Differential effects of environmental enrichment, social-housing, and isolation-rearing on a rat gambling task: dissociations between impulsive action and risky decision-making.

RATIONALE: Decision-making deficits, measured using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), are observed in many psychiatric populations. Additionally, evidence suggests that the environment also influences the development of these same disorders. OBJECTIVE: To determine the direct influence of the environment on decision-making by utilizing the rat gambling task (rGT), a risky decision-making test modeled after the IGT. METHODS: Male rats reared in isolation, in pairs, or in an enriched environment were trained on the rGT as adults. During the rGT, animals chose from four different options. The optimal strategy on the rGT and IGT is the same: to favor options associated with smaller immediate rewards and less punishment/loss. Impulsive action is also measured during rGT performance by recording the number of premature responses made, similar to the five-choice serial reaction time task. RESULTS: Compared to pair-housed rats, isolated and environmentally enriched rats were slower at learning the optimal strategy. However, following training, only isolation-reared rats chose the disadvantageous options more often. Amphetamine altered decision-making on the rGT in socially housed animals, yet isolates were unaffected. Conversely, amphetamine increased premature responding similarly in all groups. This increase was attenuated by prior administration of a dopamine D(1) or D(2) antagonist; however, the ability of amphetamine to alter decision-making was not blocked by either drug. CONCLUSIONS: Housing environment affects animals' ability to learn and perform a decision-making task. Additionally, amphetamine's effect on impulsive action appears to be mediated by the dopaminergic system, whereas its effect on risky decision-making may be mediated by other neurotransmitters.

Dopaminergic modulation of the orbitofrontal cortex affects attention, motivation and impulsive responding in rats performing the five-choice serial reaction time task.

Understanding the neurobiological factors underlying individual differences in impulsivity may provide valuable insight into vulnerability to impulse control disorders. Recent data implicate both the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the dopaminergic system in psychiatric disorders associated with high levels of impulsivity, including substance abuse, mania and obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, the consequences of modulating dopaminergic activity within the OFC on impulsive behaviour are largely unknown. The effects of direct intra-OFC infusions of agonists and antagonists at the dopamine D(1) and D(2) receptors were therefore assessed in rats performing the five-choice serial reaction time test (5CSRT) of attention and motor impulsivity. Intra-OFC administration of SCH23390, a D(1) receptor antagonist, decreased impulsive responding in highly impulsive (HI) rats, but did not affect behaviour in less impulsive (LI) animals. Furthermore, the D(2) agonist quinpirole caused significant deficits in task performance, impairing accuracy, increasing omissions and decreasing the number of trials completed, which resembled the effects of systemic administration. In contrast, the D(1) agonist SKF 81297 had little effect on behaviour. Neither agonist increased impulsivity. These data provide partial support for the suggestion that high levels of impulsivity are associated with increased dopamine levels within the OFC, but further indicate that simulating dopamine's actions selectively at the D(1) or D(2) receptor cannot reproduce a highly impulsive phenotype. Dopaminergic activity within the OFC may therefore modulate impulsivity indirectly, perhaps in conjunction with other neurotransmitter systems. Furthermore, D(2)-mediated neurotransmission within the OFC could make a more fundamental contribution to cognitive behaviour.