Schedule of Events | Symposia

Differential contributions of dopamine D1- and D2-receptor-expressing neurons in the prelimbic cortex during approach-avoidance conflict in rats

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 30, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom
Also presenting in Data Blitz Session 4 - Saturday, March 29, 2025, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm EDT, Constitution B.

Thays Brenner dos Santos¹, Vicky Chuong¹, Guillermo Aquino-Miranda¹, Fabricio H. Do-Monte¹; ¹University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

The prelimbic cortex (PL) is involved in resolving approach-avoidance conflict when reward- and threat-associated cues co-occur. PL neurons that express dopamine type-1 (D1R) or type-2 (D2R) receptors are implicated in motivated behaviors, but their role in approach-avoidance conflict remains unknown. To address this question, we used fiber photometry combined with a dopamine sensor (GRAB-DA) or a Ca2+ indicator (GCaMP7f) to record dopamine levels or D1R and D2R neuronal activity in PL. Rats previously trained to press a lever for food during audiovisual cues were exposed to the food cues in the presence of a neutral odor (reward phase) or a fear-inducing cat odor (conflict phase). The following day, food cues were presented with a neutral odor in the same context to evaluate memory-guided decision-making (contextual phase). Rats exhibited increased defensive behaviors and reduced food-seeking responses during the conflict and contextual phases compared to the reward phase. Dopamine levels and PL-D1R activity increased in response to food cues during the reward phase and in rewarded trials of the contextual phase (risk-taking trials) but not during the conflict phase or in non-rewarded trials of the contextual phase (risk-avoiding trials). In contrast, PL-D2R activity decreased in response to food cues during the reward and risk-taking trials but not during the conflict and risk-avoiding trials. Together, our results demonstrate that increased D1R and decreased D2R neuronal activity in response to food cues bias rats’ behavior towards food-seeking during conflict, suggesting that PL-D1R and PL-D2R neurons contribute to risky behavior through opposing activity patterns.

Topic Area: THINKING: Decision making