Raymond Li
Pronouns: He/Him
Research Mentor(s): Shelly Flagel
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Psychiatry/MBNI / Medicine
Program:
Authors: Raymond Li, Stephanie Desrochers, Shelly Flagel
Session: Session 2: 10:00 am – 10:50 am
Poster: 82
Abstract
In our day-to-day lives, cues in the environment guide appropriate behavior. Cues such as fast- food signs alert us to the availability of tasty food; when we see them, we think of that food and stop to eat. Sometimes, however, cues can gain inordinate control over an individual’s actions, leading to maladaptive behavior. For example, the sound of a slot machine or the sight of drug paraphernalia are cues that can elicit reward-seeking or relapse in individuals with a gambling problem or addiction. We can model aspects of these behaviors in animals to better understand their neural components and nuances. During Pavlovian conditioning, some rats exhibit an approach response that includes orienting and interaction directed towards a reward-predictive cue, a phenomenon known as “sign-tracking”. Rats that exhibit this behavior, known as “sign-trackers”, attribute incentive motivational value to reward-associated cues and have a greater propensity for impulsive behavior, attentional deficits, and cue-induced drug- seeking behavior. However, it is not known if different outcome values affect the vigor of sign- tracking behavior. For example, would you approach a shop sign for a higher value food (like ice-cream) faster with more excitement than one for a lower value food (like salad)? Here, we will explore how the value of reward associated with a cue affects the degree of responding. Specifically, a standard Pavlovian conditioned approach procedure consists of trials in which a lever-cue is presented for 8 seconds, and, upon its retraction, food reward is delivered in an adjacent food cup. In this experiment, two lever-cues are randomly presented one at a time with the lever-cue on one side of the chamber predicting a large reward (3 pellets) and the lever-cue on the other side predicting a smaller reward (1 pellet). We expect sign-trackers to exhibit more interaction with the lever-cue associated with the large reward compared to that associated with the smaller reward. This study will offer insights into identifying additional characteristics of sign-tracking behavior and guide future work in understanding how cues associated reward affect motivated behaviors relevant to psychiatric disorders such as addiction.
