Dopamine and Acetylcholine release dynamics in the pDMS during the acquisition and updating of goal-directed behaviour — The Association Specialists

Dopamine and Acetylcholine release dynamics in the pDMS during the acquisition and updating of goal-directed behaviour (22047)

Thomas J Burton 1 , Genevra Hart 1 , Christopher R Nolan 1 , Bernard W Balleine 1
  1. University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia

Plasticity in the posterior dorsomedial striatum (pDMS) is critical to the acquisition and updating of goal-directed behaviour and requires the precise timing and patterning of coincident dopamine (DA) and acetylcholine (ACh) release. Recently, we demonstrated that pDMS DA release at the time of the action reflects the long-term action-outcome relationship, the associative substrate for goal-directed behaviour. For example, stable profiles of action-related DA release are transiently disturbed by action-outcome reversal. However, it remains to be determined how DA release during the consumption of the outcome changes during such reversal learning. Further, the real-time dynamics of ACh have not been directly assessed under such conditions. Here we aimed to characterise real-time DA and ACh release during action-outcome learning and reversal. Using dLight (DA) or AChSnFR (ACh) biosensors in separate subjects, fiber photometry recordings were taken from the pDMS as hungry rats learned to press two levers (actions) for distinct food rewards (outcomes) and as these contingencies were subsequently reversed. Replicating our previous findings, we confirm that DA release at the time of the action is perturbed by reversal but recovers with further training. However, no change in release was observed during outcome consumption. While we describe a novel profile for ACh release during goal-directed behaviour, we did not observe any obvious changes in ACh release after the contingency manipulation. Therefore, pDMS DA release appears to be sensitive to contingency manipulations during the action but not the outcome. Real-time ACh release profiles during goal-directed behaviour appear to be stable once acquired.