Program#/Poster#: |
603.09/EEE12 |
Title: |
Factors influencing
aversive Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer in a rodent Sidman avoidance
paradigm |
Location: |
Hall F-J |
Presentation Time: |
Tuesday, Oct 16, 2012,
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM |
Authors: |
*V. CAMPESE1,
J. E. LEDOUX1,2, C. K. CAIN1,2;
1Ctr. For Neural Sci., New York Univ., New York, NY; 2Emotional
Brain Inst. at the Nathan S. Kline Inst. for Psychiatric Res., Orangeburg,
NY |
Abstract: |
Pavlovian-to-instrumental
transfer (PIT) demonstrates the ability of classically conditioned stimuli
(CS) to modulate instrumental responding, either through specific or general
processes (Corbit & Balleine 2005; 2011). PIT has been studied extensively
with appetitive conditioning but barely at all with aversive conditioning.
Although it’s been argued that conditioned suppression is a form of aversive
PIT, this effect is fundamentally different from appetitive PIT because
the CS suppresses, instead of facilitates, responding. Thus, we designed
a new aversive PIT task in rats where instrumental avoidance responding
(Sidman shuttling) is enhanced by an aversive Pavlovian CS. We here report
four studies characterizing this novel form of aversive PIT in rats. The
first study examined whether or not associative conditioning is necessary
for transfer using paired and unpaired treatments during the defensive conditioning
phase. Experiment 2 compared PIT when CS testing occurred following 5, 40
or 60 minutes of shuttling extinction and found that PIT was strongest following
40 minutes of extinction. Experiment 3 evaluated PIT under conditions where
CS tests were triggered once baseline rates of shuttling reached specified
criteria (e.g., 3 rpm vs 1 rpm). Preliminary findings suggest that these
testing conditions may produce stronger PIT than simply initiating tests
following 40 minutes of extinction. Experiment 4 assessed if PIT magnitude
is related to footshock intensity during initial defensive conditioning
(e.g., 0.4, 0.7 or 1.0mA). Comparable PIT effects were observed in these
groups, suggesting at least at the tested intensities, US magnitude does
not influence aversive PIT. Ongoing studies are evaluating the impact of
damage to sub-regions of the amygdala on aversively motivated PIT. |
Support: |
NIMH Grant FA0665 |