetary reinforcer/loss contingencies. The rat gambling task (rGT) is a pre-clinical version using palatable reinforcers as wins and timeouts mimicking losses. However, interspecies studies elaborating on human and rat behavior in these tasks are lacking. This study explores decision-making strategies among young adults (N = 270) performing a computerized version of the IGT, and adult outbred male Lister Hooded rats (N = 72) performing the rGT. Both group and individual data were explored by normative scoring approaches and subgroup formations based on individual choices were investigated. Overall results showed that most humans and rats learned to favor the advantageous choices, but to a widely different extent. Human performance was characterized by both exploration and learning as the task progressed, while rats showed relatively consistent pronounced preferences for the advantageous choices throughout the task. Nevertheless, humans and rats showed similar variability in individual choice preferences during end performance. Procedural differences impacting on the performance in both tasks and their potential to study different aspects of decision-making are discussed. This is a first attempt to increase the understanding of similarities and differences regarding decision-making processes in the IGT and rGT from an explorative perspective.
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Zha R, Li P, Liu Y, Alarefi A, Zhang X, Li J. The orbitofrontal cortex represents advantageous choice in the Iowa gambling task. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:3840-3856. [PMID: 35476367 PMCID: PMC9294296 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Revised: 02/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
A good‐based model, the central neurobiological model of economic decision‐making, proposes that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) represents binary choice outcome, that is, the chosen good. A good is defined by a group of determinants characterizing the conditions in which the commodity is offered, including commodity type, cost, risk, time delay, and ambiguity. Previous studies have found that the OFC represents the binary choice outcome in decision‐making tasks involving commodity type, cost, risk, and delay. Real‐life decisions are often complex and involve uncertainty, rewards, and penalties; however, whether the OFC represents binary choice outcomes in a complex decision‐making situation, for example, Iowa gambling task (IGT), remains unclear. Here, we propose that the OFC represents binary choice outcome, that is, advantageous choice versus disadvantageous choice, in the IGT. We propose two hypotheses: first, the activity pattern in the human OFC represents an advantageous choice; and second, choice induces an OFC‐related functional network. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and advanced machine‐learning tools, we found that the OFC represented an advantageous choice in the IGT. The OFC representation of advantageous choice was related to decision‐making performance. Choice modulated the functional connectivity between the OFC and the superior medial gyrus. In conclusion, the OFC represents an advantageous choice during the IGT. In the framework of a good‐based model, the results extend the role of the OFC to complex decision‐making situation when making a binary choice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rujing Zha
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Department of Psychology, School of Humanities & Social Science, Division of Life Science and Medicine, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Peng Li
- Department of Automation, School of Information Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Ying Liu
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Department of Psychology, School of Humanities & Social Science, Division of Life Science and Medicine, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Abdulqawi Alarefi
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Department of Psychology, School of Humanities & Social Science, Division of Life Science and Medicine, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Xiaochu Zhang
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Department of Psychology, School of Humanities & Social Science, Division of Life Science and Medicine, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China.,Application Technology Center of Physical Therapy to Brain Disorders, Institute of Advanced Technology, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China.,Hefei Medical Research Center on Alcohol Addiction, Affiliated Psychological Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei Fourth People's Hospital, Anhui Mental Health Center, Hefei, Anhui, China.,Biomedical Sciences and Health Laboratory of Anhui Province, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Jun Li
- Department of Automation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
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Pittaras E, Hamelin H, Granon S. Inter-Individual Differences in Cognitive Tasks: Focusing on the Shaping of Decision-Making Strategies. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:818746. [PMID: 35431831 PMCID: PMC9007591 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.818746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper, we review recent (published and novel) data showing inter-individual variation in decision-making strategies established by mice in a gambling task (MGT for Mouse Gambling Task). It may look intriguing, at first, that congenic animals develop divergent behaviors. However, using large groups of mice, we show that individualities emerge in the MGT, with about 30% of healthy mice displaying risk-averse choices while about 20-25% of mice make risk-prone choices. These strategies are accompanied by different brain network mobilization and individual levels of regional -prefrontal and striatal- monoamines. We further illustrate three ecological ways that influence drastically cognitive strategies in healthy adult mice: sleep deprivation, sucrose or artificial sweetener exposure, and regular exposure to stimulating environments. Questioning how to unmask individual strategies, what are their neural/neurochemical bases and whether we can shape or reshape them with different environmental manipulations is of great value, first to understand how the brain may build flexible decisions, and second to study behavioral plasticity, in healthy adult, as well as in developing brains. The latter may open new avenues for the identification of vulnerability traits to adverse events, before the emergence of mental pathologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elsa Pittaras
- Heller Laboratory, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Héloïse Hamelin
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, CNRS UMR 9197, Saclay, France
| | - Sylvie Granon
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, CNRS UMR 9197, Saclay, France
- *Correspondence: Sylvie Granon,
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Tjernström N, Li TQ, Holst S, Roman E. Functional connectivity in reward-related networks is associated with individual differences in gambling strategies in male Lister hooded rats. Addict Biol 2022; 27:e13131. [PMID: 35229946 DOI: 10.1111/adb.13131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with gambling disorder display deficits in decision-making in the Iowa Gambling Task. The rat Gambling Task (rGT) is a rodent analogue that can be used to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying gambling behaviour. The aim of this explorative study was to examine individual strategies in the rGT and investigate possible behavioural and neural correlates associated with gambling strategies. Thirty-two adult male Lister hooded rats underwent behavioural testing in the multivariate concentric square field™ (MCSF) and the novel cage tests, were trained on and performed the rGT and subsequently underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI). In the rGT, stable gambling strategies were found with subgroups of rats that preferred the suboptimal safest choice as well as the disadvantageous choice, that is, the riskiest gambling strategy. R-fMRI results revealed associations between gambling strategies and brain regions central for reward networks. Moreover, rats with risky gambling strategies differed from those with strategic and intermediate strategies in brain functional connectivity. No differences in behavioural profiles, as assessed with the MCSF and novel cage tests, were observed between the gambling strategy groups. In conclusion, stable individual differences in gambling strategies were found. Intrinsic functional connectivity using R-fMRI provides novel evidence to support the notion that individual differences in gambling strategies are associated with functional connectivity in brain regions important for reward networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikita Tjernström
- Research Group Neuropharmacology, Addiction and Behavior, Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tie-Qiang Li
- Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Medical Radiation and Nuclear Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden
| | - Sarah Holst
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Erika Roman
- Research Group Neuropharmacology, Addiction and Behavior, Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
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9
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Tjernström N, Roman E. Individual strategies in the rat gambling task are related to voluntary alcohol intake, but not sexual behavior, and can be modulated by naltrexone. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:931241. [PMID: 36569617 PMCID: PMC9772284 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.931241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Gambling disorder (GD) is the first non-substance or behavioral addiction to be included in substance-related and addictive disorders in DSM-5. Since GD is a younger phenomenon relative to alcohol and substance use disorders, little is known about potential unique features in GD and to what extent characteristics are shared with alcohol and substance use disorders. The rat gambling task (rGT) is used to study decision-making in rats. This study aimed to identify individual differences in rGT strategies and explore the stability of these strategies over time. Moreover, motor impulsivity, sexual behavior, and voluntary alcohol intake were examined in rats with different rGT strategies. Finally, the response to naltrexone on performance in rats with different rGT strategies was investigated. METHODS Male Lister hooded rats (n = 40) underwent repeated testing in the rGT, repeated copulatory behavioral tests, and 7 weeks of voluntary alcohol intake through a modified intermittent two-bottle free-choice paradigm. Finally, rats were treated with naltrexone prior to testing in the rGT. RESULTS The results revealed individual choice strategies in the rGT that were stable over time, even after multiple interruptions and other behavioral testing. The rats with a risky choice strategy displayed higher motor impulsivity and voluntary alcohol intake than the other groups. No difference in sexual behavior was found between the different rGT groups. Finally, in all rats irrespectively of rGT strategy, treatment with naltrexone decreased the number of completed trials and premature responses, and increased omissions, which indicates an overall lowered motivation. DISCUSSION In conclusion, rats with risky rGT strategies had higher voluntary alcohol intake but not elevated sexual behavior, indicating shared underlying mechanisms between rGT strategies and alcohol intake but not natural rewards in terms of sexual behavior. Finally, naltrexone treatment resulted in an overall lowered motivation in the rGT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikita Tjernström
- Neuropharmacology and Addiction, Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Erika Roman
- Neuropharmacology and Addiction, Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
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10
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Foldi CJ, Morris MJ, Oldfield BJ. Executive function in obesity and anorexia nervosa: Opposite ends of a spectrum of disordered feeding behaviour? Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2021; 111:110395. [PMID: 34217755 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2021.110395] [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: 02/11/2021] [Revised: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Higher-order executive functions such as decision-making, cognitive flexibility and behavioural control are critical to adaptive success in all aspects of life, including the maintenance of a healthy body weight by regulating food intake. Performance on tasks designed to assess these aspects of cognition is impaired in individuals with obesity and anorexia nervosa (AN); conditions at either end of a spectrum of body weight disturbance. While the conceptualisation of obesity and AN as mirror images of each other makes some sense from a metabolic point of view, whether or not these conditions also reflect opposing states of executive function is less clear. Here, we review evidence from neurocognitive and neuroimaging studies to compare the direction and extent of executive dysfunction in subjects with obesity and AN and how these are underpinned by changes in structure and function of subregions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Both conditions of extreme body weight disturbance are associated with impaired decision-making and cognitive inflexibility, however, impulsive behaviour presents in opposing directions; obesity being associated with reduced behavioural control and AN being associated with elevated control over behaviour with respect to food and feeding. Accordingly, the subregions of the PFC that guide inhibitory control and valuation of action outcomes (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex) show opposite patterns of activation in subjects with obesity compared to those with AN, whereas the subregions implicated in cognitive and behavioural flexibility (ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) show alterations in the same direction in both conditions but with differential extent of dysfunction. We synthesise these findings in the context of the utility of animal models of obesity and AN to interrogate the detail of the neurobiological contributions to cognition in patient populations and the utility of such detail to inform future treatment strategies that specifically target executive dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire J Foldi
- Department of Physiology, Monash University, 26 Innovation Walk, Clayton 3800, Australia; Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, 23 Innovation Walk, Clayton 3800, Australia.
