Unilateral lesions of the dorsocentral striatum (DCS) disrupt spatial and temporal characteristics of food protection behavior

Spatial and temporal information processing provide a foundation for higher cognitive functions. The survival of animals depends on integrating spatial and temporal information to organize behavior. In general, previous research has focused on only one source of information processing; however, ther...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain Structure and Function 2017-08, Vol.222 (6), p.2697-2710
Main Authors: Blankenship, Philip A., Cheatwood, Joseph L., Wallace, Douglas G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animals
Basal Ganglia - pathology
Basal Ganglia - physiopathology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Cell Biology
Cognitive ability
Cues
Feeding Behavior
Female
Food
Information processing
Information systems
Integration
Motivation
Motor task performance
N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid
Neostriatum
Neurology
Neurosciences
Original Article
Rats, Long-Evans
Rodents
Sensorimotor Cortex - physiopathology
Social Behavior
Space Perception
Temporal perception
Time Factors
Time Perception
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Summary:Spatial and temporal information processing provide a foundation for higher cognitive functions. The survival of animals depends on integrating spatial and temporal information to organize behavior. In general, previous research has focused on only one source of information processing; however, there is evidence to support a convergence in the processing of egocentric-spatial and temporal information within a cortico-striatal system of structures. The current study evaluated the contributions of the dorsocentral striatum (DCS) to egocentric-spatial and temporal (within the seconds-to-minutes range) processing of information using a food protection task. Long-Evans rats received unilateral NMDA lesions of the DCS followed by testing in a food protection task. Performance in this task is mediated by the motivation of the animal to consume a food item, their perception of the time required to consume a food item, their sensory ability to process egocentric cues, and their motor ability to evade an incoming conspecific. Unilateral DCS lesions were shown to impact both spatial and temporal characteristics of food protection. These results suggest that the DCS may be a critical structure for the integration of egocentric-spatial and temporal information within the interval timing range.
ISSN:1863-2653
1863-2661
0340-2061
DOI:10.1007/s00429-017-1366-6