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Dorsal striatum coding for the timely execution of action sequences.
Maria Cecilia Martinez1,2, Camila Lidia Zold2,3, Marcos Antonio Coletti2,3
1Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular "Dr. Héctor Maldonado", Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Elife
|November 25, 2022
Summary
Impulsive actions stem from the striatum, a brain region crucial for timing. Adolescent rats exhibit heightened striatal responses, correlating with increased impulsivity and reward expectation differences.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Animal Models
Background:
- Action initiation is typically functional but can become impulsive, occurring at inappropriate times.
- The striatum plays a key role in the timing of action sequences and is implicated in impulsivity.
- Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying action control and impulsivity is crucial for addressing related disorders.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of striatal activity in the temporal control of action initiation.
- To compare the striatal response patterns between adolescent and adult rats in a task requiring action withholding.
- To explore how reward expectation and age influence striatal modulation of action timing.
Main Methods:
- Adult male rats were trained on a self-initiated task requiring them to withhold a rewarded action sequence based on a waiting time interval.
- Neuronal activity in the striatum was recorded during the task.
- Behavioral responses, including impulsive actions, were quantified and correlated with neural activity.
Main Results:
- Striatal activity preceding action sequence initiation was significantly modulated by the elapsed waiting time.
- This modulation was steeper in adolescent rats compared to adult rats.
- Adolescent rats exhibited a higher prevalence of impulsive responses than adult rats.
Conclusions:
- Anticipatory striatal activity likely reflects subjective reward expectation, which is influenced by elapsed waiting time.
- The steeper waiting-time modulation in adolescent striatum may indicate age-related differences in temporal discounting, urgency, or explore-exploit strategies.
- These findings highlight developmental differences in the neural circuits governing action control and impulsivity.
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