| | - Margaret J Morris
- School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Sydney, High Street, Randwick 2052, Australia
| | - Brian J Oldfield
- Department of Physiology, Monash University, 26 Innovation Walk, Clayton 3800, Australia; Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, 23 Innovation Walk, Clayton 3800, Australia
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11
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Subordination in female rats impedes learning as determined by a judgment bias training protocol. J Vet Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2020.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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12
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van Holstein M, Floresco SB. Dissociable roles for the ventral and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex in cue-guided risk/reward decision making. Neuropsychopharmacology 2020; 45:683-693. [PMID: 31652433 PMCID: PMC7021677 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-019-0557-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2019] [Revised: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 10/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Converging evidence from studies with animals and humans have implicated separate regions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) corresponding to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), in mediating different aspects of reward-related decisions involving uncertainty or risk. However, the dissociable contributions of subregions of the ACC remain unclear, as discrepancies exist between human neuroimaging findings and preclinical rodent studies. To clarify how ventral vs. dorsal regions of the mPFC contribute to risk/reward decision making, the present study assessed the effects of inactivation of different subregions on performance of a "Blackjack task" that measured cue-guided decision making and shares similarities with paradigms used with humans. Male, Long-Evans rats were well-trained to choose between a Small/Certain reward vs a Large/Risky reward delivered with variable probabilities (i.e., good vs. poor-odds, 50% vs. 12.5%). The odds of obtaining the larger reward was signaled by auditory cues at the start of each trial. Inactivation of the ventral, infralimbic region of the mPFC increased risky choice selectively when the odds of winning were poor. By contrast, inactivation of the prelimbic and anterior cingulate regions of the dorsal mPFC led to suboptimal reductions in risky choice on good-odds trials. The effects of prelimbic vs anterior cingulate inactivations were associated with context-dependent alterations in reward vs negative feedback, respectively. These results further clarify the distinct yet complementary manners in which separate ACC regions promote optimal risk/reward decision making and complement neuroimaging findings that activity in human ventral vs dorsal ACC promotes risk aversion or risky choices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mieke van Holstein
- Department of Psychology and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
| | - Stan B. Floresco
- 0000 0001 2288 9830grid.17091.3eDepartment of Psychology and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z3 Canada
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Cabeza L, Giustiniani J, Chabin T, Ramadan B, Joucla C, Nicolier M, Pazart L, Haffen E, Fellmann D, Gabriel D, Peterschmitt Y. Modelling decision-making under uncertainty: A direct comparison study between human and mouse gambling data. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2020; 31:58-68. [PMID: 31837913 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2019] [Revised: 11/15/2019] [Accepted: 11/20/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Decision-making is a conserved evolutionary process enabling us to choose one option among several alternatives, and relies on reward and cognitive control systems. The Iowa Gambling Task allows the assessment of human decision-making under uncertainty by presenting four card decks with various cost-benefit probabilities. Participants seek to maximise their monetary gain by developing long-term optimal-choice strategies. Animal versions have been adapted with nutritional rewards, but interspecies data comparisons are scarce. Our study directly compares the non-pathological decision-making performance between humans and wild-type C57BL/6 mice. Human participants completed an electronic Iowa Gambling Task version, while mice a maze-based adaptation with four arms baited in a probabilistic way. Our data shows closely matching performance between both species with similar patterns of choice behaviours. However, mice showed a faster learning rate than humans. Moreover, both populations were clustered into good, intermediate and poor decision-making categories with similar proportions. Remarkably, mice characterised as good decision-makers behaved the same as humans of the same category, but slight differences among species are evident for the other two subpopulations. Overall, our direct comparative study confirms the good face validity of the rodent gambling task. Extended behavioural characterisation and pathological animal models should help strengthen its construct validity and disentangle the determinants in animals and humans decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lidia Cabeza
- EA-481 Laboratoire de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cliniques de Besançon, Université Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, France
| | - Julie Giustiniani
- EA-481 Laboratoire de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cliniques de Besançon, Université Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, France; Department of Clinical Psychiatry, University Hospital, Besançon, France; CIC-1431 Inserm, University Hospital, Besançon, France
| | - Thibault Chabin
- EA-481 Laboratoire de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cliniques de Besançon, Université Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, France
| | - Bahrie Ramadan
- EA-481 Laboratoire de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cliniques de Besançon, Université Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, France
| | - Coralie Joucla
- EA-481 Laboratoire de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cliniques de Besançon, Université Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, France
| | - Magali Nicolier
- EA-481 Laboratoire de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cliniques de Besançon, Université Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, France; Department of Clinical Psychiatry, University Hospital, Besançon, France; CIC-1431 Inserm, University Hospital, Besançon, France
| | - Lionel Pazart
- CIC-1431 Inserm, University Hospital, Besançon, France
| | - Emmanuel Haffen
- EA-481 Laboratoire de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cliniques de Besançon, Université Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, France; Department of Clinical Psychiatry, University Hospital, Besançon, France; CIC-1431 Inserm, University Hospital, Besançon, France
| | - Dominique Fellmann
- EA-481 Laboratoire de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cliniques de Besançon, Université Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, France
| | - Damien Gabriel
- EA-481 Laboratoire de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cliniques de Besançon, Université Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, France; CIC-1431 Inserm, University Hospital, Besançon, France
| | - Yvan Peterschmitt
- EA-481 Laboratoire de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cliniques de Besançon, Université Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, France.
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Alonso L, Peeva P, Ramos-Prats A, Alenina N, Winter Y, Rivalan M. Inter-individual and inter-strain differences in cognitive and social abilities of Dark Agouti and Wistar Han rats. Behav Brain Res 2020; 377:112188. [PMID: 31473288 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2019] [Revised: 08/06/2019] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Healthy animals displaying extreme behaviours that resemble human psychiatric symptoms are relevant models to study the natural psychobiological processes of maladapted behaviours. Using a Rat Gambling Task, healthy individuals spontaneously making poor decisions (PDMs) were found to co-express a combination of other cognitive and reward-based characteristics similar to symptoms observed in human patients with impulse-control disorders. The main goals of this study were to 1) confirm the existence of PDMs and their unique behavioural phenotypes in Dark Agouti (DA) and Wistar Han (WH) rats, 2) to extend the behavioural profile of the PDMs to probability-based decision-making and social behaviours and 3) to extract key discriminative traits between DA and WH strains, relevant for biomedical research. We have compared cognitive abilities, natural behaviours and physiological responses in DA and WH rats at the strain and at the individual level. Here we found that the naturally occurring PDM's profile was consistent between both rat lines. Then, although the PDM individuals did not take more risks in probability discounting task, they seemed to be of higher social ranks. Finally and despite their similarities in performance, WH and DA lines differed in degree of reward sensitivity, impulsivity, locomotor activity and open space-occupation. The reproducibility and conservation of the complex phenotypes of PDMs and GDMs (good decision makers) in these two genetically different strains support their translational potential. Both strains, present large phenotypic variation in behaviours pertinent for the study of the underlying mechanisms of poor decision making and associated disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucille Alonso
- Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany; Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany
| | - Polina Peeva
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Arnau Ramos-Prats
- Department of Pharmacology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Natalia Alenina
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany; Institute of Translational Biomedicine, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - York Winter
- Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany; Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marion Rivalan
- Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany; Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany.
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Hong DD, Huang WQ, Ji AA, Yang SS, Xu H, Sun KY, Cao A, Gao WJ, Zhou N, Yu P. Neurons in rat orbitofrontal cortex and medial prefrontal cortex exhibit distinct responses in reward and strategy-update in a risk-based decision-making task. Metab Brain Dis 2019; 34:417-429. [PMID: 30535618 DOI: 10.1007/s11011-018-0360-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2017] [Accepted: 12/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are known to participate in risk-based decision-making. However, whether neuronal activities of these two brain regions play similar or differential roles during different stages of risk-based decision-making process remains unknown. Here we conducted multi-channel in vivo recordings in the OFC and mPFC simultaneously when rats were performing a gambling task. Rats were trained to update strategy as the task was shifted in two stages. Behavioral testing suggests that rats exhibited different risk preferences and response latencies to food rewards during stage-1 and stage-2. Indeed, the firing patterns and numbers of non-specific neurons and nosepoking-predicting neurons were similar in OFC and mPFC. However, there were no reward-expecting neurons and significantly more reward-excitatory neurons (fired as rats received rewards) in the mPFC. Further analyses suggested that nosepoking-predicting neurons may encode the overall value of reward and strategy, whereas reward-expecting neurons show more intensive firing to a big food reward in the OFC. Nosepoking-predicting neurons in mPFC showed no correlation with decision-making strategy updating, whereas the response of reward-excitatory neurons in mPFC, which were barely observed in OFC, were inhibited during nosepoking, but were enhanced in the post-nosepoking period. These findings indicate that neurons in the OFC and mPFC exhibit distinct responses in decision-making process during reward consumption and strategy updating. Specifically, OFC encodes the overall value of a choice and is thus important for learning and strategy updating, whereas mPFC plays a key role in monitoring and execution of a strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan-Dan Hong
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100037, China
| | - Wen-Qiang Huang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100037, China
| | - Ai-Ai Ji
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100037, China
| | - Sha-Sha Yang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100037, China
| | - Hui Xu
- Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Ke-Yi Sun
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100037, China
| | - Aihua Cao
- Department of Pediatrics, Shandong University Qilu Hospital, Jinan, China
| | - Wen-Jun Gao
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA
| | - Ning Zhou
- The General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing, 100853, China.
| | - Ping Yu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, College of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100037, China.
