Optogenetic stimulation of striatal patches modifies habit formation and inhibits dopamine release.

ABSTRACT: Habits are inflexible behaviors that develop after extensive repetition, and overreliance on habits is a hallmark of many pathological states. The striatum is involved in the transition from flexible to inflexible responding, and interspersed throughout the striatum are patches, or striosomes, which make up ~15% of the volume of the striatum relative to the surrounding matrix compartment. Previous studies have suggested that patches are necessary for normal habit formation, but it remains unknown exactly how patches contribute to habit formation and expression. Here, using optogenetics, we stimulated striatal patches in Sepw1-NP67 mice during variable interval training (VI60), which is used to establish habitual responding. We found that activation of patches at reward retrieval resulted i

SUBMITTER: Nadel JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8494762 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature