Acute stress induces selective alterations in cost/benefit decision-making

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Science
• Psychology

Background:

• Acute stress impacts cognitive functions, with varying effects on different cognitive domains.
• Understanding stress-induced alterations in decision-making is crucial for addressing stress-related disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of acute restraint stress on effort-based cost/benefit decision-making in rats.
• To explore the underlying hormonal and neurochemical mechanisms, including corticosterone and dopamine.

Main Methods:

• Rats underwent restraint stress (1 hour) and then performed an effort-based decision-making task with increasing effort requirements.
• Control experiments assessed motivation and delay-discounting.
• Pharmacological interventions included corticosterone administration and dopamine receptor blockade with flupenthixol.

Main Results:

• Restraint stress decreased preference for higher-effort/higher-reward options and increased choice latencies.
• Stress did not affect delay-discounting or general motivation for rewards.
• Corticosterone treatment did not replicate stress effects, while flupenthixol abolished stress-induced increases in choice latency but not effort choice.

Conclusions:

• Acute stress selectively impairs cost/benefit evaluation related to effort expenditure.
• Glucocorticoid activity alone does not fully explain these effects; dopaminergic pathways may mediate stress-induced increases in decision time.
• Findings offer insights into decision-making deficits and anergia in stress-related conditions like depression.