CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 342Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorMemory and Neural Mechanisms

Inactivation of the infralimbic prefrontal cortex reinstates goal-directed responding in overtrained rats

Coutureau, Etienne, Killcross, Simon·2003·Behavioural Brain Research
DOI 10.1016/j.bbr.2003.09.025
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Over the course of extended training, instrumental responding in rats shows a transition from goal-dependent performance to goal-independent performance, as assessed by sensitivity to reward-devaluation induced by taste aversions or specific satiety. It has been suggested that this reflects the gradual dominance of reflexive, habit-based responding over voluntary, goal-directed actions. Previous research suggests that lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex disrupt this interaction between goal-directed and habitual responding. More specifically, whereas lesions of the prelimbic prefrontal cortex appear to disrupt normal goal-directed responding, lesions of the infralimbic prefrontal cortex cause animals to remain goal-directed even after substantial overtraining. The current experiment explored further the nature of this interaction between actions and habits. Rats were given extended training of an instrumental lever press response before bilateral intracerebral cannulae giving access to the infralimbic cortex were implanted. Following further reminder training all animals were given a test of goal sensitivity by specific-satiety devaluation of the instrumental outcome, or a matched reward, prior to extinction tests. Before these tests, half of the animals received bilateral infusions of muscimol into the infralimbic cortex, and the remainder, control vehicle infusions. As expected after extended instrumental training, control-infused animals showed habitual performance that was not selectively influenced by devaluation of the instrumental outcome. In contrast, animals receiving temporary inactivation of the infralimbic cortex by muscimol showed selective sensitivity to devaluation of the instrumental outcome, indicating a reinstatement of goal-directed responding in these animals. This suggests that the development of habitual responding reflects the active inhibition of goal-directed responses that are mediated by action-outcome associations.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.bbr.2003.09.025

Cites

51 of 51 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The infralimbic cortex plays a critical role in habit expression.

    “Furthermore, well-acquired S-R habits become “goal-directed” following inactivation of the infralimbic cortex, suggesting that this region of the medial prefrontal cortex plays a critical role in habit expression [66].”

    From Cortical and basal ganglia contributions to habit learning and automaticity (2010) · cites this paper as [66]

  • Well-acquired stimulus-response habits become goal-directed following inactivation of the infralimbic cortex.

    “Furthermore, well-acquired S-R habits become “goal-directed” following inactivation of the infralimbic cortex, suggesting that this region of the medial prefrontal cortex plays a critical role in habit expression [66].”

    From Cortical and basal ganglia contributions to habit learning and automaticity (2010) · cites this paper as [66]

  • Lesions to the rat homologue of ventral medial prefrontal cortex (infralimbic cortex) disrupt automatic behaviors.

    “Lesions to the rat homologue of ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC; i.e., infralimbic cortex) have been reported to disrupt automatic behaviors [66].”

    From Cortical and basal ganglia contributions to habit learning and automaticity (2010) · cites this paper as [66]

  • Certain neural manipulations can restore goal direction when the circuits controlling habit are suppressed.

    “the views are consistent with results suggesting that certain neural manipulations, in addition to the behavioral manipulations I reviewed here, can restore goal direction when the circuits controlling habit are suppressed (e.g., Coutureau & Killcross, 2003; Yin, Knowlton, & Balleine, 2006).”

    From Context, attention, and the switch between habit and goal-direction in behavior (2021) · cites this paper as Coutureau & Killcross, 2003

  • In rodent-based learning paradigms, goal-directed behaviors are thought to become habitual upon overtraining.

    “In rodent-based learning paradigms, goal-directed behaviors are thought to become habitual upon overtraining48–50.”

    From Revealing abrupt transitions from goal-directed to habitual behavior (2026) · cites this paper as [50]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Coutureau, E., & Killcross, S.
Affiliations
Cardiff University (GB)
Corresponding author
Killcross, Simon
ORCID
Killcross, Simon
Venue
Behavioural Brain Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2003-11
Volume
146
Issue
1-2
Pages
167-174
ISSN
0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.bbr.2003.09.025
OpenAlex
W1965970654
Cited by
342
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 14
FWCI
3.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Keywords
infralimbic cortex, goal-directed behavior, habitual responding, overtraining, reward devaluation, taste aversion, muscimol inactivation, action-outcome associations, operant conditioning, extinction, rats
MeSH terms
Analysis of Variance, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Conditioning, Operant, Extinction, Psychological, Goals, Limbic System, Male, Microinjections, Muscimol, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Reinforcement, Psychology, Prefrontal Cortex, GABA Agonists, Rats

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review