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Soma S, Suematsu N, Yoshida J, Ríos A, Shimegi S. Discretion for behavioral selection affects development of habit formation after extended training in rats. Behav Processes 2018; 157:291-300. [PMID: 30366108 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2018] [Revised: 09/27/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
As training progresses, animals show a transition from goal-dependent behavior to goal-independent behavior (habitual responses). Habit formation is influenced by several factors, including the amount of training and action-outcome contingency. However, it remains unknown whether and how discretion for behavioral selection influences habit formation. To this end, we trained male rats in two types of two-alternative forced-choice task: visual association and nonvisual association tasks. In the first type of task, rats learned the association between reward and a visual cue, the position of which was randomly changed per trial so that rats had to make a judgmental decision about which choice delivered the reward in each trial (discreet judgment group); in the second type of task, the rats learned that a reward was delivered after either choice following task initiation (uncontrolled judgment group). To test the sensitivity to contingency manipulation, the extinction tests were conducted in short- and long-term trained groups, with the result that the overtrained rats in the uncontrolled judgment group, but not the other three groups, showed less sensitivity. To further investigate the reward sensitivity in the long-term trained groups from another perspective, we continuously and periodically altered the reward size for each trial. The rats of the discreet judgment group changed intertrial intervals depending on reward size, while this tendency was weaker in the uncontrolled judgment group. These results suggest that discreet judgment maintained goal-directed rat behavior, whereas uncontrolled judgment led to the development of habit-like behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shogo Soma
- Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, 560-0043, Japan; Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Machida, Tokyo, 194-8610, Japan.
| | - Naofumi Suematsu
- Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, 560-0043, Japan
| | - Junichi Yoshida
- Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Machida, Tokyo, 194-8610, Japan
| | - Alain Ríos
- Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Machida, Tokyo, 194-8610, Japan; Academia de Fisiología, Escuela Superior de Medicina, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Plan de San Luis y Díaz Mirón, Colonia Casco de Santo Tomás, 11340, D.F., Mexico
| | - Satoshi Shimegi
- Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, 560-0043, Japan; Center for Education in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, 560-0043, Japan
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Contributions of medial prefrontal cortex to decision making involving risk of punishment. Neuropharmacology 2018; 139:205-216. [PMID: 30009836 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2018] [Revised: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 07/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays an important role in several forms of cost-benefit decision making. Its contributions to decision making under risk of explicit punishment, however, are not well understood. A rat model was used to investigate the role of the medial PFC (mPFC) and its monoaminergic innervation in a Risky Decision-making Task (RDT), in which rats chose between a small, "safe" food reward and a large, "risky" food reward accompanied by varying probabilities of mild footshock punishment. Inactivation of mPFC increased choice of the large, risky reward when the punishment probability increased across the session ("ascending RDT"), but decreased choice of the large, risky reward when the punishment probability decreased across the session ("descending RDT"). In contrast, enhancement of monoamine availability via intra-mPFC amphetamine reduced choice of the large, risky reward only in the descending RDT. Systemic administration of amphetamine reduced choice of the large, risky reward in both the ascending and descending RDT; however, this reduction was not attenuated by concurrent mPFC inactivation, indicating that mPFC is not a critical locus of amphetamine's effects on risk taking. These findings suggest that mPFC plays an important role in adapting choice behavior in response to shifting risk contingencies, but not necessarily in risk-taking behavior per se.
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18
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Chronic nicotine exposure impairs uncertainty modulation on reinforcement learning in anterior cingulate cortex and serotonin system. Neuroimage 2018; 169:323-333. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.11.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2017] [Revised: 11/04/2017] [Accepted: 11/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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Rivalan M, Winter Y, Nachev V. Principles of Economic Rationality in Mice. Sci Rep 2017; 7:17441. [PMID: 29234113 PMCID: PMC5727109 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17747-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans and non-human animals frequently violate principles of economic rationality, such as transitivity, independence of irrelevant alternatives, and regularity. The conditions that lead to these violations are not completely understood. Here we report a study on mice tested in automated home-cage setups using rewards of drinking water. Rewards differed in one of two dimensions, volume or probability. Our results suggest that mouse choice conforms to the principles of economic rationality for options that differ along a single reward dimension. A psychometric analysis of mouse choices further revealed that mice responded more strongly to differences in probability than to differences in volume, despite equivalence in return rates. This study also demonstrates the synergistic effect between the principles of economic rationality and psychophysics in making quantitative predictions about choices of healthy laboratory mice. This opens up new possibilities for the analyses of multi-dimensional choice and the use of mice with cognitive impairments that may violate economic rationality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion Rivalan
- Department of Biology, Humboldt University, Philippstr. 13, Berlin, 10099, Germany
| | - York Winter
- Department of Biology, Humboldt University, Philippstr. 13, Berlin, 10099, Germany.
| | - Vladislav Nachev
- Department of Biology, Humboldt University, Philippstr. 13, Berlin, 10099, Germany.
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Inter-individual differences in decision-making, flexible and goal-directed behaviors: novel insights within the prefronto-striatal networks. Brain Struct Funct 2017; 223:897-912. [PMID: 29026986 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-017-1530-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2015] [Accepted: 09/28/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Inflexible behavior is a hallmark of several decision-making-related disorders such as ADHD and addiction. As in humans, a subset of healthy rats makes poor decisions and prefers immediate larger rewards despite suffering large losses in a rat gambling task (RGT). They also display a combination of traits reminiscent of addiction, notably inflexible behavior and perseverative responses. The goal of the present work was twofold: (1) to elucidate if behavioral inflexibility of poor decision-makers could be related to a lower quality of goal-directed behavior (action-outcome associations); (2) to uncover the neural basis of inter-individual differences in goal-directed behavior. We specifically assessed inter-individual differences in decision-making in the RGT, flexibility in the RGT-reversed version and goal-directed behavior in a contingency degradation test, i.e., response adaptation when dissociating reward delivery from the animal's action. The contributions of the medial prefrontal cortex and the dorsal striatum to action-outcome associations were assessed using Zif268 immunodetection. Inflexible behavior was related to a lower sensitivity to contingency degradation in all poor decision-makers and only in a few good decision-makers. This poorer sensitivity was associated with a lower immunoreactivity in prelimbic and infralimbic cortices and a higher one in the dorsomedial and dorsolateral striatum. These findings suggest that an imbalanced prefronto-striatal activity could underlie inaccurate goal representation in changing environments and may promote maladaptive habit formation among poor decision-makers. These data strengthen our previous work identifying biomarkers of vulnerability to develop psychiatric disorders and demonstrate the relevance of inter-individual differences to model maladaptive behaviors.
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Wang J, Cao B, Yang X, Wu J, Chan LL, Li Y. Chronic ciguatoxin poisoning causes emotional and cognitive dysfunctions in rats. Toxicol Res (Camb) 2017; 6:179-187. [PMID: 30090488 PMCID: PMC6062356 DOI: 10.1039/c5tx00475f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2015] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Ciguatoxins are marine biotoxins that induce the human poisoning syndrome known as ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP). In humans, different kinds of neurological symptoms have been reported after CFP, including anxiety, depression and memory loss. Repetitive exposures to sub-threshold levels of ciguatera toxins may cause irreversible sub-clinical damage, and eventually cause more severe illness. Our previous study has shown that an acute single dose of Pacific ciguatoxin-1 (P-CTX-1) induced synaptic facilitation and blockage of the induction of electrical stimulation-induced long-term potentiation in the medial thalamus-anterior cingulate cortex pathway. Reactive astrogliosis was detected in acute ciguatera poisoning. Despite the reports of complex and prolonged neurological symptoms in patients, few studies have been conducted in animal models to investigate the emotional and cognitive deficits after chronic exposure to ciguatoxin. In the present study, using a rat model with repeated exposures to low dosage of P-CTX-1, we observed development of anxiety-like behavior by open field test and elevated plus maze test, and learning and memory deficits by the Morris water maze; further, decision-making impairment was determined in the chronic P-CTX-1-treated rats by the rats gambling task. We conclude that chronic ciguatera poisoning leads to anxiety, and to impairment of spatial reference memory and decision-making behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Wang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences , City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , P.R. China . ; ; Tel: +(852) 3442 2669
- Centre for Biosystems , Neuroscience , and Nanotechnology , City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , P.R. China
| | - Bing Cao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences , City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , P.R. China . ; ; Tel: +(852) 3442 2669
- Centre for Biosystems , Neuroscience , and Nanotechnology , City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , P.R. China
| | - Xiangwei Yang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences , City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , P.R. China . ; ; Tel: +(852) 3442 2669
- Centre for Biosystems , Neuroscience , and Nanotechnology , City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , P.R. China
| | - Jiajun Wu
- State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution , City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , P.R. China
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory for the Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity , Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health , City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute , Shenzhen 518057 , P.R. China
| | - Leo Lai Chan
- Department of Biomedical Sciences , City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , P.R. China . ; ; Tel: +(852) 3442 2669
- State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution , City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , P.R. China
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory for the Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity , Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health , City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute , Shenzhen 518057 , P.R. China
| | - Ying Li
- Department of Biomedical Sciences , City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , P.R. China . ; ; Tel: +(852) 3442 2669
- Centre for Biosystems , Neuroscience , and Nanotechnology , City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , P.R. China
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Milienne-Petiot M, Geyer MA, Arnt J, Young JW. Brexpiprazole reduces hyperactivity, impulsivity, and risk-preference behavior in mice with dopamine transporter knockdown-a model of mania. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2017; 234:1017-1028. [PMID: 28160035 PMCID: PMC5391249 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-017-4543-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2016] [Accepted: 01/20/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Bipolar disorder (BD) is a unique mood disorder defined by periods of depression and mania. The defining diagnosis of BD is the presence of mania/hypomania, with symptoms including hyperactivity and risk-taking. Since current treatments do not ameliorate cognitive deficits such as risky decision-making, and impulsivity that can negatively affect a patient's quality of life, better treatments are needed. OBJECTIVES Here, we tested whether acute treatment with brexpiprazole, a serotonin-dopamine activity modulator with partial agonist activity at D2/3 and 5-HT1A receptors, would attenuate the BD mania-relevant behaviors of the dopamine transporter (DAT) knockdown mouse model of mania. METHODS The effects of brexpiprazole on DAT knockdown and wild-type littermate mice were examined in the behavioral pattern monitor (BPM) and Iowa gambling task (IGT) to quantify activity/exploration and impulsivity/risk-taking behavior respectively. RESULTS DAT knockdown mice exhibited hyper-exploratory behavior in the BPM and made fewer safe choices in the IGT. Brexpiprazole attenuated the mania-like hyper-exploratory phenotype and increased safe choices in risk-preferring DAT knockdown mice. Brexpiprazole also reduced safe choices in safe-preferring mice irrespective of genotype. Finally, brexpiprazole reduced premature (impulsive-like) responses in both groups of mice. CONCLUSIONS Consistent with earlier reports, DAT knockdown mice exhibited hyper-exploratory, risk-preferring, and impulsive-like profiles consistent with patients with BD mania in these tasks. These behaviors were attenuated after brexpiprazole treatment. These data therefore indicate that brexpiprazole could be a novel treatment for BD mania and/or risk-taking/impulsivity disorders, since it remediates some relevant behavioral abnormalities in this mouse model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgane Milienne-Petiot
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0804, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0804, USA
- Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584, CG, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Mark A Geyer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0804, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0804, USA
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Jørn Arnt
- Sunred Pharma Consulting, Solrod Strand, Denmark
- Synaptic Transmission, Neuroscience Drug Discovery, H. Lundbeck A/S, Ottiliavej 9, 2500, Valby, DK, Denmark
| | - Jared W Young
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0804, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0804, USA.
