Cortico-limbic-striatal network in stimulus and temporal control over adaptive behaviour

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Adaptive behaviour requires the continuous appraisal and selection of motivationally significant information in the external and internal environment. For instance, an organism surviving in the wild relies on their ability to discern changing spatiotemporal signals associated with reward and punishment contingencies as well as internal states in order to make decisions about when, where and what to eat. Past work from our laboratory has identified areas of the limbic cortico-striatal system to be critical in mediating spatial and contextual cue control over motivated behaviour. The present proposal will continue our endeavour to delineate the brain network and circuit mechanisms that facilitate the deployment of appropriate behavioural response to biologically relevant cues that signal the presence and absence of reward or threat, as well as extend our investigations into the temporal control over motivated behaviour. The proposed program will employ a multidisciplinary approach, using in vivo optogenetic, chemogenetic, fibre photometry and immunohistochemical methods in combination with customised rat behavioural paradigms, to achieve the following objectives: 1) To establish the key players in the cortico-limbic-striatal network that are recruited by discrete cues and context that signal the availability of reward, threat, absence of reward, and safety from threat, as well as cues signalling temporal information. 2) To investigate the causal role of the hub areas and circuits identified in the first objective, in cue and temporal control over motivated behaviour. 3) To investigate the dynamic interactions between connected hub areas in cue control over motivated behaviour. This research will provide critical and fundamental insights into how the brain is organized in processing temporal and non-temporal information pertaining to reward, safety and aversion and the circuit mechanisms by which such information gain control over motivated behaviour.