Cost–Benefit Decision Circuitry

Fobbs, Wambura C.; Mizumori, Sheri J. Y.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-420170-5.00009-x

Cited by 18 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 115 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…First, acetylcholine may indirectly influence choice via its interactions with the midbrain dopaminergic system [26] , [27] . Some support for this theory can be observed in the general, but not absolute, congruency of effects for dopamine versus acetylcholine pharmacology on discounting tasks [28] : dopaminergic and cholinergic agonists tend to have the same effect on choice, and antagonists for each neuromodulator also tend to affect choice similarly. This is perhaps unsurprising, given the tightly linked nature of acetylcholine and dopamine in the striatum [25] .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Scopolamine robustly decreased choice of HR on both tasks. Only null effects on decision making have been reported for mecamylamine and oxotremorine (for a review, see [28] ), despite their nonspecific motor effects indicating a physiologically relevant dose range. These parallel the current data and suggest that these drugs may not be ideal for systemic manipulations of cost/benefit decision-making tasks, although they may be useful for injection into specific brain regions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Nicotine Increases Impulsivity and Decreases Willingness to Exert Cognitive Effort despite Improving Attention in “Slacker” Rats: Insights into Cholinergic Regulation of Cost/Benefit Decision Making

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Successful decision making in our daily lives requires weighing an option’s costs against its associated benefits. The neuromodulator acetylcholine underlies both the etiology and treatment of a number of illnesses in which decision making is perturbed, including Alzheimer’s disease, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and schizophrenia. Nicotine acts on the cholinergic system and has been touted as a cognitive enhancer by both smokers and some researchers for its attention-boosting effects; however, it is unclear whether treatments that have a beneficial effect on attention would also have a beneficial effect on decision making. Here we utilize the rodent Cognitive Effort Task (rCET), wherein animals can choose to allocate greater visuospatial attention for a greater reward, to examine cholinergic contributions to both attentional performance and choice based on attentional demand. Following the establishment of baseline behavior, four drug challenges were administered: nicotine, mecamylamine, scopolamine, and oxotremorine (saline plus three doses for each). As per previous rCET studies, animals were divided by their baseline preferences, with “worker” rats choosing high-effort/high-reward options more than their “slacker” counterparts. Nicotine caused slackers to choose even fewer high-effort trials than at baseline, but had no effect on workers’ choice. Despite slackers’ decreased willingness to expend effort, nicotine improved their attentional performance on the task. Nicotine also increased measures of motor impulsivity in all animals. In contrast, scopolamine decreased animals’ choice of high-effort trials, especially for workers, while oxotremorine decreased motor impulsivity for all animals. In sum, the cholinergic system appears to contribute to decision making, and in part these contributions can be understood as a function of individual differences. While nicotine has been considered as a cognitive enhancer, these data suggest that its modest benefits to attention may be coupled with impulsiveness and decreased willingness to work hard, especially in individuals who are particularly sensitive to effort costs (i.e. slackers).

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nicotine Increases Impulsivity and Decreases Willingness to Exert Cognitive Effort despite Improving Attention in “Slacker” Rats: Insights into Cholinergic Regulation of Cost/Benefit Decision Making

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Conversely, high levels of cholinergic neuromodulation are predicted to support solid goal-directed performance, mediated in part by the generation of high-frequency oscillations in frontal regions (Howe et al, 2017), and to support the processing of complex contextual stimuli and their associated motivational states (Pitchers, Phillips, et al, 2017). Moreover, higher levels of cholinergic neuromodulation may also support the processing of erroneous outcomes and their consequences (Danielmeier et al, 2015), thereby further enhancing top-down cognitive control capacities (Fobbs & Mizumori, 2014). Together, the evidence from basic research is consistent with, and predictive of, the evidence on the impact of low-versus high-capacity cholinergic systems deduced from research in STs and GTs.…”

Section: Sts and Gts As Models For Research On Opponent Cognitive-motmentioning

confidence: 99%

The neuroscience of cognitive-motivational styles: Sign- and goal-trackers as animal models.