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA.
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Vagus Nerve Stimulation Alters Phase Synchrony of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Facilitates Decision Making in Rats. Sci Rep 2016; 6:35135. [PMID: 27731403 PMCID: PMC5059720 DOI: 10.1038/srep35135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2016] [Accepted: 09/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) can enhance memory and cognitive functions in both rats and humans. Studies have shown that VNS influenced decision-making in epileptic patients. However, the sites of action involved in the cognitive-enhancement are poorly understood. By employing a conscious rat model equipped with vagus nerve cuff electrode, we assess the role of chronic VNS on decision-making in rat gambling task (RGT). Simultaneous multichannel-recordings offer an ideal setup to test the hypothesis that VNS may induce alterations of in both spike-field-coherence and synchronization of theta oscillations across brain areas in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA). Daily VNS, administered immediately following training sessions of RGT, caused an increase in 'good decision-maker' rats. Neural spikes in the ACC became synchronized with the ongoing theta oscillations of local field potential (LFP) in BLA following VNS. Moreover, cross-correlation analysis revealed synchronization between the ACC and BLA. Our results provide specific evidence that VNS facilitates decision-making and unveils several important roles for VNS in regulating LFP and spike phases, as well as enhancing spike-phase coherence between key brain areas involved in cognitive performance. These data may serve to provide fundamental notions regarding neurophysiological biomarkers for therapeutic VNS in cognitive impairment.
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Cao B, Wang J, Zhang X, Yang X, Poon DCH, Jelfs B, Chan RHM, Wu JCY, Li Y. Impairment of decision making and disruption of synchrony between basolateral amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex in the maternally separated rat. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2016; 136:74-85. [PMID: 27664716 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2016] [Revised: 09/06/2016] [Accepted: 09/19/2016] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
There is considerable evidence to suggest early life experiences, such as maternal separation (MS), play a role in the prevalence of emotional dysregulation and cognitive impairment. At the same time, optimal decision making requires functional integrity between the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and any dysfunction of this system is believed to induce decision-making deficits. However, the impact of MS on decision-making behavior and the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms have not been thoroughly studied. As such, we consider the impact of MS on the emotional and cognitive functions of rats by employing the open-field test, elevated plus-maze test, and rat gambling task (RGT). Using multi-channel recordings from freely behaving rats, we assessed the effects of MS on the large scale synchrony between the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the ACC; while also characterizing the relationship between neural spiking activity and the ongoing oscillations in theta frequency band across the BLA and ACC. The results indicated that the MS rats demonstrated anxiety-like behavior. While the RGT showed a decrease in the percentage of good decision-makers, and an increase in the percentage of poor decision-makers. Electrophysiological data revealed an increase in the total power in the theta band of the LFP in the BLA and a decrease in theta power in the ACC in MS rats. MS was also found to disrupt the spike-field coherence of the ACC single unit spiking activity to the ongoing theta oscillations in the BLA and interrupt the synchrony in the BLA-ACC pathway. We provide specific evidence that MS leads to decision-making deficits that are accompanied by alteration of the theta band LFP in the BLA-ACC circuitries and disruption of the neural network integrity. These observations may help revise fundamental notions regarding neurophysiological biomarkers to treat cognitive impairment induced by early life stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Cao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Jun Wang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Xu Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Xiangwei Yang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - David Chun-Hei Poon
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Beth Jelfs
- Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Rosa H M Chan
- Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Justin Che-Yuen Wu
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Ying Li
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; School of Veterinary Medicine, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
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Laskowski C, Williams R, Martens K, Gruber A, Fisher K, Euston D. The role of the medial prefrontal cortex in updating reward value and avoiding perseveration. Behav Brain Res 2016; 306:52-63. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2015] [Revised: 02/08/2016] [Accepted: 03/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Individual behavioral and neurochemical markers of unadapted decision-making processes in healthy inbred mice. Brain Struct Funct 2016; 221:4615-4629. [PMID: 26860089 PMCID: PMC5102946 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-016-1192-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2015] [Accepted: 01/20/2016] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
One of the hallmarks of decision-making processes is the inter-individual variability between healthy subjects. These behavioral patterns could constitute risk factors for the development of psychiatric disorders. Therefore, finding predictive markers of safe or risky decision-making is an important challenge for psychiatry research. We set up a mouse gambling task (MGT)-adapted from the human Iowa gambling task with uncertain contingencies between response and outcome that furthermore enables the emergence of inter-individual differences. Mice (n = 54) were further individually characterized for locomotive, emotional and cognitive behavior. Individual basal rates of monoamines and brain activation after the MGT were assessed in brain regions related to reward, emotion or cognition. In a large healthy mice population, 44 % showed a balanced strategy with limited risk-taking and flexible choices, 29 % showed a safe but rigid strategy, while 27 % adopted risky behavior. Risky mice took also more risks in other apparatus behavioral devices and were less sensitive to reward. No difference existed between groups regarding anxiety, working memory, locomotion and impulsivity. Safe/rigid mice exhibited a hypoactivation of prefrontal subareas, a high level of serotonin in the orbitofrontal cortex combined with a low level of dopamine in the putamen that predicted the emergence of rigid behavior. By contrast, high levels of dopamine, serotonin and noradrenalin in the hippocampus predicted the emergence of more exploratory and risky behaviors. The coping of C57bl/6J mice in MGT enables the determination of extreme patterns of choices either safe/rigid or risky/flexible, related to specific neurochemical and behavioral markers.
