title: Reduced impact of emotion on choice behavior in presymptomatic BACHD rats, a transgenic rodent model for Huntington Disease.
abstract: Executive dysfunction and psychiatric symptoms are hallmarks of Huntington disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disorder genetically characterized by expanded CAG repeats in the HTT gene. Using the BACHD rat model of HD (97 CAG-CAA repeats), the present research seeks to characterize the progressive emergence of decision-making impairments in a rat version of the Iowa Gambling Task (RGT) and the impact of emotional modulation, whether positive or negative, on choice behavior. The choice efficiency shown both by WT rats (independent of their age) and the youngest BACHD rats (2 and 8months old) evidenced that they are able to integrate outcomes of past decisions to determine expected reward values for each option. However, 18months old BACHD rats made fewer choices during the RGT session and were less efficient in choosing advantageous options than younger animals. Presenting either chocolate pellets or electrical footshocks half-way through a second RGT session reduced exploratory activity (inefficient nose-poking) and choices with a weaker effect on BACHD animals than on WT. Choice efficiency was left intact in transgenic rats. Our results bring new knowledge on executive impairments and impact of emotional state on decision-making at different stages of the disease, increasing the face-validity of the BACHD rat model.
authors.affiliation: Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 9197, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay F-91405, France; CNRS, Orsay F-91405, France; CHU Angers, Neuropsychological Unit, Department of Neurology, Angers, France.
authors.forename: Najia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Adjeroud
authors.affiliation: Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 9197, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay F-91405, France; CNRS, Orsay F-91405, France.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yagüe
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany; Center for Rare Diseases, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Libo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu-Taeger
authors.affiliation: Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 9197, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay F-91405, France; CNRS, Orsay F-91405, France.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bozon
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Orsay F-91405, France.
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leblanc-Veyrac
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany; Center for Rare Diseases, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Riess
authors.affiliation: CHU Angers, Neuropsychological Unit, Department of Neurology, Angers, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Allain
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany; Center for Rare Diseases, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Huu Phuc
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 9197, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay F-91405, France; CNRS, Orsay F-91405, France.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Doyère
authors.affiliation: Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 9197, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay F-91405, France; CNRS, Orsay F-91405, France. Electronic address: nicole.elmassioui@u-psud.fr.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: El Massioui
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004597:Electroshock; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D055647:Rats, Transgenic
keywords: BACHD transgenic rats; Emotional modulation; Gambling task; Huntington disease