Sarter

Phillips

2018

Behavioral Neuroscience

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cognitive-motivational styles describe predominant patterns of processing or biases that broadly influence human cognition and performance. Here we focus on the impact of cognitive-motivational styles on the response to cues predicting the availability of food or addictive drugs. An individual may preferably conduct an analysis of the motivational significance of reward cues, with the result that such cues per se are perceived as rewarding and worth approaching and working for. Alternatively, a propensity for a “cold” analysis of the behavioral utility of a reward cue may yield search behavior for food or drugs but not involve cue approach. Animal models for studying the neuronal mechanisms mediating such styles have originated from research concerning behavioral indices that predict differential vulnerability to addiction-like behaviors. Rats classified as sign- or goal-trackers (STs, GTs) were found to have opposed attentional biases (bottom-up or cue-driven attention vs. top-down or goal-driven attentional control) that are mediated primarily via relatively unresponsive versus elevated levels of cholinergic neuromodulation in the cortex. The capacity for cholinergic neuromodulation in STs is limited by a neuronal choline transporter (CHT) that fails to support increases in cholinergic activity. Moreover, in contrast to STs, the frontal dopamine system in GTs does not respond to the presence of drug cues and, thus, biases against cue-oriented behavior. The opponent cognitive-motivational styles that are indexed by sign- and goal-tracking bestow different cognitive–behavioral vulnerabilities that may contribute to the manifestation of a wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders.

show abstract

“…This implication of β2-nAChRs in uncertainty-modulation of phasic activity (i.e. β2-nAChRs would be necessary for the integration of the uncertainty bonus) may explain the role of nicotinic receptors in probability discounting and henceforth in decisions under uncertainty (Fobbs and Mizumori, 2014). Overall, our results suggest that pontine cholinergic modulation, far from being just a slowly fluctuating tone, can affect dopamine firing on a fast timescale, thereby instantly biasing animals towards information-gathering.…”

mentioning

confidence: 59%

“…Nevertheless, as continuous D2 pharmacology could have affected both baseline DA neurons firing and decision-making (Fobbs and Mizumori, 2014), we allowed the mice to recover two days after this experiment. We thus performed pharmacological confirmation (1) when first encountering a putative DA neuron in a given mouse or (2) at the end of the week if at least one putative neuron was present during the behavioral experiment.…”

Section: Surgerymentioning

confidence: 99%

Acetylcholine-dependent phasic dopamine activity signals exploratory locomotion and choices

Naudé

Didienne

Takillah

et al. 2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dopamine neurons from the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) switch from tonic to phasic burst firing in response to reward-predictive cues and actions. Bursting is influenced by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), which are not implicated in reinforcement learning, but rather in exploration and uncertainty-seeking. The leading model assigns these functions to tonic dopamine firing. To investigate this paradox, we recorded the activity of VTA dopamine neurons during a spatial decision-making task. When reward was certain, mice adopted a stereotyped behavior, and dopamine neurons signaled reward. When confronted with uncertain rewards or a novel environment, mice exhibited exploration. Modulation of phasic, but not tonic, dopamine activity predicted uncertainty-seeking and locomotor exploration. Deletion of nAChRs disrupted the influence of uncertainty and novelty on dopamine firing and behavior, sparing reward signaling and learning. Hence, nAChR modulation of dopamine neurons can influence cognitive functions on a short timescale, through the modulation of phasic, synchronous bursting.

show abstract

Cost–Benefit Decision Circuitry

Cited by 18 publications

References 115 publications

Nicotine Increases Impulsivity and Decreases Willingness to Exert Cognitive Effort despite Improving Attention in “Slacker” Rats: Insights into Cholinergic Regulation of Cost/Benefit Decision Making

Nicotine Increases Impulsivity and Decreases Willingness to Exert Cognitive Effort despite Improving Attention in “Slacker” Rats: Insights into Cholinergic Regulation of Cost/Benefit Decision Making

The neuroscience of cognitive-motivational styles: Sign- and goal-trackers as animal models.

Acetylcholine-dependent phasic dopamine activity signals exploratory locomotion and choices

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About