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Zeeb FD, Baarendse PJJ, Vanderschuren LJMJ, Winstanley CA. Inactivation of the prelimbic or infralimbic cortex impairs decision-making in the rat gambling task. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2015; 232:4481-91. [PMID: 26387517 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-015-4075-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2015] [Accepted: 09/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Studies employing the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) demonstrated that areas of the frontal cortex, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), are involved in the decision-making process. However, the precise role of these regions in maintaining optimal choice is not clear. OBJECTIVES We used the rat gambling task (rGT), a rodent analogue of the IGT, to determine whether inactivation of or altered dopamine signalling within discrete cortical sub-regions disrupts decision-making. METHODS Following training on the rGT, animals were implanted with guide cannulae aimed at the prelimbic (PrL) or infralimbic (IL) cortices, the OFC, or the ACC. Prior to testing, rats received an infusion of saline or a combination of baclofen and muscimol (0.125 μg of each/side) to inactivate the region and an infusion of a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist (0, 0.1, 0.3, and 1.0 μg/side). RESULTS Rats tended to increase their choice of a disadvantageous option and decrease their choice of the optimal option following inactivation of either the IL or PrL cortex. In contrast, OFC or ACC inactivation did not affect decision-making. Infusion of a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist into any sub-region did not alter choice preference. CONCLUSIONS Online activity of the IL or PrL cortex is important for maintaining an optimal decision-making strategy, but optimal performance on the rGT does not require frontal cortex dopamine D2 receptor activation. Additionally, these results demonstrate that the roles of different cortical regions in cost-benefit decision-making may be dissociated using the rGT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fiona D Zeeb
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Section of Biopsychology, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - P J J Baarendse
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - L J M J Vanderschuren
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Department of Animals in Science and Society, Division of Behavioural Neuroscience, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Catharine A Winstanley
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
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Young JW, Markou A. Translational Rodent Paradigms to Investigate Neuromechanisms Underlying Behaviors Relevant to Amotivation and Altered Reward Processing in Schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 2015; 41:1024-34. [PMID: 26194891 PMCID: PMC4535652 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbv093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Amotivation and reward-processing deficits have long been described in patients with schizophrenia and considered large contributors to patients' inability to integrate well in society. No effective treatments exist for these symptoms, partly because the neuromechanisms mediating such symptoms are poorly understood. Here, we propose a translational neuroscientific approach that can be used to assess reward/motivational deficits related to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia using behavioral paradigms that can also be conducted in experimental animals. By designing and using objective laboratory behavioral tools that are parallel in their parameters in rodents and humans, the neuromechanisms underlying behaviors with relevance to these symptoms of schizophrenia can be investigated. We describe tasks that measure the motivation of rodents to expend physical and cognitive effort to gain rewards, as well as probabilistic learning tasks that assess both reward learning and feedback-based decision making. The latter tasks are relevant because of demonstrated links of performance deficits correlating with negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. These tasks utilize operant techniques in order to investigate neural circuits targeting a specific domain across species. These tasks therefore enable the development of insights into altered mechanisms leading to negative symptom-relevant behaviors in patients with schizophrenia. Such findings will then enable the development of targeted treatments for these altered neuromechanisms and behaviors seen in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared W Young
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0804, La Jolla, CA; Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA
| | - Athina Markou
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0804, La Jolla, CA
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Xu X, Cao B, Wang J, Yu T, Li Y. Decision-making deficits associated with disrupted synchronization between basolateral amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex in rats after tooth loss. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2015; 60:26-35. [PMID: 25684327 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2015.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2015] [Accepted: 02/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/09/2022]
Abstract
Human studies have shown that multiple teeth loss was significantly associated with cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer's disease. However, the causal relationship between tooth loss and cognitive deficits has not been clarified. Rodents demonstrate human-like cognitive faculties. In this study by performing rat gambling task (RGT), we reported that prolonged tooth loss condition by extracting all left molars in the rats led to an increase in the proportion of poor decision-makers, and decrease in the proportion of good decision-makers compared with controls. No influence was detected on the general activity and motivation after tooth loss. Recent experiments have shown that decision-making performances in the RGT rely on the functional integrity of the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The theta band brain oscillation has been acknowledged for extensive cognitive functions. Here, we performed multiple-electrode array recordings of local field potential (LFP) in anesthetized rats. The results exhibited an increase in accumulative power of the theta frequency of LFP in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and decrease of theta power in the ACC in tooth loss rats. Furthermore, cross-correlation analysis displayed that tooth loss suppressed the synchronization of theta frequency of LFP between the BLA and ACC, indicating reduced neuronal communications between these two regions. In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time that tooth loss leads to higher-order cognitive deficits accompanied by the alteration of theta frequency of LFP in brain circuitries and disruption of neural network integrity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxiang Xu
- Department of Biomedical Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Bing Cao
- Department of Biomedical Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jun Wang
- Department of Biomedical Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Tianran Yu
- Department of Biomedical Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ying Li
- Department of Biomedical Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
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30
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Orsini CA, Moorman DE, Young JW, Setlow B, Floresco SB. Neural mechanisms regulating different forms of risk-related decision-making: Insights from animal models. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 58:147-67. [PMID: 26072028 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2014] [Revised: 02/13/2015] [Accepted: 04/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Over the past 20 years there has been a growing interest in the neural underpinnings of cost/benefit decision-making. Recent studies with animal models have made considerable advances in our understanding of how different prefrontal, striatal, limbic and monoaminergic circuits interact to promote efficient risk/reward decision-making, and how dysfunction in these circuits underlies aberrant decision-making observed in numerous psychiatric disorders. This review will highlight recent findings from studies exploring these questions using a variety of behavioral assays, as well as molecular, pharmacological, neurophysiological, and translational approaches. We begin with a discussion of how neural systems related to decision subcomponents may interact to generate more complex decisions involving risk and uncertainty. This is followed by an overview of interactions between prefrontal-amygdala-dopamine and habenular circuits in regulating choice between certain and uncertain rewards and how different modes of dopamine transmission may contribute to these processes. These data will be compared with results from other studies investigating the contribution of some of these systems to guiding decision-making related to rewards vs. punishment. Lastly, we provide a brief summary of impairments in risk-related decision-making associated with psychiatric disorders, highlighting recent translational studies in laboratory animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin A Orsini
- Department of Psychiatry and Center for Addiction Research and Education, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - David E Moorman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States
| | - Jared W Young
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, United States; VISN-22 Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Barry Setlow
- Department of Psychiatry and Center for Addiction Research and Education, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Stan B Floresco
- Department of Psychology and Brain Research Center, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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Mu L, Wang J, Cao B, Jelfs B, Chan RHM, Xu X, Hasan M, Zhang X, Li Y. Impairment of cognitive function by chemotherapy: association with the disruption of phase-locking and synchronization in anterior cingulate cortex. Mol Brain 2015; 8:32. [PMID: 26001812 PMCID: PMC4490721 DOI: 10.1186/s13041-015-0125-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2014] [Accepted: 05/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Patients following prolonged cancer chemotherapy are at high risk of emotional and cognitive deficits. Research indicates that the brain neuronal temporal coding and synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) are critical in memory and perception. We studied the effects of cisplatin on induction of LTP in the basolateral amygdala (BLA)-anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) pathway, characterized the coordination of spike timing with local theta oscillation, and identified synchrony in the BLA-ACC network integrity. Results In the study presented, the impacts of cisplatin on emotional and cognitive functions were investigated by elevated plus-maze test, Morris water maze test, and rat Iowa gambling task (RGT). Electrophysiological recordings were conducted to study long-term potentiation. Simultaneous recordings from multi-electrodes were performed to characterize the neural spike firing and ongoing theta oscillation of local field potential (LFP), and to clarify the synchronization of large scale of theta oscillation in the BLA-ACC pathway. Cisplatin-treated rats demonstrated anxiety- like behavior, exhibited impaired spatial reference memory. RGT showed decrease of the percentage of good decision-makers, and increase in the percentage of maladaptive behavior (delay-good decision-makers plus poor decision-makers). Cisplatin suppressed the LTP, and disrupted the phase-locking of ACC single neural firings to the ongoing theta oscillation; further, cisplatin interrupted the synchrony in the BLA-ACC pathway. Conclusions We provide the first direct evidence that the cisplatin interrupts theta-frequency phase-locking of ACC neurons. The block of LTP and disruption of synchronized theta oscillations in the BLA-ACC pathway are associated with emotional and cognitive deficits in rats, following cancer chemotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Mu
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
| | - Jun Wang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
| | - Bing Cao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
| | - Beth Jelfs
- Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
| | - Rosa H M Chan
- Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
| | - Xiaoxiang Xu
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
| | - Mahadi Hasan
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
| | - Xu Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
| | - Ying Li
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. .,Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
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32
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Zhang L, Wang K, Zhu C, Yu F, Chen X. Trait Anxiety Has Effect on Decision Making under Ambiguity but Not Decision Making under Risk. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0127189. [PMID: 26000629 PMCID: PMC4441420 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2014] [Accepted: 04/12/2015] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have reported that trait anxiety (TA) affects decision making. However, results remain largely inconsistent across studies. The aim of the current study was to further address the interaction between TA and decision making. 304 subjects without depression from a sample consisting of 642 participants were grouped into high TA (HTA), medium TA (MTA) and low TA (LTA) groups based on their TA scores from State Trait Anxiety Inventory. All subjects were assessed with the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) that measures decision making under ambiguity and the Game of Dice Task (GDT) that measures decision making under risk. While the HTA and LTA groups performed worse on the IGT compared to the MTA group, performances on the GDT between the three groups did not differ. Furthermore, the LTA and HTA groups showed different individual deck level preferences in the IGT: the former showed a preference for deck B indicating that these subjects focused more on the magnitude of rewards, and the latter showed a preference for deck A indicating significant decision making impairment. Our findings suggest that trait anxiety has effect on decision making under ambiguity but not decision making under risk and different levels of trait anxiety related differently to individual deck level preferences in the IGT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Long Zhang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Kai Wang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
- * E-mail:
| | - Chunyan Zhu
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Fengqiong Yu
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Xingui Chen
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
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Effects of disrupting medial prefrontal cortex GABA transmission on decision-making in a rodent gambling task. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2015; 232:1755-65. [PMID: 25420610 PMCID: PMC4412766 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-014-3816-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2014] [Accepted: 11/08/2014] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Decision-making is a complex cognitive process that is mediated, in part, by subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC). Decision-making is impaired in a number of psychiatric conditions including schizophrenia. Notably, people with schizophrenia exhibit reductions in GABA function in the same PFC areas that are implicated in decision-making. For example, expression of the GABA-synthesizing enzyme GAD67 is reduced in the dorsolateral PFC of people with schizophrenia. OBJECTIVES The goal of this experiment was to determine whether disrupting cortical GABA transmission impairs decision-making using a rodent gambling task (rGT). METHODS Rats were trained on the rGT until they reached stable performance and then were implanted with guide cannulae aimed at the medial PFC. Following recovery, the effects of intra-PFC infusions of the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline methiodide (BMI) or the GABA synthesis inhibitor L-allylglycine (LAG) on performance on the rGT were assessed. RESULTS Intracortical infusions of BMI (25 ng/μl/side), but not LAG (10 μg/μl/side), altered decision-making. Following BMI infusions, rats made fewer advantageous choices. Follow-up experiments suggested that the change in decision-making was due to a change in the sensitivity to the punishments, rather than a change in the sensitivity to reward magnitudes, associated with each outcome. LAG infusions increased premature responding, a measure of response inhibition, but did not affect decision-making. CONCLUSIONS Blocking GABAA receptors, but not inhibiting cortical GABA synthesis, within the medial PFC affects decision-making in the rGT. These data provide proof-of-concept evidence that disruptions in GABA transmission can contribute to the decision-making deficits in schizophrenia.
