Sign-tracking behavior is sensitive to outcome devaluation in a devaluation context-dependent manner: implications for analyzing habitual behavior

Abstract

Motivationally attractive cues can draw in behavior in a phenomenon termed incentive salience. Incentive cue attraction is an important model for animal models of drug seeking and relapse. One question of interest is the extent to which the pursuit of motivationally attractive cues is related to the value of the paired outcome or can become unrelated and habitual. We studied this question using a sign-tracking (ST) paradigm in rats, in which a lever stimulus preceding food reward comes to elicit conditioned lever-interaction behavior. We asked whether reinforcer devaluation by means of conditioned taste aversion, a classic test of habitual behavior, can modify ST to incentive cues, and whether this depends upon the manner in which reinforcer devaluation takes place. In contrast to several recent reports, we conclude that ST is indeed sensitive to reinforcer devaluation. However, this effect depends critically upon the congruence between the context in which taste aversion is learned and the context in which it is tested. When the taste aversion successfully transfers to the testing context, outcome value strongly influences ST behavior, both when the outcome is withheld (in extinction) and when animals can learn from outcome feedback (reacquisition). When taste aversion does not transfer to the testing context, ST remains high. In total, the extent to which ST persists after outcome devaluation is closely related to the extent to which that outcome is truly devalued in the task context. We believe this effect of context on devaluation can reconcile contradictory findings about the flexibility/inflexibility of ST. We discuss this literature and relate our findings to the study of habits generally.

Basolateral amygdala to nucleus accumbens projections differentially mediate flexibility of sign- and goal-tracking rats

“…In viral control rats, we replicated previous findings that intact GT rats flexibility reduce approach behavior when the outcome is devalued, while ST rats do not (Keefer et al, 2020;Nasser et al, 2015). The tracking specificity of devaluation sensitivity has been observed across several studies, Pavlovian paradigms, and devaluation procedures (Nasser et al, 2015;Patitucci et al, 2016;Smedley & Smith, 2018;Keefer et al, 2020), but see (Davey & Cleland, 1982;Derman et al, 2018;Amaya et al, 2020).…”

Basolateral Amygdala to Nucleus Accumbens Communication Differentially Mediates Devaluation Sensitivity of Sign- and Goal-Tracking Rats

“…In viral control rats, we replicated previous findings that intact GT rats respond less to cues when the associated outcome is devalued, while ST rats respond at similarly high levels to cues regardless of outcome value (Keefer et al, 2020 ; Nasser et al, 2015 ). The tracking specificity of devaluation sensitivity has been observed across several studies, Pavlovian paradigms, and devaluation procedures (Nasser et al, 2015 ; Patitucci et al, 2016 ; Smedley and Smith, 2018 ; Keefer et al, 2020 , but see Davey and Cleland, 1982 ; Derman et al, 2018 ; Amaya et al, 2020 ). In our study using both males and females, BLA–NAc core contralateral chemogenetic inactivation specifically reduced lever directed behavior, but not food cup-directed behavior, consistent with a prior BLA–NAc cross lesions study showing greater attenuation of lever directed approach in male rats (Chang et al, 2012 ).…”

Spatially restricted inhibition of cholinergic interneurons in the dorsolateral striatum encourages behavioral exploration

“…All figures were constructed using R (“ggplot2”) and stylized using Adobe Illustrator. All statistical tests were carried out using R, as previously described (R Core Team 2016; see Amaya et al., 2020; Smedley & Smith, 2018). Individual linear mixed models (R; “lme4”) were used to analyze effects of dependent variable responding (ex.…”