A dual-pathway architecture enables chronic stress to disrupt agency and promote habit formation.

ABSTRACT: Chronic stress can change how we learn and, thus, how we make decisions. Here we investigated the neuronal circuit mechanisms that enable this. Using a multifaceted systems neuroscience approach in male and female mice, we reveal a dual pathway, amygdala-striatal neuronal circuit architecture by which a recent history of chronic stress disrupts the action-outcome learning underlying adaptive agency and promotes the formation of inflexible habits. We found that the basolateral amygdala projection to the dorsomedial striatum is activated by rewarding events to support the action-outcome learning needed for flexible, goal-directed decision making. Chronic stress attenuates this to disrupt action-outcome learning and, therefore, agency. Conversely, the central amygdala projection to the dorsom

SUBMITTER: Giovanniello JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10592885 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature