Search research articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Limbic corticostriatal systems and delayed reinforcement.

Rudolf N Cardinal¹, Catharine A Winstanley, Trevor W Robbins

¹Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK. rudolf.cardinal@pobox.com

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

|July 15, 2004

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Machine learning and natural language processing for the identification of potential mental disorders among school-age children: a prospective birth cohort study.

BMC medicine·2026

Same author

Commercial or industrial use of mental health data for research: primer and best-practice guidelines from the DATAMIND patient/public Lived Experience Advisory Group.

Frontiers in psychiatry·2026

Same author

Audiovisual cues must be predictable and win-paired to drive risky choice.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Risk, reward or repetition? New data on human ventral tegmental area stimulation challenge dominant frameworks.

Brain : a journal of neurology·2026

Same author

Histone deacetylase inhibitor sodium butyrate increases risk-taking during acquisition of the rat gambling task.

Psychopharmacology·2025

Same author

Ventral Striatal Cholinergic Interneurons Regulate Decision-Making or Motor Impulsivity Differentially across Learning and Biological Sex.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2025

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Impulsive choice, a hallmark of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), involves preferring immediate rewards. Damage to the nucleus accumbens core in rats models this, suggesting its role in delayed reward processing.

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Behavioral Science

Background:

Impulsive choice, preferring immediate over delayed rewards, is linked to adolescence, ADHD, addiction, and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Serotonin and dopamine systems are implicated, projecting to limbic and striatal areas affected in ADHD models.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural basis of impulsive choice, particularly the role of the nucleus accumbens core (AcbC).
To determine if AcbC-lesioned rats serve as a valid animal model for the hyperactive-impulsive subtype of ADHD.

Main Methods:

Rats with lesions to the nucleus accumbens core (AcbC) were studied for impulsive choice and hyperactivity.
Comparisons were made with lesions to other brain regions, including the anterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, basolateral amygdala, and orbitofrontal cortex.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

AcbC lesions induced impulsive choice and hyperactivity, without impairing visuospatial attention, suggesting a model for hyperactive-impulsive ADHD.
Lesions in other areas had varied effects; anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex lesions did not induce impulsive choice, while basolateral amygdala lesions did.

Conclusions:

The AcbC appears critical for mediating the effects of delayed rewards, rather than reward magnitude processing.
AcbC-lesioned rats exhibit deficits in learning with delayed reinforcement, supporting its role as a reinforcement learning system for delayed rewards.