Brain Stimulation Reward Supports More Consistent and Accurate Rodent Decision-Making than Food Reward

McMurray, Matthew S.; Conway, Sineadh M.; Roitman, Jamie D.

doi:10.1523/eneuro.0015-17.2017

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Thus, it is plausible that the unpredictable order of sessions combined with the lack of a well-practiced behavior strategy that has not been seen before to produce different behavioral results. In addition, we used a reward ratio (1 v 3 sugar pellets) that we have found to be more accurately discriminated (McMurray, Conway, & Roitman, 2017) compared to the ratio used in prior studies (McMurray et al, 2015). Performance on this task may instead more resemble a series of reversal learning tasks, which first introduces probabilistic rewards and then switches the location of their availability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Voluntary Adolescent Alcohol Consumption on Encoding of Decision-Related Variables in Prefrontal Cortex

Corwin

2021

Preprint

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The medial and orbitofrontal regions of prefrontal cortex (PFC) have been implicated in guiding optimal behavior and updating the economic value of rewards that result from choice behaviors. Both regions mature through adolescence into early adulthood and are thus vulnerable to exposure to neurotoxins, such as alcohol, during this critical developmental window. We sought to examine how voluntary alcohol consumption during adolescence would alter long-term PFC function and subsequent decision-making behavior in adulthood. Male and female rats were given adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) exposure to provide voluntary access to alcohol during the period of PFC maturation. In adulthood, we assessed the long-term effects on decision-making behavior using a risk task in adulthood, while concurrently recording neural activity in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). While control animals' preferences for risky rewards increased with the likelihood of their delivery, AIE animals showed an overall reduction in their preferences for the risky option with higher levels of alcohol consumption, suggesting reduced discriminability of uncertain rewards and a shift away from the potential for reward omission. During task performance, neurons in mPFC and OFC responded to events (lever press, reward delivery). In mPFC, neurons with phasic increases at the time of lever press showed a reversal from larger elevations for risky presses in control animals to larger elevations for certain presses as prior alcohol consumption increased. Neurons in mPFC generally showed less discrimination of reward outcome with increased alcohol consumption as well. In OFC, responses to lever press were largely unaffected by AIE exposure. However, encoding of reward size in OFC showed differential effects in males and females. With higher alcohol consumption in males, OFC neurons showed largest excursions from baseline activity in response to largest reward, and smallest excursions for reward omission. This discrimination was reduced as prior alcohol consumption increased. In females, neurons with increased reward-activity, showed an overall higher level of activity due to stronger responses to certain rewards that were selected more frequently. Collectively the results show diminished capacity of PFC to encode decision-related elements to guide adaptive behavior and further clarify the lasting impact of adolescent alcohol use on neural function and behavior, even in the absence of continued use.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Voluntary Adolescent Alcohol Consumption on Encoding of Decision-Related Variables in Prefrontal Cortex

Corwin

2021

Preprint

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“…However, these tasks are also complicated by the use of sugar pellet rewards, which not only require the use of food restriction, but may also be confounded by a comparatively small range of reward values. Our previous work has shown that rodents can most reliably discriminate between one and three sugar pellets, and cannot reliably discriminate between three and more than three pellets (McMurray et al, 2017). This lack of discriminability prevents the use of a wide range of values, which is necessary for precise assessment of an indifference point.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extent of food restriction affects probability but not delay‐based decision‐making

Tapp

Zerkle

McMurray

2020

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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Rodent studies on decision‐making often use food rewards and food‐restrict subjects in order to motivate performance. However, food restriction has widespread effects on brain and behavior, which depend on factors including extent of restriction and feeding schedule. These factors are well recognized for their effects on motivation, but may also cause effects on decision‐making independent of motivation. We examined how the degree of weight‐based food restriction in rats influenced decision‐making on the probability and delay discounting tasks. Additionally, we examined how the method of food restriction (consistent amount vs. time constrained feeding schedule) influenced decision‐making. Our results showed that the degree of weight‐based food restriction significantly altered probability, but not delay discounting, and that these effects were not entirely explainable by differences in motivation. Additionally, the method of food restriction did not significantly influence discounting when animals were within the same range of weight‐based restriction. Together, our findings suggest that the degree of food restriction may modulate the neural circuitry responsible for selective aspects of decision‐making related to probability. Further, these data support the need for tight control and reporting of weight and feeding in studies relying on food restriction, and suggest that the effects of food restriction may be broader than previously considered.

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“…A common stimulation target for proof-of-concept behavior experiments is the medial forebrain bundle (MFB; Carlezon and Chartoff 2007, McMurray et al 2017). MFB is a pathway of fibers that allows dopaminergic inputs from the ventral tegmental area to reach forebrain targets such as the medial prefrontal cortex and striatum (Nieuwenhuys et al 1982).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral validation of a wireless low-power neurostimulation technology in a conditioned place preference task

Maeng

Murillo

et al. 2019

J. Neural Eng.

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Objective. Neurostimulation technologies are important for studying neural circuits and the connections that underlie neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, current methods come with limitations such as the restraint on movement imposed by the wires delivering stimulation. The objective of this study was to assess whether the e-Particle (EP), a novel wireless neurostimulator, could sufficiently stimulate the brain to modify behavior without these limitations. Approach. Rats were implanted with the EP and a commercially available stimulating electrode. Animals received rewarding brain stimulation, and performance in a conditioned place preference (CPP) task was measured. To ensure stimulation-induced neuronal activation, immediate early gene c-fos expression was also measured. Main results. The EP was validated in a commonly used CPP task by demonstrating that (1) wireless stimulation via the EP induced preference behavior that was comparable to that induced by standard wired electrodes and (2) neuronal activation was observed in projection targets of the stimulation site. Significance. The EP may help achieve a better understanding of existing brain stimulation methods while overcoming their limitations. Validation of the EP in a behavioral model suggests that the benefits of this technology may extend to other areas of animal research and potentially to human clinical applications.

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Brain Stimulation Reward Supports More Consistent and Accurate Rodent Decision-Making than Food Reward

Cited by 6 publications

References 38 publications

Effect of Voluntary Adolescent Alcohol Consumption on Encoding of Decision-Related Variables in Prefrontal Cortex

Effect of Voluntary Adolescent Alcohol Consumption on Encoding of Decision-Related Variables in Prefrontal Cortex

Extent of food restriction affects probability but not delay‐based decision‐making

Behavioral validation of a wireless low-power neurostimulation technology in a conditioned place preference task

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