Oxygen responses within the nucleus accumbens are associated with individual differences in effort exertion in rats.
View / Open Files
Authors
Gilmour, Gary
Saksida, Lisa
Bussey, Timothy
Marston, Hugh M
Gastambide, Francois
Publication Date
2018-11Journal Title
The European journal of neuroscience
ISSN
0953-816X
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Volume
48
Issue
9
Pages
2971-2987
Language
eng
Type
Article
Physical Medium
Print-Electronic
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Hailwood, J., Gilmour, G., Robbins, T., Saksida, L., Bussey, T., Marston, H. M., & Gastambide, F. (2018). Oxygen responses within the nucleus accumbens are associated with individual differences in effort exertion in rats.. The European journal of neuroscience, 48 (9), 2971-2987. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14150
Abstract
Goal-directed motivated behavior is crucial for everyday life. Such behavior is often measured, in rodents, under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement. Previous studies have identified a few brain structures critical for supporting progressive ratio performance. However, the association between neural activity within these regions and individual differences in effort-related behavior is not known. Presently, we used constant potential in vivo oxygen amperometry, a surrogate for functional resonance imaging in rodents, to assess changes in tissue oxygen levels within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in male Wistar rats performing a progressive ratio task. Within both regions, oxygen responses to rewards increased as the effort exerted to obtain the rewards was larger. Furthermore, higher individual breakpoints were associated with greater magnitude NAc oxygen responses. This association could not be explained by temporal confounds and remained significant when controlling for the different number of completed trials. Animals with higher breakpoints also showed greater magnitude NAc oxygen responses to rewards delivered independently of any behavior. In contrast, OFC oxygen responses were not associated with individual differences in behavioral performance. The present results suggest that greater NAc oxygen responses following rewards, through a process of incentive motivation, may allow organisms to remain on task for longer and to overcome greater effort costs.
Keywords
Nucleus Accumbens, Animals, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Oxygen, Electrodes, Implanted, Motivation, Reinforcement Schedule, Reward, Oxygen Consumption, Male, Physical Exertion
Sponsorship
MRC (1505392)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14150
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/285341