Biology subjects

Moschak, T. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Moschak, T. M..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

A modular, adaptable, and accessible implant kit for chronic electrophysiological recordings in rats

Electrophysiological implants enable exploration of the relationship between neuronal activity and behavior. These technologies evolve rapidly, with multiple iterations of recording systems developed and utilized. Chronic implants must address a litany of complications, including retention of high signal-to-noise ratio in probes and the ability to withstand excess force over the experimental period. To overcome these issues, we designed a chronic implant for rats. Our comprehensive protocol optimizes the entire implant process, from assembling and testing the probes (Neuropixels) to implantation. In addition to addressing the complications previously mentioned, our implant can vertically adjust probes with micron precision and is constructed using modular components, allowing it to be easily modified for various research contexts, electrophysiological recording systems, headstages, and probe types.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Computational Primitives for Cost-Benefit Decision-Making

Cost-benefit decision-making is a critical process performed by all organisms, including humans. Various factors, including risk1,2, uncertainty3, age4, sex5, and neuropsychiatric disorders6, can alter decision-making. To explore cost-benefit decision-making in humans, we developed a comprehensive task and analysis framework that presents participants with a series of approach-avoid trade-offs across a variety of contexts. With this system, we found that cost-benefit decisions in humans are made using a set of computational strategies that may be used for integrating costs and rewards, which we term decision-making primitives. We further show that these decision-making primitives are used by rodents performing a similar decision-making task7. We find that utilization of these primitives in both rodents and humans shifts based on factors like hunger and sex, and that individuals use primitives differently. We additionally demonstrate that using a naturally-inspired neural network architecture generates output that overlaps with human and rodent performance over a non-constrained neural network. This novel conceptual framework, by isolating discrete decision-making primitives, has potential to help us identify how different brain regions give rise to decision-making behavior, as well as to facilitate better diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders and development of naturally-inspired artificial intelligence systems of decision-making.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Effect of Acute Alcohol Consumption in a Novel Rodent Model of Decision Making

BackgroundAlcohol use, especially at high consumption levels, can lead to irrational decision-making. In humans, this can lead to harmful outcomes often seen in the context of driving under the influence and or aggressive behavior. To date, the field is lacking comprehensive animal models to examine the impact of alcohol use on decision making in rodents, particularly to examine sex differences in choice behavior. To address this issue, the present study examined the effects of acute alcohol consumption during a behavioral approach-avoidance task that captures momentary changes in decision-making behavior and choice selection in female and male rats. MethodsOur team has developed a novel behavioral protocol involving a concurrent choice to consume four different concentrations of alcohol and sucrose combinations. During the task, female or male rats can approach or avoid drinking solutions in four distinct corners of our test apparatus. The solutions were prepared in inverse concentrations (higher sucrose was paired with lower alcohol and vice versa) so that the rodents pursue minimal alcohol use by consuming the higher sucrose concentrations or higher concentrations of alcohol by drinking the lower sucrose concentrations. The animals also have the option to avoid drinking alcohol by not approaching any of the drinking cups. Behavior and choice were tracked during task performance involving different solution concentrations of alcohol and sucrose. ResultsThe choice of consuming different concentrations of alcohol or sucrose resulted in sex-dependent differences in an approach-avoid trade-off pattern of behavior that was sensitive to different concentrations of alcohol/sucrose combinations. Notably, males were greatly affected by the introduction of alcohol into the task environment, approaching higher alcohol concentrations significantly more often than the non-alcohol containing options. In contrast, females choice patterns and task performance were largely unchanged during alcohol and non-alcohol containing tasks. Regardless of sex, we identify a novel method for identifying individual subject decision-making abnormalities during and after alcohol consumption. ConclusionsThis research reveals a novel approach for examining the effects of acute alcohol exposure during a trade-off task, with decision patterns being more impacted by alcohol use in males as compared to females. We also offer the field a novel approach for identifying individual abnormalities in decision making behavior with the presentation of alcohol. Future research can explore these abnormal patterns in both acute and chronic alcohol conditions to develop methods for identifying subjects at-risk for developing an alcohol use disorder and the deleterious impact of alcohol on rational decision making.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Model of a striatal circuit exploring biological mechanisms underlying decision-making during normal and disordered states

Decision-making requires continuous adaptation to internal and external contexts. Changes in decision-making are reliable transdiagnostic symptoms of neuropsychiatric disorders. We created a computational model demonstrating how the striosome compartment of the striatum constructs a mathematical space for decision-making computations depending on context, and how the matrix compartment defines action value depending on the space. The model explains multiple experimental results and unifies other theories like reward prediction error, roles of the direct versus indirect pathways, and roles of the striosome versus matrix, under one framework. We also found, through new analyses, that striosome and matrix neurons increase their synchrony during difficult tasks, caused by a necessary increase in dimensionality of the space. The model makes testable predictions about individual differences in disorder susceptibility, decision-making symptoms shared among neuropsychiatric disorders, and differences in neuropsychiatric disorder symptom presentation. The model reframes the role of the striosomal circuit in neuroeconomic and disorder-affected decision-making. HighlightsO_LIStriosomes prioritize decision-related data used by matrix to set action values. C_LIO_LIStriosomes and matrix have different roles in the direct and indirect pathways. C_LIO_LIAbnormal information organization/valuation alters disorder presentation. C_LIO_LIVariance in data prioritization may explain individual differences in disorders. C_LI eTOCBeck et al. developed a computational model of how a striatal circuit functions during decision-making. The model unifies and extends theories about the direct versus indirect pathways. It further suggests how aberrant circuit function underlies decision-making phenomena observed in neuropsychiatric disorders.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Distinct populations suppress or escalate intake of cocaine paired with aversive quinine.

BackgroundOnly a subset of individuals who encounter drugs of abuse become habitual users. Aversive subjective effects like coughing and unpleasant taste are predictors for continued use. While several preclinical studies have explored self-administration involving aversive cues, none have simultaneously introduced aversion with the initial drug self-administration. We aimed to develop a clinically relevant model by pairing intravenous cocaine with intraoral quinine self-administration from the outset and investigating whether repeated exposure to an aversive stimulus would alter its hedonic value under laboratory conditions. MethodsTwenty-seven male and female Sprague Dawley rats self-administered intravenous/intraoral (cocaine/quinine) for 2 hr/day over 14 days. This was followed by a 1-day quinine-only extinction session, a 3-day return to self-administration, and an intraoral infusion session to assess quinine taste reactivity (TR). ResultsWe identified three distinct groups. The first self-administered very little cocaine, while the second sharply escalated cocaine intake. Both groups had similar aversive TR to quinine, suggesting that the escalating group did not habituate to the aversive cue but pursued drug despite it. We also identified a third group with high initial intake that decreased over time. This decrease predicted high aversive TR, and we argue this group may represent individuals who "overindulge" on their first use and subsequently find self-administration to be aversive. ConclusionsOur novel model mimics real-world variability in initial interactions with drugs of abuse and yields three distinct groups that differ in self-administration patterns and aversive cue valuation.

animal behavior and cognition↗