Increased expression of the 5-HT6 receptor by viral mediated gene transfer into posterior but not anterior dorsomedial striatum interferes with acquisition of a discrete action-outcome task.
Serotonin plays a role in reinforcement learning; however, it is not known which serotonin receptors mediate these effects. Serotonin 6 (5-HT(6)) receptors are abundant in the striatum, a brain area that is involved in reinforcement learning. We previously found that 5-HT(6) receptors in the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) affect reinforcement learning or consolidation over several days. We use viral-mediated gene transfer to discern the role that 5-HT(6) receptors play in mediating post-synaptic responses in anterior versus posterior DMS. Male Long-Evans rats were used to study learning acquisition during a single session of 100 trials on a fixed interval of 20 seconds. In a discrete action-outcome learning task, rats had 10 seconds to press a lever to induce lever retraction and sucrose pellet delivery. In another group of rats, the task had a lever that was continuously extended but only active every 20 seconds, allowing for repetitive, mostly non-reinforced, lever pressing. Results demonstrate that increased expression of 5-HT(6) receptors in the posterior DMS interferes with earning sucrose pellets in only the former task. We take this to indicate that 5-HT(6) receptor signaling in the posterior DMS interferes with acquisition of discrete action-outcome responding.
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Related Subject Headings
- Up-Regulation
- Time Factors
- Sucrose
- Simplexvirus
- Reinforcement, Psychology
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins
- Receptors, Serotonin
- Rats, Long-Evans
- Rats
- Psychiatry
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Up-Regulation
- Time Factors
- Sucrose
- Simplexvirus
- Reinforcement, Psychology
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins
- Receptors, Serotonin
- Rats, Long-Evans
- Rats
- Psychiatry