Chemogenetic Activation of Mesoaccumbal Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Projections Selectively Tunes Responses to Predictive Cues When Reward Value Is Abruptly Decreased.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mesolimbic circuits regulate the attribution of motivational significance to incentive cues that predict reward, yet this network also plays a key role in adapting reward-seeking behavior when the contingencies linked to a cue unexpectedly change. Here, we asked whether mesoaccumbal GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) projections enhance adaptive responding to incentive cues of abruptly altered reward value, and whether these effects were distinct from global activation of all ventral tegmental area GABA circuits.

Methods

We used a viral targeting system to chemogenetically activate mesoaccumbal GABA projections in male rats during a novel cue-dependent operant value-shifting task, in which the volume of a sucrose reward associated with a predictive cue is suddenly alt

SUBMITTER: Wakabayashi KT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8570639 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature