Behavioral flexibility in conditioned responding to a reward cue: The role of the orbitofrontal cortex and adolescent intermittent ethanol exposure

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is critical for reward valuation and is largely analogous between human and rodent. In a series of studies, we investigated the role of the rat OFC in conditioned responding to a reward-predictive cue. We hypothesized that the OFC provides top-down control over conditioned responding depending on current reward value. Moreover, based on the premise that goal tracking (conditioned approach to the reward receptacle) is a flexible behavior that is responsive to changes in reward value while sign tracking (conditioned approach to the cue) is inflexible, we predicted that OFC activity promotes goal tracking.

Source: Alcohol - May 1, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Donita L. Robinson, Aric C. Madayag, Sierra J. Stringfield, Charlotte A. Boettiger Source Type: research