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Young JW, Geyer MA. Developing treatments for cognitive deficits in schizophrenia: the challenge of translation. J Psychopharmacol 2015; 29:178-96. [PMID: 25516372 PMCID: PMC4670265 DOI: 10.1177/0269881114555252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a life-long debilitating mental disorder affecting tens of millions of people worldwide. The serendipitous discovery of antipsychotics focused pharmaceutical research on developing a better antipsychotic. Our understanding of the disorder has advanced however, with the knowledge that cognitive enhancers are required for patients in order to improve their everyday lives. While antipsychotics treat psychosis, they do not enhance cognition and hence are not antischizophrenics. Developing pro-cognitive therapeutics has been extremely difficult, however, especially when no approved treatment exists. In lieu of stumbling on an efficacious treatment, developing targeted compounds can be facilitated by understanding the neural mechanisms underlying altered cognitive functioning in patients. Equally importantly, these cognitive domains will need to be measured similarly in animals and humans so that novel targets can be tested prior to conducting expensive clinical trials. To date, the limited similarity of testing across species has resulted in a translational bottleneck. In this review, we emphasize that schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by abnormal cognitive behavior. Quantifying these abnormalities using tasks having cross-species validity would enable the quantification of comparable processes in rodents. This approach would increase the likelihood that the neural substrates underlying relevant behaviors will be conserved across species. Hence, we detail cross-species tasks which can be used to test the effects of manipulations relevant to schizophrenia and putative therapeutics. Such tasks offer the hope of providing a bridge between non-clinical and clinical testing that will eventually lead to treatments developed specifically for patients with deficient cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- JW Young
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - MA Geyer
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
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Winstanley CA, Clark L. Translational Models of Gambling-Related Decision-Making. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2015; 28:93-120. [PMID: 27418069 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2015_5014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Gambling is a harmless, recreational pastime that is ubiquitous across cultures. However, for some, gambling becomes a maladaptive and compulsive, and this syndrome is conceptualized as a behavioural addiction. Laboratory models that capture the key cognitive processes involved in gambling behaviour, and that can be translated across species, have the potential to make an important contribution to both decision neuroscience and the study of addictive disorders. The Iowa gambling task has been widely used to assess human decision-making under uncertainty, and this paradigm can be successfully modelled in rodents. Similar neurobiological processes underpin choice behaviour in humans and rats, and thus, a preference for the disadvantageous "high-risk, high-reward" options may reflect meaningful vulnerability for mental health problems. However, the choice behaviour operationalized by these tasks does not necessarily approximate the vulnerability to gambling disorder (GD) per se. We consider a number of psychological challenges that apply to modelling gambling in a translational way, and evaluate the success of the existing models. Heterogeneity in the structure of gambling games, as well as in the motivations of individuals with GD, is highlighted. The potential issues with extrapolating too directly from established animal models of drug dependency are discussed, as are the inherent difficulties in validating animal models of GD in the absence of any approved treatments for GD. Further advances in modelling the cognitive biases endemic in human decision-making, which appear to be exacerbated in GD, may be a promising line of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catharine A Winstanley
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. .,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
| | - Luke Clark
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.,Centre for Gambling Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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Hamilton DA, Brigman JL. Behavioral flexibility in rats and mice: contributions of distinct frontocortical regions. GENES, BRAIN, AND BEHAVIOR 2015; 14:4-21. [PMID: 25561028 PMCID: PMC4482359 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2014] [Revised: 11/26/2014] [Accepted: 11/27/2014] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Research examining the contribution of genetics to behavior is increasingly focused on higher order behavioral and cognitive processes including the ability to modify behaviors when environmental demands change. The frontal cortices of mammals, including rodents, subserve a diverse set of behavioral and cognitive functions including motor planning, social behavior, evaluation of expected outcomes and working memory, which may be particularly sensitive to genetic factors and interactions with experience (e.g. stress). Behavioral flexibility is a core attribute of these functions. This review orients readers to the current landscape of the literature on the frontocortical bases of behavioral flexibility in rodent laboratory experiments. Studies are divided into three broad categories: reversal learning, inhibitory learning and set-shifting. Functional dissociations within the broader scope of behavioral flexibility are reviewed, followed by discussion of the associations between specific components of frontal cortex and specific aspects of relevant behavioral processes. Finally, the authors identify open questions that need to be addressed to better establish the constituents of frontal cortex underlying behavioral flexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- D A Hamilton
- Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
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van Enkhuizen J, Henry BL, Minassian A, Perry W, Milienne-Petiot M, Higa KK, Geyer MA, Young JW. Reduced dopamine transporter functioning induces high-reward risk-preference consistent with bipolar disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 2014; 39:3112-22. [PMID: 25005251 PMCID: PMC4229584 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2014.170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2014] [Revised: 06/25/2014] [Accepted: 06/28/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) exhibit deleterious decision making, negatively impacting their lives. Such aberrant decision making can be quantified using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), which requires choosing between advantageous and disadvantageous options based on different reward/punishment schedules. The mechanisms underlying this behavioral deficit are unknown, but may include the reduced dopamine transporter (DAT) functioning reported in BD patients. Using both human and mouse IGTs, we tested whether reduced DAT functioning would recreate patterns of deficient decision making of BD patients. We assessed the IGT performance of 16 BD subjects (7 female) and 17 healthy control (HC) subjects (12 female). We recorded standard IGT performance measures and novel post-reward and post-punishment decision-making strategies. We characterized a novel single-session mouse IGT using C57BL/6J mice (n = 44). The BD and HC IGT performances were compared with the effects of chronic (genetic knockdown (KD; n = 31) and wild-type (n = 28) mice) and acute (C57BL/6J mice (n = 89) treated with the DAT inhibitor GBR12909) reductions of DAT functioning in mice performing this novel IGT. BD patients exhibited impaired decision making compared with HC subjects. Both the good-performing DAT KD and GBR12909-treated mice exhibited poor decision making in the mouse IGT. The deficit of each population was driven by high-reward sensitivity. The single-session mouse IGT measures dynamic risk-based decision making similar to humans. Chronic and acute reductions of DAT functioning in mice impaired decision-making consistent with poor IGT performance of BD patients. Hyperdopaminergia caused by reduced DAT may impact poor decision making in BD patients, which should be confirmed in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordy van Enkhuizen
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA,Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Brook L Henry
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Arpi Minassian
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - William Perry
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Morgane Milienne-Petiot
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA,Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Kerin K Higa
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Mark A Geyer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA,Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Jared W Young
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA,Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA,Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0804, La Jolla, CA 92093-0804, USA, Tel: +1 619 543 3582, Fax: +1 619 735 9205, E-mail:
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Fitoussi A, Le Moine C, De Deurwaerdère P, Laqui M, Rivalan M, Cador M, Dellu-Hagedorn F. Prefronto-subcortical imbalance characterizes poor decision-making: neurochemical and neural functional evidences in rats. Brain Struct Funct 2014; 220:3485-96. [PMID: 25134683 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-014-0868-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2014] [Accepted: 07/30/2014] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
A major challenge of decision-making research in recent years has been to develop models of poor decision-making to identify its neural bases. Toward this goal, we developed a Rat Gambling Task that discerns good and poor decision-makers in a complex and conflicting situation such as the human Iowa Gambling Task. Nothing is known about the role of the monoaminergic modulatory systems in shaping these phenotypes. Moreover, functional and temporal contributions of brain areas during poor compared to good decision-making remains elusive. Good and poor decision-makers were identified in the Rat Gambling Task. We investigated neurobiological correlates of decision-making capacities in (1) dopamine and serotonin turnovers using post-mortem tissue measurements, (2) the neural circuits differentially recruited during decision-making within the prefronto-subcortical network using cellular Fos immunodetection. Imbalance in monoamine metabolism was revealed in poor decision-makers, i.e. a higher infralimbic vs. lower amygdala serotonergic metabolism. Moreover, good decision-making recruited a wide prefronto-subcortical network but once good choices had been made, a disengagement of key prefrontal areas (insular and infralimbic cortices notably) and the amygdala was observed. By contrast, poor decision-making was associated with a strikingly low recruitment of the prefronto-subcortical network, together with sustained amygdala activity. Our results identify two complementary neurobiological substrates characterizing poor decision-makers: imbalanced monoaminergic systems at rest, congruent with their previously identified complex behavioral phenotype, and an aberrant low recruitment of key brain areas for executive functions and affective valence during the process of decision-making. These biomarkers could sustain vulnerability to developing poor decision-making related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aurélie Fitoussi
- University of Bordeaux, INCIA, CNRS UMR 5287, PB. 31, 146 rue Léo Saignat, 33076, Bordeaux Cedex, France.,CNRS, University of Bordeaux, INCIA, UMR 5287, 33000, Bordeaux, France
| | - Catherine Le Moine
- University of Bordeaux, INCIA, CNRS UMR 5287, PB. 31, 146 rue Léo Saignat, 33076, Bordeaux Cedex, France.,CNRS, University of Bordeaux, INCIA, UMR 5287, 33000, Bordeaux, France
| | - Philippe De Deurwaerdère
- University of Bordeaux, INCIA, CNRS UMR 5287, PB. 31, 146 rue Léo Saignat, 33076, Bordeaux Cedex, France.,CNRS, University of Bordeaux, IMN, UMR 5293, 33000, Bordeaux, France
| | - Matéo Laqui
- University of Bordeaux, INCIA, CNRS UMR 5287, PB. 31, 146 rue Léo Saignat, 33076, Bordeaux Cedex, France.,CNRS, University of Bordeaux, INCIA, UMR 5287, 33000, Bordeaux, France
| | - Marion Rivalan
- University of Bordeaux, INCIA, CNRS UMR 5287, PB. 31, 146 rue Léo Saignat, 33076, Bordeaux Cedex, France.,CNRS, University of Bordeaux, INCIA, UMR 5287, 33000, Bordeaux, France.,Institut of Cognitive Neurobiology, Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Martine Cador
- University of Bordeaux, INCIA, CNRS UMR 5287, PB. 31, 146 rue Léo Saignat, 33076, Bordeaux Cedex, France.,CNRS, University of Bordeaux, INCIA, UMR 5287, 33000, Bordeaux, France
| | - Françoise Dellu-Hagedorn
- University of Bordeaux, INCIA, CNRS UMR 5287, PB. 31, 146 rue Léo Saignat, 33076, Bordeaux Cedex, France. .,CNRS, University of Bordeaux, INCIA, UMR 5287, 33000, Bordeaux, France.
