Abstract
The development of addictive behavior is marked by a loss of behavioral flexibility. In part, this is due to an increase in the ability of environmental stimuli to elicit responding and decreased importance of the action-outcome relationship in behavioral control. It has previously been demonstrated that both inactivation of and dopamine (DA) infusions in the infralimbic prefrontal cortex (PFC) can restore behavioral flexibility in paradigms measuring habitual reward seeking. Here, we investigated the mechanism by which cortical DA would act to enable goal-directed actions after the transition to habitual behavior has been established. Further, we extended this work to include a novel mouse model of compulsive-like behavior in which we assessed reward seeking despite the possibility of adverse consequences. Our data show that DA receptor D1 inhibition or D2 activation both promote the expression of a flexible responding after the development of habitual or compulsive-like behavior, and we suggest that the ability of DA infusions in the infralimbic PFC to restore sensitivity to changes in outcome value depends on activation of DA D2 receptors.
Highlights
The transition from casual drug use to addiction is characterized by increasing loss of control over reward seeking
Our data show that DA receptor D1 inhibition or D2 activation both promote the expression of a flexible responding after the development of habitual or compulsive-like behavior, and we suggest that the ability of DA infusions in the infralimbic prefrontal cortex (PFC) to restore sensitivity to changes in outcome value depends on activation of DA D2 receptors
To determine whether agonism and/or antagonism of DA D1 or D2 receptors influenced sensitivity to changes in action-outcome relation, active responding during a degraded session was compared to responding during a non-degraded session; during both test sessions the experimental drug was on board
Summary
The transition from casual drug use to addiction is characterized by increasing loss of control over reward seeking. When a behavior is first learned, performance of the action is guided by its relationship to its outcome—i.e., a response is made in order to gain access to a reinforcer. Over time and after repeated execution, behavior transitions from goal-directed action to stimulus-driven habitual behavior (Dickinson, 1985). Habitual reward seeking is no longer mediated by action-outcome relationships or by a representation of the value of an outcome; rather, habitual behavior is automatically elicited by environmental cues and stimuli (c.f., Yin et al, 2008). Successful treatment of addiction may require restoration of the ability to update behavior in accordance with changed contingencies and in the face of negative outcomes
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