Neural substrate for compulsive behavioral augmentation

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K16373
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Psychiatric science
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: NISHIKAWA HIROMI 金沢大学, 医学系, 研究員 (70534155)
• Research Collaborator: TODA Shigenobu ; Lin Ziqiao
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 習慣 / 目標指向性行動 / 強迫性 / 線条体 / 扁桃体

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To verify the hypothesis that sustained attention may interfere with habit expression during an operant learning under fixed internal schedule, we first provided buzzer sounds that instruct the timing of lever press to rats. As a result, when buzzer sounds were contingent to the timing of lever press, rats' behavior became habitual.
We next tried to verify another hypothesis that while repeated daily training prevent the transfer from goal-directed to habitual, a certain period of training abstinence promotes habit expression. To this aim, we trained rats for 7 days and confirmed that their behaviors were still goal-directed at this point, Then, followed by 2 weeks of abstinence and 3 days of re-training, the second outcome devaluation test revealed that their behaviors became habitual, as we expected.

Free Research Field

神経薬理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

習慣とは何か、と言う議論は古くから心理学あるいは神経科学で存在し、複数の有力なモデルが提唱されてきた。それにも関わらず、モデル間には無視できない齟齬が存在し、また神経回路や電気生理学的な新たな知見もモデル間の矛盾に十分な説明を与えることができていなかった。本研究の成果はこれらの問題の解決に新たに道筋を示すことが期待される。また、目標指向性行動と習慣のアンバランスは、依存症、強迫性障害、発達障害、認知症など様々な精神神経疾患の病態生理に関わることから、本研究の成果はこれらの疾患の病態機序の解明と治療法の開発に多大な貢献をすると期待される。