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Koot S, Koukou M, Baars A, Hesseling P, van 't Klooster J, Joëls M, van den Bos R. Corticosterone and decision-making in male Wistar rats: the effect of corticosterone application in the infralimbic and orbitofrontal cortex. Front Behav Neurosci 2014; 8:127. [PMID: 24795580 PMCID: PMC4001045 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2013] [Accepted: 03/27/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Corticosteroid hormones, released after stress, are known to influence neuronal activity and produce a wide range of effects upon the brain. They affect cognitive tasks including decision-making. Recently it was shown that systemic injections of corticosterone (CORT) disrupt reward-based decision-making in rats when tested in a rat model of the Iowa Gambling Task (rIGT), i.e., rats do not learn across trial blocks to avoid the long-term disadvantageous option. This effect was associated with a change in neuronal activity in prefrontal brain areas, i.e., the infralimbic (IL), lateral orbitofrontal (lOFC) and insular cortex, as assessed by changes in c-Fos expression. Here, we studied whether injections of CORT directly into the IL and lOFC lead to similar changes in decision-making. As in our earlier study, CORT was injected during the final 3 days of the behavioral paradigm, 25 min prior to behavioral testing. Infusions of vehicle into the IL led to a decreased number of visits to the disadvantageous arm across trial blocks, while infusion with CORT did not. Infusions into the lOFC did not lead to differences in the number of visits to the disadvantageous arm between vehicle treated and CORT treated rats. However, compared to vehicle treated rats of the IL group, performance of vehicle treated rats of the lOFC group was impaired, possibly due to cannulation/infusion-related damage of the lOFC affecting decision-making. Overall, these results show that infusions with CORT into the IL are sufficient to disrupt decision-making performance, pointing to a critical role of the IL in corticosteroid effects on reward-based decision-making. The data do not directly support that the same holds true for infusions into the lOFC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Koot
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University Medical Centre Utrecht Utrecht, Netherlands ; Division Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Magdalini Koukou
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University Medical Centre Utrecht Utrecht, Netherlands ; Division Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Annemarie Baars
- Division Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Peter Hesseling
- Division Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - José van 't Klooster
- Division Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Marian Joëls
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University Medical Centre Utrecht Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Ruud van den Bos
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University Medical Centre Utrecht Utrecht, Netherlands ; Department of Organismal Animal Physiology, Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen, Netherlands
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van den Bos R, Koot S, de Visser L. A rodent version of the Iowa Gambling Task: 7 years of progress. Front Psychol 2014; 5:203. [PMID: 24672498 PMCID: PMC3957418 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2013] [Accepted: 02/23/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) subjects need to find a way to earn money in a context of variable wins and losses, conflicting short-term and long-term pay-off, and uncertainty of outcomes. In 2006, we published the first rodent version of the IGT (r-IGT; Behavior Research Methods 38, 470–478). Here, we discuss emerging ideas on the involvement of different prefrontal-striatal networks in task-progression in the r-IGT, as revealed by our studies thus far. The emotional system, encompassing, among others, the orbitofrontal cortex, infralimbic cortex and nucleus accumbens (shell and core area), may be involved in assessing and anticipating the value of different options in the early stages of the task, i.e., as animals explore and learn task contingencies. The cognitive control system, encompassing, among others, the prelimbic cortex and dorsomedial striatum, may be involved in instrumental goal-directed behavior in later stages of the task, i.e., as behavior toward long-term options is strengthened (reinforced) and behavior toward long-term poor options is weakened (punished). In addition, we suggest two directions for future research: (1) the role of the internal state of the subject in decision-making, and (2) studying differences in task-related costs. Overall, our studies have contributed to understanding the interaction between the emotional system and cognitive control system as crucial to navigating human and non-human animals alike through a world of variable wins and losses, conflicting short-term and long-term pay-offs, and uncertainty of outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruud van den Bos
- Department of Organismal Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Susanne Koot
- Division Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands ; Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre Utrecht Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Leonie de Visser
- Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre Utrecht Utrecht, Netherlands
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Feja M, Koch M. Ventral medial prefrontal cortex inactivation impairs impulse control but does not affect delay-discounting in rats. Behav Brain Res 2014; 264:230-9. [PMID: 24556205 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.02.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2014] [Revised: 02/07/2014] [Accepted: 02/10/2014] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Maladaptive levels of impulsivity are found in several neuropsychiatric disorders, such as ADHD, addiction, aggression and schizophrenia. Intolerance to delay-of-gratification, or delay-discounting, and deficits in impulse control are dissociable forms of impulsivity top-down controlled by the prefrontal cortex, with the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) suggested to be critically involved. The present study used transient inactivation of the rats' vmPFC via bilateral microinfusion of the GABAA receptor agonist muscimol (0.05, 0.5 μg/0.3 μl) to analyse its relevance for impulse control in a 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT) and delay-discounting in a Skinner box. Intra-vmPFC injection of low-dose muscimol impaired impulse control indicated by enhanced premature responding in the 5-CSRTT, while flattening the delay-dependent shift in the preference of the large reward in the delay-discounting task. Likewise, high-dose muscimol did not affect delay-discounting, though raising the rate of omissions. On the contrary, 5-CSRTT performance was characterised by deficits in impulse and attentional control. These data support the behavioural distinction of delay-discounting and impulse control on the level of the vmPFC in rats. Reversible inactivation with muscimol revealed an obvious implication of the vmPFC in the modulation of impulse control in the 5-CSRTT. By contrast, delay-discounting processes seem to be regulated by other neuronal pathways, with the vmPFC playing, if at all, a minor role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malte Feja
- Department of Neuropharmacology, Brain Research Institute, Center for Cognitive Sciences, University of Bremen, PO Box 330440, 28359 Bremen, Germany.
| | - Michael Koch
- Department of Neuropharmacology, Brain Research Institute, Center for Cognitive Sciences, University of Bremen, PO Box 330440, 28359 Bremen, Germany.
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Rivalan M, Valton V, Seriès P, Marchand AR, Dellu-Hagedorn F. Elucidating poor decision-making in a rat gambling task. PLoS One 2013; 8:e82052. [PMID: 24339988 PMCID: PMC3855331 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2013] [Accepted: 10/21/2013] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Although poor decision-making is a hallmark of psychiatric conditions such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, pathological gambling or substance abuse, a fraction of healthy individuals exhibit similar poor decision-making performances in everyday life and specific laboratory tasks such as the Iowa Gambling Task. These particular individuals may provide information on risk factors or common endophenotypes of these mental disorders. In a rodent version of the Iowa gambling task--the Rat Gambling Task (RGT), we identified a population of poor decision makers, and assessed how these rats scored for several behavioral traits relevant to executive disorders: risk taking, reward seeking, behavioral inflexibility, and several aspects of impulsivity. First, we found that poor decision-making could not be well predicted by single behavioral and cognitive characteristics when considered separately. By contrast, a combination of independent traits in the same individual, namely risk taking, reward seeking, behavioral inflexibility, as well as motor impulsivity, was highly predictive of poor decision-making. Second, using a reinforcement-learning model of the RGT, we confirmed that only the combination of extreme scores on these traits could induce maladaptive decision-making. Third, the model suggested that a combination of these behavioral traits results in an inaccurate representation of rewards and penalties and inefficient learning of the environment. Poor decision-making appears as a consequence of the over-valuation of high-reward-high-risk options in the task. Such a specific psychological profile could greatly impair clinically healthy individuals in decision-making tasks and may predispose to mental disorders with similar symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion Rivalan
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Aquitaine Institut for Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience, UMR 5287, Bordeaux, France
- Université de Bordeaux, Aquitaine Institut for Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience, UMR 5287, Bordeaux, France
| | - Vincent Valton
- Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Peggy Seriès
- Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Alain R. Marchand
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Aquitaine Institut for Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience, UMR 5287, Bordeaux, France
- Université de Bordeaux, Aquitaine Institut for Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience, UMR 5287, Bordeaux, France
| | - Françoise Dellu-Hagedorn
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Aquitaine Institut for Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience, UMR 5287, Bordeaux, France
- Université de Bordeaux, Aquitaine Institut for Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience, UMR 5287, Bordeaux, France
- * E-mail:
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Miller MA, Thomé A, Cowen SL. Intersection of effort and risk: ethological and neurobiological perspectives. Front Neurosci 2013; 7:208. [PMID: 24223535 PMCID: PMC3819579 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2013.00208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2013] [Accepted: 10/16/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The physical effort required to seek out and extract a resource is an important consideration for a foraging animal. A second consideration is the variability or risk associated with resource delivery. An intriguing observation from ethological studies is that animals shift their preference from stable to variable food sources under conditions of increased physical effort or falling energetic reserves. Although theoretical models for this effect exist, no exploration into its biological basis has been pursued. Recent advances in understanding the neural basis of effort- and risk-guided decision making suggest that opportunities exist for determining how effort influences risk preference. In this review, we describe the intersection between the neural systems involved in effort- and risk-guided decision making and outline two mechanisms by which effort-induced changes in dopamine release may increase the preference for variable rewards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mike A Miller
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Arizona , Tucson, AZ, USA
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Pujara M, Koenigs M. Mechanisms of reward circuit dysfunction in psychiatric illness: prefrontal-striatal interactions. Neuroscientist 2013; 20:82-95. [PMID: 23924665 DOI: 10.1177/1073858413499407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The brain's "reward circuit" has been widely implicated in the pathophysiology of mental illness. Although there has been significant progress in identifying the functional characteristics of individual nodes within the circuit and linking dysfunction of these brain areas to various forms of psychopathology, there remains a substantial gap in understanding how the nodes of the circuit interact with one another, and how the growing neurobiological knowledge may be applied to improve psychiatric patient care. In this article, we summarize what is currently known about the functions and interactions of two key nodes of this circuit-the ventral striatum and the ventromedial prefrontal/orbital frontal cortex-in relation to mental illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maia Pujara
- 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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Paine TA, Asinof SK, Diehl GW, Frackman A, Leffler J. Medial prefrontal cortex lesions impair decision-making on a rodent gambling task: reversal by D1 receptor antagonist administration. Behav Brain Res 2013; 243:247-54. [PMID: 23354057 PMCID: PMC3633084 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2013.01.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2012] [Revised: 12/28/2012] [Accepted: 01/15/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Decision-making is a complex cognitive process that is impaired in a number of psychiatric disorders. In the laboratory, decision-making is frequently assessed using "gambling" tasks that are designed to simulate real-life decisions in terms of uncertainty, reward and punishment. Here, we investigate whether lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) cause impairments in decision-making using a rodent gambling task (rGT). In this task, rats have to decide between 1 of 4 possible options: 2 options are considered "advantageous" and lead to greater net rewards (food pellets) than the other 2 "disadvantageous" options. Once rats attained stable levels of performance on the rGT they underwent sham or excitoxic lesions of the medial PFC and were allowed to recover for 1 week. Following recovery, rats were retrained for 5 days and then the effects of a dopamine D1-like receptor antagonist (SCH23390) or a D2-like receptor antagonist (haloperidol) on performance were assessed. Lesioned rats exhibited impaired decision-making: they made fewer advantageous choices and chose the most optimal choice less frequently than did sham-operated rats. Administration of SCH23390 (0.03 mg/kg), but not haloperidol (0.015-0.03 mg/kg) attenuated the lesion-induced decision-making deficit. These results indicate that the medial PFC is important for decision-making and that excessive signaling at D1 receptors may contribute to decision-making impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracie A Paine
- Department of Neuroscience, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH 44074, United States.
