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Differential effects of dopaminergic manipulations on risky choice

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Abstract

Rationale

Evaluation of risks and rewards associated with different options is facilitated by components of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) system. Augmenting or reducing DA activity increases or decreases preference for larger, uncertain rewards when reward probabilities decrease within a session. However, manipulations of DA activity may differentially alter risky choice when shifts in the relative value of probabilistic rewards are greater or lesser than those experienced previously.

Objectives

We investigated the effects of amphetamine and the DA antagonist flupenthixol on risk discounting, whereby we altered the manner in which reward probabilities changed.

Methods

Rats chose between a “Small/Certain” (one pellet) and a “Large/Risky” lever that delivered four pellets in a probabilistic manner that changed during a session. Separate groups of rats were trained with a descending (100%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%), ascending (12.5–100%) or mixed (100%, 12.5%, 25%, 50%) order of probabilities associated with the large/risky option.

Results

Flupenthixol consistently decreased preference for the large/risky option. In contrast, amphetamine increased preference for the large/risky lever when the probabilities decreased over a session, but reduced preference in the ascending condition.

Conclusions

Reductions in normal DA tone consistently biases choice away larger, probabilistic rewards. In contrast, increases in DA release may disrupt adjustments in behavior in response to changes in the relative value of certain versus uncertain rewards. These findings further clarify the role of DA in mediating risk/reward judgments and how perturbations in DA signaling may interfere with the ability to adjust decision making in response to changes in reward contingencies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP 89861) to SBF. SBF is a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Senior Scholar and JRSO is the recipient of scholarships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. We are grateful to Gina Yuan Chun Chang and Titus Yip for their assistance with behavioral testing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Brain Research Center, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Jennifer R. St. Onge, Yu Chi Chiu & Stan B. Floresco

Authors
  1. Jennifer R. St. Onge
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  2. Yu Chi Chiu
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  3. Stan B. Floresco
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stan B. Floresco.

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Supplemental Figure 1

The effects of amphetamine on risk discounting with ascending probabilities. Of the 16 rats used in this experiment, six showed a preference for the small/certain lever (i.e., away from the large/risky lever) in the first block (risk averse, left panel), and the remaining ten rats displayed a prominent bias towards this lever (risky, right panel). We analyzed the choice data from both groups separately. For the risk-averse rats, the analysis revealed a significant treatment × trial block interaction (F(3,15) = 3.26, P = 0.05), and simple main effects analysis confirmed that amphetamine significantly (P < 0.05, denoted by stars) reduced risky choice in the 25% and 50% probability blocks compared to saline. Similarly, analysis of the data from the risky subgroup revealed a significant main effect of treatment (F(1,9) = 6.22, P < 0.05), indicating that amphetamine reduced preference for the Large/Risky lever across all blocks (GIF 28 kb)

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St. Onge, J.R., Chiu, Y.C. & Floresco, S.B. Differential effects of dopaminergic manipulations on risky choice. Psychopharmacology 211, 209–221 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-1883-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-1883-y

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