A stress-sensitive frontostriatal circuit supporting effortful reward-seeking behavior.

ABSTRACT: Effort valuation-a process for selecting actions based on the anticipated value of rewarding outcomes and expectations about the work required to obtain them-plays a fundamental role in decision-making. Effort valuation is disrupted in chronic stress states and is supported by the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), but the circuit-level mechanisms by which the ACC regulates effort-based decision-making are unclear. Here, we show that ACC neurons projecting to the nucleus accumbens (ACC-NAc) play a critical role in effort valuation behavior in mice. Activity in ACC-NAc cells integrates both reward- and effort-related information, encoding a reward-related signal that scales with effort requirements and is necessary for supporting future effortful decisions. Chronic corticosterone exposure red

SUBMITTER: Fetcho RN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11533377 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature