Browsing by Author "Glen, W. Bailey"

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    Habitual Behavior Is Mediated by a Shift in Response-Outcome Encoding by Infralimbic Cortex
    (Society for Neuroscience, 2018-01-03) Barker, Jacqueline M.; Glen, W. Bailey; Linsenbardt, David N.; Lapish, Christopher C.; Chandler, L. Judson; Psychology, School of Science
    The ability to flexibly switch between goal-directed actions and habits is critical for adaptive behavior. The infralimbic prefrontal cortex (IfL-C) has been consistently identified as a crucial structure for the regulation of response strategies. To investigate the role of the IfL-C, the present study employed two validated reinforcement schedules that either promote habits or goal-directed actions in mice. The results reveal that information about action-outcome relationships is differentially encoded in the IfL-C during actions and habits as evidenced by encoding of behavioral outcomes during goal-directed actions that is lost during habits. Optogenetic inhibition of the IfL-C selectively at press during habitual behavior (when firing rates are reduced during unreinforced goal-directed actions) resulted in restoration of sensitivity to change of action-outcome contingency. These results reveal a novel functional mechanism by which IfL-C promotes habitual behavior, and provide insight into strategies for the treatment and prevention of pathological, inflexible behavior common in neuropsychiatric illness.