Dopamine receptors mediate strategy abandoning via modulation of a specific prelimbic cortex-nucleus accumbens pathway in mice.

ABSTRACT: The ability to abandon old strategies and adopt new ones is essential for survival in a constantly changing environment. While previous studies suggest the importance of the prefrontal cortex and some subcortical areas in the generation of strategy-switching flexibility, the fine neural circuitry and receptor mechanisms involved are not fully understood. In this study, we showed that optogenetic excitation and inhibition of the prelimbic cortex-nucleus accumbens (NAc) pathway in the mouse respectively enhances and suppresses strategy-switching ability in a cross-modal spatial-egocentric task. This ability is dependent on an intact dopaminergic tone in the NAc, as local dopamine denervation impaired the performance of the animal in the switching of tasks. In addition, based on a brain-slice

SUBMITTER: Cui Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6003451 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature