Archival ReportPhasic Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Encodes Risk-Based Decision-Making Behavior
Section snippets
Behavioral Training
Male Sprague–Dawley rats aged 90 to 120 days (weighing 275–350 g) were used (see Supplement 1 for additional information). Sessions were conducted in 43 × 43 × 53 cm Plexiglas chambers housed in a sound-attenuated cubicle (Med Associates, St. Albans, Vermont). One side of the chamber had two retractable levers (Coulbourn Instruments, Allentown, Pennsylvania) 17 cm apart, with a stimulus light 6 cm above each lever. A white-noise speaker (80 dB) was located 12 cm above the floor on the opposite
Individual Differences in Risk-Taking Behavior
Rats (n = 8 rats with 11 recording locations in the NAc core) were able to learn the risky decision-making task and discriminate between the cue types as evidenced by a significant reduction in the percentage of errors on forced-choice safe and risk trials compared to session 1 [F(24,168) = 5.985, p < .00001; Figure 1B]. Furthermore, animals displayed a significant increase in the number of sucrose pellets received across all sessions compared to session 1 [F(24,168) = 3.585, p < .00001; Figure
Discussion
We show here that when rats were given the option to play it safe for a certain small reward or take a risk for a larger, uncertain reward, individual preferences were tracked by DA release in the NAc core. Thus, DA release does not simply encode extrinsic factors of reward value but also reflects intrinsic representations that can function to bias future decision-making behavior. Furthermore, consistent with its role as a reward prediction error signal (9), we also show that unexpected reward
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2021, NeuropharmacologyCitation Excerpt :Therefore, the possible mediational role of any neurobiological measure in reinforcer preference cannot be dissociated from the effects of reinforcer frequency and consequent intake under such conditions. Furthermore, given that most studies investigating the neurobiological mechanisms of decision-making using nondrug reinforcers (e.g., Padoa-Schioppa and Assad, 2006; Simon et al., 2011; Stopper et al., 2014; Sugam et al., 2012; Zeeb et al., 2009) rely on choice procedures that do not control for reinforcer frequency, the results of such studies are also, at least in principal, subject to the confound highlighted above. Relatedly, research into probabilistic nondrug outcomes has demonstrated that neuronal signaling is strongly related to the likelihood of reinforcement (Joshua et al., 2009; Morris et al, 2004, 2006).