Abstract
The nucleus accumbens (NAcc) is implicated in reward-related processes and in reinforcement learning. However, its precise role in associative processes is unclear and may not be related solely to appetitive learning. In the present study, the differential effects of selective excitotoxic lesions of the NAcc core and shell were studied on the acquisition of an aversive Pavlovian conditioning task that assessed conditioning to both discrete and contextual cues. Rats with selective lesions of the NAcc shell were not impaired on measures of aversive Pavlovian conditioning to either discrete or contextual cues. In contrast, animals with lesions of the NAcc core showed an impairment in conditioning to discrete cues and an enhancement in conditioning to contextual cues. The NAcc is thus implicated in aspects of aversive Pavlovian conditioning; the significance of this finding for theories of cortico-striatal function is discussed.
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J.A.P. was in receipt of a BBSRC research fellowship and the Oon Khye Beng Ch’hia Tsio Scholarship, awarded by Downing College, Cambridge.
This work was supported by a Wellcome Trust Programme Grant (T.W.R., B.J.E., A. Roberts, and B. J. Sahakian).
The authors thank Caroline Morrison and Helen Sweet for their assistance with the histological assessment for this study.
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Parkinson, J.A., Robbins, T.W. & Everitt, B.J. Selective excitotoxic lesions of the nucleus accumbens core and shell differentially affect aversive Pavlovian conditioning to discrete and contextual cues. Psychobiology 27, 256–266 (1999). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03332119
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03332119