Touchscreen-based assessment of risky-choice in mice.

Touchscreen-based assessment of risky-choice in mice.
Behav Brain Res. 2020 Jun 09;:112748
Authors: Glover LR, Postle AF, Holmes A
Abstract
Addictions are characterized by choices made to satisfy the addiction despite the risk it could produce an adverse consequence. Here, we developed a murine version of a 'risky decision-making' task (RDT), in which mice could respond on a touchscreen panel to obtain either a large milkshake reward associated with varying probability of footshock, or a smaller amount of the same reward that was never punished. Results showed that mice shifted choice from the large to small reward stimulus as shock probability increased. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed more Fos-positive cells in prelimbic cortex (PL) and basal amygdala (BA) after RDT testing, and a strong anti-correlation between infralimbic cortex (IL) activity and choice of the large reward stimulus under likely (75-100 % probability) punishment. These findings establish an assay for risky choice in mice and provide preliminary insight into the underlying neural substrates.
PMID: 32531231 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Behavioural Brain Research - June 8, 2020 Category: Neurology Authors: Glover LR, Postle AF, Holmes A Tags: Behav Brain Res Source Type: research