Transient role of prefronto-striatal interactions in goal-directed behaviour
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1
Universite de Bordeaux, CNRS UMR5228, France
Goal-directed actions mediated by action-outcome associations (A-O) are crucially dependent upon the integrity of two anatomically connected regions, the prelimbic area (PL) in the medial prefrontal cortex, and the posterior region of the dorsomedial striatum. The present work in rats aimed at further investigating their role during the acquisition and expression of A-O associations, as assessed through post-training outcome devaluation. Four experiments were conducted using reversible neuronal inactivation, neuronal track tracing and immunohistochemistry procedures. When the PL was inactivated throughout training, performance was insensitive to outcome devaluation at the time of testing, indicating that the response acquired during training was not goal-directed but mediated by a Stimulus-Response association. By contrast, inactivation of the PL after training had no effect on the sensitivity to outcome devaluation, indicating that unlike the dorsomedial striatum, the PL is not essential for the expression of previously acquired A-O associations. Similarly, a temporary disconnection between the PL and the dorsomedial striatum at test did not alter the expression of the A-O association. Finally, a fourth experiment still in progress aims at quantifying the neuronal activation in each region at different stages (early, medium and late) of instrumental training through double labelling with a retrograde neuronal tracer injected into the dorsomedial striatum and immunohistochemistry for the immediate early gene Fos. Taken together, these results point to a transient but crucial role for the prelimbic cortex. Interactions between the PL and the dorsomedial striatum appear essential to the acquisition of A-O associations, but are not essential to express goal-directed behaviours after their acquisition. These results should add to our understanding of the cortico-striatal interplay during the acquisition of goal-directed behaviour.
Conference:
41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting, Rhodes Island, Greece, 13 Sep - 18 Sep, 2009.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Poster presentations
Citation:
Tran-Tu-Yen
D,
Marchand
A,
Pape
J,
Di-Scala
G and
Coutureau
E
(2009). Transient role of prefronto-striatal interactions in goal-directed behaviour.
Conference Abstract:
41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting.
doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.08.2009.09.326
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Received:
15 Jun 2009;
Published Online:
15 Jun 2009.
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Correspondence:
Delphine Tran-Tu-Yen, Universite de Bordeaux, CNRS UMR5228, Talence, France, d.tran-tu-yen@cnic.u-bordeaux1.fr