Learning of probabilistic punishment as a model of anxiety produces changes in action but not punisher encoding in the dmPFC and VTA

Previously, we developed a novel model for anxiety during motivated behavior by training rats to perform a task where actions executed to obtain a reward were probabilistically punished and observed that after learning, neuronal activity in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) represent the relationship between action and punishment risk (Park & Moghaddam, 2017). Here we used male and female rats to expand on the previous work by focusing on neural changes in the dmPFC and VTA that were associated with the learning of probabilistic punishment, and anxiolytic treatment with diazepam after learning. We find that adaptive neural responses of dmPFC and VTA during the learning of anxiogenic contingencies are independent from the punisher experience and occur primarily during the peri-action and reward period. Our results also identify peri-action ramping of VTA neural calcium activity, and VTA-dmPFC correlated activity, as potential markers for the a...

既往本团队通过训练大鼠完成一项任务——为获得奖赏而执行的动作会被概率性惩罚，构建了动机行为中焦虑的新型模型，并观察到学习完成后，腹侧被盖区（ventral tegmental area, VTA）与背内侧前额叶皮层（dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, dmPFC）的神经元活动可表征动作与惩罚风险之间的关联（Park & Moghaddam, 2017）。本研究利用雌雄大鼠拓展前述研究，重点关注与概率惩罚学习相关的背内侧前额叶皮层与腹侧被盖区的神经变化，以及学习后使用地西泮进行的抗焦虑干预。我们发现，背内侧前额叶皮层与腹侧被盖区在焦虑性条件关联学习过程中的适应性神经响应独立于惩罚体验，且主要发生在动作前后与奖赏时段。本研究结果还鉴定出腹侧被盖区神经元钙活动的动作前后斜坡变化，以及腹侧被盖区-背内侧前额叶皮层的相关活动，可作为……的潜在标志物。