| First Author | Gourley SL | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | Eur J Neurosci | Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 2382-8 |
| PubMed ID | 23651226 | Mgi Jnum | J:227891 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5703720 | Doi | 10.1111/ejn.12239 |
| Citation | Gourley SL, et al. (2013) The orbitofrontal cortex regulates outcome-based decision-making via the lateral striatum. Eur J Neurosci 38(3):2382-8 |
| abstractText | The orbitofrontal cortex (oPFC) sends substantial projections to the ventrolateral striatum and aspects of the nucleus accumbens that are, functionally, poorly understood. This is despite probable cortico-striatal involvement in multiple diseases such as addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Here we surgically disconnected the oPFC from the ventrolateral striatum using unilateral asymmetric lesions in mice and classified instrumental decision-making strategies. Mice with symmetric lesions that spared one oPFC-striatal network served as controls. As a complementary approach, we selectively knocked down Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) bilaterally in the oPFC and ascertained behavioral and neurobiological consequences within the downstream striatum. oPFC-striatal disconnection and oPFC Bdnf knockdown blocked sensitivity to outcome-predictive relationships in both food-reinforced and cocaine-associated settings. Bdnf knockdown simultaneously regulated striatal BDNF expression, and striatal c-Fos predicted sensitivity to action-outcome associative contingencies. Previous evidence strongly implicates the dorsolateral striatum in stimulus-response habit formation. Our findings thus provide novel evidence for functional compartmentalisation within the lateral striatum, with the dorsal compartment subserving classical stimulus-response habit systems and a ventral compartment coordinating outcome-based decision-making via oPFC interactions. This compartmentalisation may apply to both 'natural', as in the case of food-reinforced behavior, and 'pathological', as in the case of cocaine-seeking, contexts. |
