کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
936778 1475191 2011 10 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
Cerebellar dentate nuclei lesions reduce motivation in appetitive operant conditioning and open field exploration
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم زیستی و بیوفناوری علم عصب شناسی علوم اعصاب رفتاری
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
Cerebellar dentate nuclei lesions reduce motivation in appetitive operant conditioning and open field exploration
چکیده انگلیسی

Recently identified pathways from the dentate nuclei of the cerebellum to the rostral cerebral cortex via the thalamus suggest a cerebellar role in frontal and prefrontal non-motor functioning. Disturbance of cerebellar morphology and connectivity, particularly involving these cerebellothalamocortical (CTC) projections, has been implicated in motivational and cognitive deficits. The current study explored the effects of CTC disruption on motivation in male Long Evans rats. The results of two experiments demonstrate that electrolytic lesions of the cerebellar dentate nuclei lower breaking points on an operant conditioning progressive ratio schedule and decrease open field exploration compared to sham controls. Changes occurred in the absence of motor impairment, assessed via lever pressing frequency and rotarod performance. Similar elevated plus maze performances between lesioned and sham animals indicated that anxiety did not influence task performance. Our results demonstrate hedonic and purposive motivational reduction and suggest a CTC role in global motivational processes. These implications are discussed in terms of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism, in which cerebellar damage and motivational deficits often present concomitantly.

Research highlights
► The effects of cerebellar dentate nuclei lesions on motivation were examined.
► Lesions lowered breaking points on an operant conditioning progressive ratio task.
► Lesions decreased open field exploration compared to sham controls.
► These deficits occured without concomitant anxiety or motor impairment.
► Our results suggest a cerebellar role in global motivational processes.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Neurobiology of Learning and Memory - Volume 95, Issue 2, February 2011, Pages 166–175
نویسندگان
, , ,