Reinforcement omission effects in rats with bilateral lesions in the substantia nigra pars compacta and ventral tegmental area

Autor(es)

Tavares, T. F. ^[1] ; Judice-Daher, D. M. ^[1] ; Bueno, J. L. O. ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Dept Psicol, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research; v. 52, n. 7 2019.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

Reinforcement omission effects (ROEs) are characterized by higher response rates after reinforcement omission than after reinforcement delivery. This pattern of behavior is interpreted in terms of motivational and attentional processes. Recent studies from our laboratory have shown that the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, and medial prefrontal cortex are involved in ROE modulation. Also, the literature has demonstrated a role of other areas such as substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in processes related to surprising events, such as prediction error and presentation or omission of an event (exteroceptive stimulus and reinforcement). Since these structures send projections to areas related to ROE modulation such as the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, and prefrontal cortex, the objective of the present study was to determine whether the SNc and VTA also integrate the circuit involved in ROE modulation. Rats were trained on a fixed-interval 12 s with limited-hold 6 s signaled schedule of reinforcement (Pre-lesion training). After acquisition of stable performance, the rats received bilateral neurotoxic lesions of the SNc (Experiment 1) and VTA (Experiment 2). Following postoperative recovery, the rats were submitted to two refresher sessions (Post-lesion training). Subsequently, the training was changed from a 100 to a 50% schedule of reinforcement (Post-lesion testing). In both experiments, the results showed that there was no difference in performance between sham rats and rats with bilateral lesions of the SNc or the VTA. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 12/01461-9 - Efeitos da omissão de reforço em ratos com lesões da substância negra pars compacta e da área tegmental ventral
• Beneficiário: Tatiane Ferreira Tavares
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 11/50935-0 - Envolvimento de estruturas corticais e subcorticais na modulacao dos efeitos de omissao do reforco.
• Beneficiário: Danielle Marcilio Judice Daher
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado