The role of sex on sign-tracking acquisition and outcome devaluation sensitivity in Long Evans rats.

ABSTRACT: Cues that predict rewards can trigger reward-seeking behaviors but also can, in some cases, become targets of motivation themselves. One behavioral phenomenon that captures this idea is sign-tracking in which animals, including humans, interact with reward-predictive cues even though it is not necessary to do so. Sign-tracking in rats has been studied in the domain of motivation and in how motivated behaviors can or cannot become excessive and habit-like over time. Many prior studies look at sign-tracking examine this behavior in male subjects, but there are few papers that look at this behavior in female subjects. Moreover, it is unknown where there might be sex-related variation in how flexible sign-tracking is when faced with changing reward values. Therefore, we asked if there were sex

SUBMITTER: Bien E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10591930 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature