In the latest issue of Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience we report on the role of medial prefrontal cortex in reward processing and the control of consummatory behaviors.
In this study we found that pharmacological inactivations of the mPFC, specifically the rostral part of the prelimbic area, greatly reduced intake of higher value fluid and only slightly increased intake of lower value fluid in an incentive contrast licking task. We also found rats licked equally for the high and low levels of sucrose at the beginning of the test sessions and “relearned” to reduce intake of the low value fluid over the test sessions. These effects were verified using optogenetic silencing of the same region and were distinct from inactivation of the ventral striatum, which simply increased overall intake. Our findings suggest that the mPFC is crucial for the maintenance of persistent licking and the expression of learned feeding strategies.