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Koot S, Baars A, Hesseling P, van den Bos R, Joëls M. Time-dependent effects of corticosterone on reward-based decision-making in a rodent model of the Iowa Gambling Task. Neuropharmacology 2013; 70:306-15. [PMID: 23474014 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2013.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2012] [Revised: 01/22/2013] [Accepted: 02/09/2013] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Corticosteroid hormones, released after stress, are known to change neuronal activity in two time-domains: within minutes via non-genomic pathways and with a delay of >1 h through pathways involving transcriptional regulation. Recent evidence in rodents and humans indicates that these two modes of corticosteroid action differently affect cognitive tasks. Here, we investigated whether reward-based decision-making, in a rat model of the Iowa Gambling Task (rIGT), is also differently altered by rapid versus delayed actions of corticosterone. We targeted the rapid and delayed time domain by injecting corticosterone (CORT, 1 mg/kg, s.c.) at 30 min (rapid) or 180 min (delayed) respectively prior to behavioural testing, during the final 3 days of the behavioural paradigm. In saline treated rats, the number of visits to the disadvantageous arm decreased over trial blocks, whilst this was attenuated when CORT was administered 30 min before testing. This attenuation was associated with a significantly increased c-Fos expression in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and insular cortex, and a trend for an increase in the infralimbic cortex. The rapid corticosteroid effect contrasted with treatment 180 min before testing, where the number of visits to the disadvantageous arm as well as c-Fos labelling was not affected. These findings indicate that rapid corticosteroid actions impair reward-based decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Koot
- Department of Neuroscience & Pharmacology, Rudolf Magnus Institute, University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands
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van Enkhuizen J, Geyer MA, Young JW. Differential effects of dopamine transporter inhibitors in the rodent Iowa gambling task: relevance to mania. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2013; 225:661-74. [PMID: 22945515 PMCID: PMC3537839 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-012-2854-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2012] [Accepted: 08/17/2012] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) can be used to quantify impulsive and risky choice behaviors in psychiatric patients, e.g., bipolar disorder (BD) sufferers. Although developing treatments for these behaviors is important, few predictive animal models exist. Inhibition of the dopamine transporter (DAT) can model profiles of altered motor activity and exploration seen in patients with BD. The effect of DAT inhibition on impulsive choices related to BD has received limited study however. We used a rodent IGT to elucidate the effects of similarly acting drugs on risky choice behavior. OBJECTIVES We hypothesized that (1) C57BL/6 mice could adopt the "safe" choice options in the IGT and (2) DAT inhibition would alter risk preference. METHODS Mice were trained in the IGT to a stable risk-preference and then administered the norepinephrine/DAT inhibitor amphetamine, or the more selective DAT inhibitors modafinil or GBR12909. RESULTS Mice developed a preference for the "safe" option, which was potentiated by amphetamine administration. GBR12909 or modafinil administration increased motor impulsivity, motivation significantly, and risk preference subtly. CONCLUSIONS The rodent IGT can measure different impulse-related behaviors and differentiate similarly acting BD-related drugs. The contrasting effects of amphetamine and modafinil in mice are similar to effects in rats and humans in corresponding IGT tasks, supporting the translational validity of the task. GBR12909 and modafinil elicited similar behaviors in the IGT, likely through a shared mechanism. Future studies using a within-session IGT are warranted to confirm the suitability of DAT inhibitors to model risk-preference in BD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordy van Enkhuizen
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0804, La Jolla, CA 92093-0804
- Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Mark A. Geyer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0804, La Jolla, CA 92093-0804
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA
| | - Jared W. Young
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0804, La Jolla, CA 92093-0804
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA
- Correspondence: Jared W. Young, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0804, La Jolla, California, 92093-0804, Tel: +1 619 543 3582, Fax: +1 619 735 9205,
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48
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van den Bos R, Homberg J, de Visser L. A critical review of sex differences in decision-making tasks: focus on the Iowa Gambling Task. Behav Brain Res 2012; 238:95-108. [PMID: 23078950 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 175] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2012] [Revised: 10/04/2012] [Accepted: 10/06/2012] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
It has been observed that men and women show performance differences in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a task of decision-making in which subjects through exploration learn to differentiate long-term advantageous from long-term disadvantageous decks of cards: men choose more cards from the long-term advantageous decks than women within the standard number of 100 trials. Here, we aim at discussing psychological mechanisms and neurobiological substrates underlying sex differences in IGT-like decision-making. Our review suggests that women focus on both win-loss frequencies and long-term pay-off of decks, while men focus on long-term pay-off. Furthermore, women may be more sensitive to occasional losses in the long-term advantageous decks than men. As a consequence hereof, women need 40-60 trials in addition before they reach the same level of performance as men. These performance differences are related to differences in activity in the orbitofrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as well as in serotonergic activity and left-right hemispheric activity. Sex differences in orbitofrontal cortex activity may be due to organisational effects of gonadal hormones early in life. The behavioural and neurobiological differences in the IGT between men and women are an expression of more general sex differences in the regulation of emotions. We discuss these findings in the context of sex differences in information processing related to evolutionary processes. Furthermore we discuss the relationship between these findings and real world decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruud van den Bos
- Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 100, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands.
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van Hasselt FN, de Visser L, Tieskens JM, Cornelisse S, Baars AM, Lavrijsen M, Krugers HJ, van den Bos R, Joëls M. Individual variations in maternal care early in life correlate with later life decision-making and c-fos expression in prefrontal subregions of rats. PLoS One 2012; 7:e37820. [PMID: 22693577 PMCID: PMC3365050 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2012] [Accepted: 04/24/2012] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Early life adversity affects hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, alters cognitive functioning and in humans is thought to increase the vulnerability to psychopathology--e.g. depression, anxiety and schizophrenia--later in life. Here we investigated whether subtle natural variations among individual rat pups in the amount of maternal care received, i.e. differences in the amount of licking and grooming (LG), correlate with anxiety and prefrontal cortex-dependent behavior in young adulthood. Therefore, we examined the correlation between LG received during the first postnatal week and later behavior in the elevated plus maze and in decision-making processes using a rodent version of the Iowa Gambling Task (rIGT). In our cohort of male and female animals a high degree of LG correlated with less anxiety in the elevated plus maze and more advantageous choices during the last 10 trials of the rIGT. In tissue collected 2 hrs after completion of the task, the correlation between LG and c-fos expression (a marker of neuronal activity) was established in structures important for IGT performance. Negative correlations existed between rIGT performance and c-fos expression in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, prelimbic cortex, infralimbic cortex and insular cortex. The insular cortex correlations between c-fos expression and decision-making performance depended on LG background; this was also true for the lateral orbitofrontal cortex in female rats. Dendritic complexity of insular or infralimbic pyramidal neurons did not or weakly correlate with LG background. We conclude that natural variations in maternal care received by pups may significantly contribute to later-life decision-making and activity of underlying brain structures.
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50
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de Visser L, Homberg JR, Mitsogiannis M, Zeeb FD, Rivalan M, Fitoussi A, Galhardo V, van den Bos R, Winstanley CA, Dellu-Hagedorn F. Rodent versions of the iowa gambling task: opportunities and challenges for the understanding of decision-making. Front Neurosci 2011; 5:109. [PMID: 22013406 PMCID: PMC3189637 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2011.00109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2011] [Accepted: 08/29/2011] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Impaired decision-making is a core problem in several psychiatric disorders including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive–compulsive disorder, mania, drug addiction, eating disorders, and substance abuse as well as in chronic pain. To ensure progress in the understanding of the neuropathophysiology of these disorders, animal models with good construct and predictive validity are indispensable. Many human studies aimed at measuring decision-making capacities use the Iowa gambling task (IGT), a task designed to model everyday life choices through a conflict between immediate gratification and long-term outcomes. Recently, new rodent models based on the same principle have been developed to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying IGT-like decision-making on behavioral, neural, and pharmacological levels. The comparative strengths, as well as the similarities and differences between these paradigms are discussed. The contribution of these models to elucidate the neurobehavioral factors that lead to poor decision-making and to the development of better treatments for psychiatric illness is considered, along with important future directions and potential limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonie de Visser
- Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Netherlands
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