Unilateral lesions of the dorsocentral striatum (DCS) disrupt spatial and temporal characteristics of food protection behavior

Abstract

Spatial and temporal information processing provide a foundation for higher cognitive functions. The survival of animals depends on integrating spatial and temporal information to organize behavior. In general, previous research has focused on only one source of information processing; however, there is evidence to support a convergence in the processing of egocentric-spatial and temporal information within a cortico-striatal system of structures. The current study evaluated the contributions of the dorsocentral striatum (DCS) to egocentric-spatial and temporal (within the seconds-to-minutes range) processing of information using a food protection task. Long-Evans rats received unilateral NMDA lesions of the DCS followed by testing in a food protection task. Performance in this task is mediated by the motivation of the animal to consume a food item, their perception of the time required to consume a food item, their sensory ability to process egocentric cues, and their motor ability to evade an incoming conspecific. Unilateral DCS lesions were shown to impact both spatial and temporal characteristics of food protection. These results suggest that the DCS may be a critical structure for the integration of egocentric-spatial and temporal information within the interval timing range.

Dynamics of Spatio-Temporal Binding in Rats

“…Furthermore, the striatum has been reported to be involved in spatial memory; for example, it has been shown that lesions in the dorsal part of the striatum leads to deficits in spatial learning (Block et al, 1993;McDonald and White, 1994;Lee et al, 2014). A recent study in rats also confirmed that a unilateral lesion of this structure can lead to a disruption of spatio-temporal integration (Blankenship et al, 2017), which may lead to think that the dorsal striatum might be involved in our present task.…”

The role of frontostriatal circuits in basic cognitive processing

“…Rodent medial frontal cortex, which can be considered analogous to primate prefrontal cortex, is essential for interval-timing behavior as demonstrated by convergent techniques (Kim et al, 2009;Narayanan et al, , 2012Parker et al, 2013aParker et al, , 2014aRossi et al, 2012a). Basal ganglia systems, and particularly the dorsal striatum, are critically involved in interval-timing behavior (Blankenship et al, 2017;Drew et al, 2007;Matell and Meck, 2004;Ward et al, 2009). An important aspect of much of this work is that dopaminergic processing is a key aspect of timing in both the medial frontal cortex and striatum (Drew et al, 2007;Matell and Meck, 2004;Narayanan et al, 2012;Parker et al, 2013aParker et al, , 2014aWard et al, 2009).…”

“…Rodent medial frontal cortex and dorsomedial striatum are key brain structures for time-based decision making (Blankenship et al, 2017;Coull et al, 2011;Drew et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2009;Matell and Meck, 2004;Meck, 2006;Narayanan et al, , 2012Parker et al, 2013aParker et al, , 2014aRossi et al, 2012a;Ward et al, 2009). Single neurons throughout the frontal cortex and the striatum are prominently modulated across temporal delays (Donnelly et al, 2015;Kimchi and Laubach, 2009;Ma et al, 2014;Narayanan and Laubach, 2009a).…”

“…Beyond the individual roles of these two structures in the timing of action, the prefrontal cortex projects prominently to the striatum (Lehéricy et al, 2004;Selemon and Goldman-Rakic, 1985). In rodents, the medial frontal cortex and dorsomedial striatum are analogous structures that are both involved in behaviors that assess temporal processing tasks like interval-timing tasks (Blankenship et al, 2017;Drew et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2009;Matell and Meck, 2004;Narayanan et al, 2012;Rossi et al, 2012b). Although each of these structures has been linked to interval-timing behavior, the importance of their shared projections in temporal processing is unknown.…”