Behavioral domains in compulsive rats: implications for understanding compulsive spectrum disorders

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Science
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Compulsive behavior is a transdiagnostic trait in neuropsychiatric disorders like OCD, autism, and schizophrenia.
• The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) strategy aids in understanding the neuropsychological basis of compulsivity.
• High-drinker (HD) vs. low-drinker (LD) animal models, selected via schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP), serve as a preclinical model for compulsivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate cognitive control and negative valence system domains in a compulsive HD rat phenotype.
• To assess behavioral inflexibility, impulsivity, and risky decision-making in HD rats.

Main Methods:

• Selection of HD and LD rats using schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP).
• Assessment of behavioral inflexibility using probabilistic spatial reversal learning (PSRL).
• Evaluation of impulsivity using variable delay-to-signal (VDS) and risky decision-making using the rodent gambling task (rGT).

Main Results:

• HD rats exhibited behavioral inflexibility, performing fewer reversals on PSRL.
• HD rats displayed increased premature responses on VDS and more disadvantageous choices on rGT.
• HD rats showed perseverative responses under punishment on rGT, indicating insensitivity to negative feedback.

Conclusions:

• The HD compulsive phenotype demonstrates behavioral inflexibility, impulsivity, risky decision-making, and altered responses to feedback and non-reward.
• Mapping these behavioral domains is crucial for accurate prevention, treatment, and diagnosis of compulsive spectrum disorders.