Inter-Individual Decision-Making Differences in the Effects of Cingulate, Orbitofrontal, and Prelimbic Cortex Lesions in a Rat Gambling Task

Marion Rivalan, Etienne Coutureau, Aurélie Fitoussi, Françoise Dellu-Hagedorn
Front. Behav. Neurosci.. 2011-01-01; 5:
DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00022

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1. Front Behav Neurosci. 2011 Apr 27;5:22. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00022.
eCollection 2011.

Inter-individual decision-making differences in the effects of cingulate,
orbitofrontal, and prelimbic cortex lesions in a rat gambling task.

Rivalan M(1), Coutureau E, Fitoussi A, Dellu-Hagedorn F.

Author information:
(1)Aquitaine Institute of Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience, Université de
Bordeaux, CNRS UMR 5287 Bordeaux, France.

Deficits in decision-making is a hallmark of several neuropsychiatric pathologies
but is also observed in some healthy individuals that could be at risk to develop
these pathologies. Poor decision-making can be revealed experimentally in humans
using the Iowa gambling task, through the inability to select options that ensure
long term gains over larger immediate gratification. We devised an analogous task
in the rat, based on uncertainty and conflicting choices, the rat gambling task
(RGT). It similarly reveals good and poor performers within a single session.
Using this task, we investigated the role of three prefrontal cortical areas, the
orbitofrontal, prelimbic, and cingulate cortices on decision-making, taking into
account inter-individual variability in behavioral performances. Here, we show
that these three distinct subregions are differentially engaged to solve the RGT.
Cingulate cortex lesion mainly delayed good decision-making whereas prelimbic and
orbitofrontal cortices induced different patterns of inadapted behaviors in the
task, indicating varying degree of functional specialization of these three
areas. Their contribution largely depended on the level of adaptability
demonstrated by each individual to the constraint of the task. The
inter-individual differences in the effect of prefrontal cortex area lesions on
decision-making revealed in this study open new perspectives in the search for
vulnerability markers to develop disorders related to executive dysfunctioning.

DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00022
PMCID: PMC3085860
PMID: 21559308

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