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Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., Annals PrePrint, published online ahead of print August 14, 2007 doi: 10.1196/annals.1401.013 Copyright © 2007 by the New York Academy of Sciences description
1 Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1007 West Harrison Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60607, United States
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mrago{at}uic.edu. PrePrint Abstract
Behavioral flexibility refers to the ability to shift strategies or response patterns with a change in environmental contingencies. The frontal lobe and basal ganglia are two brain regions implicated in various components for successfully adapting to changed environmental contingencies. A series of experiments are discussed that investigate the contribution of the rat prelimbic area, infralimbic area, orbitofrontal cortex and dorsomedial striatum to behavioral flexibility. Orbitofrontal cortex inactivation did not impair initial learning of discrimination tests, but impaired reversal learning due to perseverance in the previously learned choice pattern. Inactivation of the prelimbic area did not affect acquisition or reversal learning of different discrimination tests, but selectively impaired learning when rats had to inhibit one strategy and shift to using a new strategy. Comparable to orbitofrontal cortex inactivation, strategy switching deficits following prelimbic inactivation resulted from a perseverance of the previously relevant strategy. There is some evidence suggesting the infralimbic region supports reversal learning by maintaining the reliable execution of a new choice pattern. Dorsomedial striatal inactivation impaired both reversal learning and strategy switching. The behavioral deficits following dorsomedial striatal inactivation resulted from the inability to maintain a new choice pattern once selected. Taken together, the results suggest that orbitofrontal and prelimbic subregions differentially contribute to behavioral flexibility, but are both critical for the initial inhibition of a previously learned strategy while the dorsomedial striatum plays a broader role in behavioral flexibility and supports a process that allows the reliable execution of a new strategy once selected. Key Words:
Orbitofrontal Cortex, Prelimbic, Learning, Striatum , Infralimbic
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