In order to investigate the relationship between dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens and operant behavior in mice, mice with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced dopamine depletion in the nucleus accumbens were tested for their performance in lever pressing tasks under FR schedules with 8 ratios from FR5 to FR120. The mice were given one 20-mg food pellet per completed FR schedule in FR5, FR10, and FR20; they were given 2 pellets in FR40, and one more cumulatively in the rest of the schedules. Before the 6-OHDA injection surgery, all mice were trained to press a lever under all FR schedules. Then, 6-OHDA or ascorbate was injected into the nucleus accumbens. Postoperatively, the mice were tested under each FR schedule, with 3 sessions per schedule. 6-OHDA-treated mice exhibited an increase in lever pressing latency, i.e., the time interval between the last presentation of the reward and the next lever press, and a decrease in inter-response intervals, i.e., the time interval between 2 lever presses excluding lever pressing latency, irrespective of the FR ratios. Furthermore, in these 6-OHDA-treated mice, the number of lever presses during the first 300s of the session decreased under FR schedules with low ratios (5, 10, and 20). Open field activity, food motivation, and the amount of food consumed were not affected by dopamine depletion in the nucleus accumbens. These results suggest that the dopamine system in the nucleus accumbens had an important role in the control of lever pressing latency and inter-response intervals under FR reinforcement schedules.
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