Article
Psychology, Biological
Shosuke Suzuki, Victoria M. Lawlor, Jessica A. Cooper, Amanda R. Arulpragasam, Michael T. Treadway
Summary: The study identified functionally segregated regions within the ventral striatum that separately encoded effort activation, movement initiation, and effort discounting of rewards using functional magnetic resonance imaging with a naturalistic maze-navigation paradigm. The results suggest that different regions of the ventral striatum are involved in encoding effort and value, raising important questions about interpreting reward signals in the context of effort demands.
NATURE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Zahra Fatahi, Mohammad Fatahi, Mirmohammadali Mirramezani Alizamini, Ahmad Ghorbani, Mohammad Ismail Zibaii, Abbas Haghparast
Summary: Humans and animals make endeavor-based choices by assessing reinforcement value and response costs. The cortical-limbic-striatal pathway, especially the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) and the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC), mediates this behavior. Cannabinoid agonists impair decision-making processes. In this study, neural synchronization and functional connectivity between the NAc and ACC were evaluated during endeavor-related decision-making and reaching reward, and the effect of cannabinoids was assessed. The results showed functional connectivity in specific frequency bands during decision-making and reaching reward, but not when animals received cannabinoid agonists.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Pierre Sauton, Jerome Jeanblanc, Farid Benzerouk, Fabien Gierski, Mickael Naassila
Summary: Binge drinking is a predictive factor for alcohol addiction and is harmful to health. Weak decision-making capacities may contribute to vulnerability to binge drinking, leading to impaired decision-making and perpetuating binge drinking. Longitudinal preclinical studies are lacking in understanding this complex relationship.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Rapheal G. Williams, Kevin H. Li, Paul E. M. Phillips
Summary: This study found that stress affects the interaction between CRF and dopamine in the core of the nucleus accumbens, which in turn affects performance in a reward-based decision-making task. Dopamine and CRF have different effects on different behavioral aspects.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Yue Hu, Marijn van Wingerden, Manuela Sellitto, Sandra Schable, Tobias Kalenscher
Summary: Demand theory was used to study how rats adjust their commodity selection based on budget constraints and price changes. The study found that anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays a crucial role in budget effects on demand elasticities, as ACC-lesioned animals failed to adapt to higher-order choice strategies after price and budget changes.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Gary A. Kane, Morgan H. James, Amitai Shenhav, Nathaniel D. Daw, Jonathan D. Cohen, Gary Aston-Jones
Summary: In patch foraging tasks, animals must make decisions to stay or leave a depleting resource. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been implicated in foraging decisions based on optimal foraging theory. This study shows that ACC activity is closely related to decision variables and ACC inactivation significantly affects decision-making.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Grace J. Lee, Yea Jin Kim, Sang Wook Shim, Kihwan Lee, Seog Bae Oh
Summary: Feeding behaviors have a close relationship with chronic pain in adult rodents. A recent study found that refeeding after fasting can attenuate pain behavior under chronic inflammatory pain conditions. Neural activities in the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcS) and anterior insular cortex (aIC) were increased in a CFA-induced chronic inflammatory pain condition, but decreased after refeeding. Refeeding also reduced the enhanced excitability of aIC(CaMKII)-NAcSD2R projecting neurons in this model.
Article
Neurosciences
Thomas Schueller, Sina Kohl, Till Dembek, Marc Tittgemeyer, Daniel Huys, Veerle Visser-Vandewalle, Ningfei Li, Laura Wehmeyer, Michael Barbe, Jens Kuhn, Juan Carlos Baldermann
Summary: Deep brain stimulation can effectively treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it may also increase impulsive behavior. This study investigated the effects of stimulation on impulsive decision making and found that it increased impulsivity. The effects were dependent on the location of the stimulation and the associated fiber bundles.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY-COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Hannah N. Carlson, Carolyn Murphy, Wayne E. Pratt
Summary: The nucleus accumbens plays a critical role in regulating motivated behavior, with dopamine and opioid receptors within it having varying effects on appetitive and consummatory phases of motivation. Stimulation or blockade of different receptor types showed distinct impacts on food intake and sugar-seeking behavior, suggesting differential roles of mu- and 8-opioid receptors in food-directed motivation.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Atsushi Fujimoto, Elisabeth A. Murray, Peter H. Rudebeck
Summary: Decision-making and representations of arousal are closely related, with an optimal level of bodily arousal facilitating performance. The interactions between these processes at the level of single neurons and neural circuits remain unclear.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Yong-Qing Zhang, Hyun Kyu Min, Eunchong Hong, Eunhye Yu, Sun Mi Gu, Seong Shoon Yoon, Dohyun Lee, Jaejun Lee, Jin Tae Hong, Jaesuk Yun
Summary: The ICSS model was used to evaluate the abuse potential of 18 drugs in mice, and it was found that DAT availability and extracellular dopamine levels in the mPFC and NAc correlated with the ICSS threshold. These findings suggest a relationship between DAT availability-mediated dopamine levels and drug-induced reward-seeking behavior.
BIOMEDICINE & PHARMACOTHERAPY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Philip A. Kragel, Michael T. Treadway, Roee Admon, Diego A. Pizzagalli, Emma C. Hahn
Summary: The study develops a human functional magnetic resonance imaging signature to identify the specific brain activity related to states of pleasure. The signature is sensitive to pleasant tastes and affect evoked by humour. These findings provide evidence for the distributed basis of pleasure in humans.
NATURE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Amar Ojha, Giana Teresi, George M. Slavich, Ian H. Gotlib, Tiffany C. Ho
Summary: Social threat specifically affects fronto-cingulate-limbic pathways that contribute to the maintenance of depression in adolescents.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Billy Kim, Dowon Kim, Anton Schulmann, Yash Patel, Carolina Caban-Rivera, Paul Kim, Ananya Jambhale, Kory R. Johnson, Ningping Feng, Qing Xu, Sun Jung Kang, Ajeet Mandal, Michael Kelly, Nirmala Akula, Francis J. McMahon, Barbara Lipska, Stefano Marenco, Pavan K. Auluck
Summary: Regional cellular heterogeneity in human neocortex is still unclear. This study uses single-nucleus RNA-sequencing to examine cell-specific transcriptional features in DLPFC and sgACC, finding more inhibitory cells in sgACC and considerable variability in excitatory neuron subclusters across brain regions. In addition, genetic signals of psychiatric disorders are mainly enriched in neurons.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Leah M. Truckenbrod, Sara M. Betzhold, Alexa-Rae Wheeler, John Shallcross, Sarthak Singhal, Scott Harden, Marek Schwendt, Charles J. Frazier, Jennifer L. Bizon, Barry Setlow, Caitlin A. Orsini
Summary: Decision making is a complex cognitive process that involves brain regions such as BLA and NAcSh. Recent research suggests that communication between these structures and activity of D2R-expressing cells in NAcSh are necessary for decision making. However, their contributions during decision making under risk of punishment are still unknown.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)