University of Geneva Reports Findings in Neuropsychopharmacology (Dissociable roles of the mPFC-to-VTA Pathway in the control of Impulsive Action and Risk-Related Decision-Making in Roman High- And Low-Avoidance Rats).

A recent study conducted by the University of Geneva explores the role of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to ventral tegmental area (VTA) pathway in controlling impulsive action and risk-related decision-making (RDM) in rats. The researchers used a chemogenetic strategy to selectively activate or inhibit this pathway in Roman High- and Low-Avoidance rats, which exhibit innate differences in impulsive action and RDM. The results showed that activating the mPFC-to-VTA pathway reduced impulsive action in high-avoidance rats, while inhibiting it had the opposite effect in low-avoidance rats. However, these manipulations did not affect RDM. The findings suggest that the mPFC-to-VTA pathway plays a dissociable role in impulsive action and RDM, highlighting its potential as a target for investigating impulsivity-related disorders. [Extracted from the article]