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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Mark EldridgeORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
© 2023. Impulsivity, the tendency to react quickly and without consideration of consequences, is correlated with asymmetry in the volume of the caudate nucleus in human patients. In this study, we sought to determine whether the induction of functional asymmetry in the caudate nucleus of monkeys would produce phenomenologically comparable behavior. We found that unilateral suppression of the ventral caudate nucleus increases impulsive behavior in rhesus monkeys. Impulsivity was modeled by the subjects’ inability to maintain hold of a touch-sensitive bar until presentation of an imperative signal. Two methods were used to suppress activity in the caudate region. First, muscimol was locally infused. Second, a viral construct expressing the hM4Di DREADD (designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drug) was injected at the same site. Clozapine N-oxide and deschloroclozapine activate the DREADD to suppress neuronal activity. Both methods of suppression, pharmacological and chemogenetic, increased the rate of early bar releases, a behavior we interpret to indicate impulsivity. Thus, we demonstrate a causal relationship between caudate asymmetry and impulsivity.
Author(s): Eldridge MAG, Smith MC, Oppler SH, Pearl JE, Shim JY, Lerchner W, Richmond BJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Current Research in Neurobiology
Year: 2023
Volume: 4
Online publication date: 22/03/2023
Acceptance date: 11/03/2023
Date deposited: 19/02/2025
ISSN (electronic): 2665-945X
Publisher: Elsevier BV
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crneur.2023.100085
DOI: 10.1016/j.crneur.2023.100085
Data Access Statement: Data will be made available on request.
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