Kavli Affiliate: Daeyeol Lee and Patricia Janak
| Authors: Yifeng Cheng, Robin Magnard, Angela Langdon, Daeyeol Lee and Patricia H. Janak
| Summary:
Lack of cognitive flexibility is a hallmark of substance use disorders and has been associated with drug-induced synaptic plasticity in the dorsomedial striatum (DMS). Yet the possible impact of altered plasticity on real-time striatal neural dynamics during decision-making is unclear. Here, we identified persistent impairments induced by chronic ethanol (EtOH) exposure on cognitive flexibility and striatal decision signals. We showed that after a substantial withdrawal period of EtOH vapor exposure, rats exhibited reduced adaptability and exploratory behavior during a dynamic decision-making task. Reinforcement learning models showed that repeated EtOH exposure enhanced learning from rewards over omissions, leading to increased relative value updates on the selected action. Notably, neural signals in the DMS related to the decision outcome were enhanced, while those related to choice and choice-outcome conjunction were reduced, in EtOH-treated rats compared to the controls. These findings highlight the profound impact of chronic EtOH exposure on adaptive decision-making, pinpointing specific changes in striatal representations of actions and outcomes as underlying mechanisms for cognitive deficits.