Abstract
RationaleDeficits in cost–benefit decision-making are a core feature of several psychiatric disorders, including substance addiction, eating disorders and bipolar disorder. Mesocorticolimbic dopamine signalling has been implicated in various processes related to cognition and reward, but its precise role in reward valuation and cost–benefit trade-off decisions remains incompletely understood.ObjectivesWe assessed the role of mesocorticolimbic dopamine signalling in the relationship between price and consumption of sucrose, to better understand its role in cost–benefit decisions.MethodsDopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) were chemogenetically activated in rats, and a behavioural economics approach was used to quantify the relationship between price and consumption of sucrose. Motivation for sucrose was also assessed under a progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement. To further gauge the role of dopamine in cost–benefit trade-offs for sucrose, the effects of treatment with D-amphetamine and the dopamine receptor antagonist alpha-flupentixol were assessed.ResultsChemogenetic activation of VTA dopamine neurons increased demand elasticity, while responding for sucrose under a PR schedule of reinforcement was augmented upon stimulation of VTA dopamine neurons. Treatment with amphetamine partially replicated the effects of chemogenetic dopamine neuron activation, whereas treatment with alpha-flupentixol reduced free consumption of sucrose and had mixed effects on demand elasticity.ConclusionsStimulation of mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic neurotransmission altered cost–benefit trade-offs in a complex manner. It reduced the essential value of palatable food, increased incentive motivation and left free consumption unaltered. Together, these findings imply that mesocorticolimbic dopamine signalling differentially influences distinct components of cost expenditure processes aimed at obtaining rewards.
Highlights
Every day, we are confronted with situations requiring judgements and decisions
Behavioural economics analysis offers insightful measures derived from operant self-administration data: (1) demand elasticity, which is the degree to which consumption decreases as price increases, and (2) demand intensity, which is the consumption at a minimally constrained price (Hursh and Silberberg 2008)
CNO treatment significantly reduced the number of rewards obtained in Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)::cre +, but not in TH::cre- rats, and this effect was dependent on block (Fig. 3A–B; Fig. 2 Expression of AAVhSyn-DIO-hM3Dq-mCherry in experimental group I (TH::cre +) animals
Summary
We are confronted with situations requiring judgements and decisions. the ability to make decisions on the basis of costs and benefits can be consideredDerived from the field of behavioural economics, operant-based methods have been developed to study the1 3 Vol.:(0123456789)Psychopharmacology (2022) 239:773–794 relationship between price and consumption of goods (i.e. cost and benefit). Behavioural economics concentrates on the consumption of a commodity as a fundamental index of demand (Hursh et al 2005), based on consumer demand theory, which considers how consumption varies as a function of price (Hursh 1980; Hursh et al 1988). Behavioural economics analysis offers insightful measures derived from operant self-administration data: (1) demand elasticity (signified by ), which is the degree to which consumption decreases as price increases, and (2) demand intensity (signified by Q0 ), which is the consumption at a minimally constrained price (Hursh and Silberberg 2008). Demand for a commodity is considered elastic when it decreases in response to proportionately small increases in price, whereas an inelastic demand reflects low sensitivity to price changes. The measure of demand elasticity is thought to go beyond a response rate-based measure by more fully characterising the relationship between the price of a reinforcer and its consumption, as well as the underlying neural mechanisms
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