title: Basolateral amygdala supports the maintenance of value and effortful choice of a preferred option.
abstract: The basolateral amygdala (BLA) is known to be involved in appetitive behavior, yet its role in cost-benefit choice of qualitatively different rewards (more/less preferred), beyond magnitude differences (larger/smaller), is poorly understood. We assessed the effects of BLA inactivations on effortful choice behavior. Rats were implanted with cannulae in BLA and trained to stable lever pressing for sucrose pellets on a progressive ratio schedule. Rats were then introduced to a choice: chow was concurrently available while they could work for the preferred sucrose pellets. Rats were infused with either vehicle control (aCSF) or baclofen/muscimol prior to test. BLA inactivations produced a significant decrease in lever presses for sucrose pellets compared to vehicle, and chow consumption was unaffected. Inactivation had no effect on sucrose pellet preference when both options were freely available. Critically, when lab chow was not concurrently available, BLA inactivations had no effect on the number of lever presses for sucrose pellets, indicating that primary motivation in the absence of choice remains intact with BLA offline. After a test under specific satiety for sucrose pellets, BLA inactivation rendered animals less sensitive to devaluation relative to control. The effects of BLA inactivations in our task are not mediated by decreased appetite, an inability to perform the task, a change in food preference, or decrements in primary motivation. Taken together, BLA supports the specific value and effortful choice of a preferred option.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles, 1285 Franz Hall Box, Los Angeles, CA, 95156, USA.
authors.forename: Evan E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles, 1285 Franz Hall Box, Los Angeles, CA, 95156, USA.|The Brain Research Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.|Integrative Center for Learning and Memory, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.|Integrative Center for Addictions, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9897-2091
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Izquierdo
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001418:Baclofen / Q000494:pharmacology; D002755:Choice Behavior; D058786:GABA-B Receptor Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009118:Muscimol / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012201:Reward
chemical_list: D058786:GABA-B Receptor Agonists; D009118:Muscimol; D001418:Baclofen
keywords: cingulate cortex; cost-benefit; devaluation; food preference; progressive ratio