To make an appropriate decision, one must anticipate potential future rewarding events, even when they are not readily observable. These expectations are generated by using observable information (e.g., stimuli or available actions) to retrieve often quite detailed memories of available rewards. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) are two reciprocally connected key nodes in the circuitry supporting such outcome-guided behaviors. But there is much unknown about the contribution of this circuit to decision making, and almost nothing known about the whether any contribution is via direct, monosynaptic projections, or the direction of information transfer. Therefore, here we used designer receptor-mediated inactivation of OFC¡BLA or BLA¡OFC projections to evaluate their respective contributions to outcome-guided behaviors in rats. Inactivation of BLA terminals in the OFC, but not OFC terminals in the BLA, disrupted the selective motivating influence of cue-triggered reward representations over reward-seeking decisions as assayed by Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer. BLA¡OFC projections were also required when a cued reward representation was used to modify Pavlovian conditional goal-approach responses according to the reward's current value. These projections were not necessary when actions were guided by reward expectations generated based on learned action-reward contingencies, or when rewards themselves, rather than stored memories, directed action. These data demonstrate that BLA¡OFC projections enable the cue-triggered reward expectations that can motivate the execution of specific action plans and allow adaptive conditional responding.

Background The development of addiction is thought to reflect a transition from goal-directed to stimulus-response driven behavior, functions attributed to ventral (VS) and dorsal striatum (DS), respectively. In line with this theory, neuroadaptations that occur during prolonged drug use progress from VS to DS. Here, we ask if VS dysfunction alone, independent of drug use, can impact neural selectivity in DS. Methods To address this issue we recorded from single neurons in DS while rats performed an odor-guided choice task for differently valued rewards in rats with and without unilateral VS lesions. In a separate group of animals we used bilateral VS lesions to determine if VS was critical for performance on this task. Results We describe data showing that unilateral lesions of VS enhance neural representations in DS during performance of a task that is dependent on VS. Furthermore, we show VS is critical for reward-guided decision-making initially, but rats regain function after several days. Conclusion These results suggest that loss of VS function, independent of chronic drug use, can trigger stronger encoding in DS in a reward-guided decision-making task and that the transition from VS to DS governed behavior observed in addiction might be due, in part, to initial loss of VS function.

SUMMARY Dopamine (DA) neurons increase and decrease firing to rewards that are better and worse than expected, respectively. These correlates have been observed at the level of single-unit firing and in measurements of phasic DA release in ventral striatum (VS) [1-10]. Here, we ask if DA release is modulated by delivery of reward, not to oneself, but to a conspecific. It is unknown what, if anything, DA release encodes during social situations in which one animal witnesses another animal receive reward. It might be predicted that DA release will increase; suggesting that watching a conspecific receive reward is a favorable outcome. Conversely, DA release may be entirely dependent on personal experience, or perhaps observation of receipt of reward might be experienced as a negative outcome because another individual, rather than oneself, received the reward. Our data shows that animals display a mixture of affective states during observation of conspecific reward, first exhibiting increases in appetitive calls (50 kHz), followed by an increase in aversive calls (22 kHz) [11-14]. Like ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), DA signals were modulated by delivery of reward to the conspecific. We show stronger DA release during observation of the conspecific receiving reward relative to observation of reward delivered to an empty box, but only on the first trial. During the following trials this relationship reversed; DA release was reduced during observation of the conspecific receiving rewards. These findings suggest that positive and negative states associated with conspecific reward delivery modulate DA signals related to learning in social situations.

Adaptive reward-related decision making requires accurate prospective consideration of the specific outcome of each option and its current desirability. Often this information must be inferred based on the presence of predictive environmental events. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) are two key nodes in the circuitry supporting such outcome expectations, but very little is known about the function of direct connections between these regions. Here, in male rats, we first anatomically confirmed the existence of bidirectional, direct projections between the mOFC and BLA and found that BLA projections to mOFC are largely distinct from those to lateral OFC (lOFC). Next, using pathway-specific chemogenetic inhibition and the outcome-selective Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer and devaluation tests, we interrogated the function of the bidirectional mOFC-BLA connections in reward-directed behavior. We found evidence that the mOFCfiBLA pathway mediates the use of environmental cues to understand which specific reward is predicted, information needed to infer which action to choose, and how desirable that reward is to ensure adaptive responses to the cue. By contrast, the BLAfimOFC pathway is not needed to use the identity of an expected reward to guide choice but does mediate adaptive responses to cues based on the current desirability of the reward they predict. These functions differ from those we previously identified for the lOFC-BLA circuit. Collectively, the data reveal the mOFC-BLA circuit as critical for the cue-dependent reward outcome expectations that influence adaptive behavior and decision making.

Environmental reward-predictive stimuli can retrieve from memory a specific reward expectation that allows them to motivate action and guide choice. This process requires the basolateral amygdala (BLA), but little is known about the signaling systems necessary within this structure. Here we examined the role of the neuromodulatory opioid receptor system in the BLA in such cue-directed action using the outcome-specific Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) test in rats. Inactivation of BLA mu-, but not delta-opioid receptors was found to dose-dependently attenuate the ability of a reward-predictive cue to selectively invigorate the performance of actions directed at the same unique predicted reward (i.e. to express outcome-specific PIT). BLA mu-opioid receptor inactivation did not affect the ability of a reward itself to similarly motivate action (outcome-specific reinstatement), suggesting a more selective role for the BLA mu-opioid receptor in the motivating influence of currently unobservable rewarding events. These data reveal a new role for BLA mu-opioid receptor activation in the cued recall of precise reward memories and the use of this information to motivate specific action plans.