Learning-related changes in response patterns of prefrontal neurons during instrumental conditioning

Behav Brain Res. 2003 Nov 30;146(1-2):77-88. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2003.09.016.

Abstract

A crucial aspect of organizing goal-directed behavior is the ability to form neural representations of relationships between environmental stimuli, actions and reinforcement. Very little is known yet about the neural encoding of response-reward relationships, a process which is deemed essential for purposeful behavior. To investigate this, tetrode recordings were made in the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) of rats performing a Go-NoGo task. After task acquisition, a subset of neurons showed a sustained change in firing during the rewarded action sequence that was triggered by a specific visual cue. When these changes were monitored in the course of learning, they were seen to develop in parallel with the behavioral learning curve and were highly sensitive to a switch in reward contingencies. These sustained changes correlated with the reward-associated action sequence, not with sensory or reward-predicting properties of the cue or individual motor acts per se. This novel type of neural plasticity may contribute to the formation of response-reinforcer associations and of behavioral strategies for guiding goal-directed action.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / physiology
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal
  • Conditioning, Operant / physiology*
  • Discrimination Learning
  • Electrophysiology / methods
  • Learning / physiology*
  • Male
  • Neurons / physiology*
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Prefrontal Cortex / cytology*
  • Prefrontal Cortex / physiology*
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Rats
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Reaction Time / physiology
  • Reinforcement, Psychology
  • Visual Perception