Opposing patterns of abnormal D1 and D2 receptor dependent cortico-striatal plasticity explain increased risk taking in patients with DYT1 dystonia.

ABSTRACT: Patients with DYT1 dystonia caused by the mutated TOR1A gene exhibit risk neutral behaviour compared to controls who are risk averse in the same reinforcement learning task. It is unclear whether this behaviour can be linked to changes in cortico-striatal plasticity demonstrated in animal models which share the same TOR1A mutation. We hypothesised that we could reproduce the experimental risk taking behaviour using a model of the basal ganglia under conditions where cortico-striatal plasticity was abnormal. As dopamine exerts opposing effects on cortico-striatal plasticity via different receptors expressed on medium spiny neurons (MSN) of the direct (D1R dominant, dMSNs) and indirect (D2R dominant, iMSNs) pathways, we tested whether abnormalities in cortico-striatal plasticity in one or bo

SUBMITTER: Gilbertson T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7197855 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature