Chronic nicotine increases midbrain dopamine neuron activity and biases individual strategies towards reduced exploration in a foraging task.

Dongelmans, M.; Durand-de Cuttoli, R.; Nguyen, C.; Come, M.; Durante, E. K.; Lemoine, D.; Britto, R.; Yahia, T. A.; Mondoloni, S.; Didienne, S.; Bousseyrol, E.; Hannesse, B.; Reynolds, L. M.; Torquet, N.; Dalkara, D.; Marti, F.; Mourot, A.; Naude, J.; Faure, P.

doi:10.1101/2021.01.29.428835

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.01.29.428835

Chronic nicotine increases midbrain dopamine neuron activity and biases individual strategies towards reduced exploration in a foraging task.

Dongelmans, M.·Durand-de Cuttoli, R.·Nguyen, C.·Come, M.·Durante, E. K.·Lemoine, D.·Britto, R.·Yahia, T. A.·Mondoloni, S.·Didienne, S.·Bousseyrol, E.·Hannesse, B.·Reynolds, L. M.·Torquet, N.·Dalkara, D.·Marti, F.·Mourot, A.·Naude, J.·Faure, P.

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Abstract

Long-term exposure to nicotine alters brain circuits and induces profound changes in decision-making strategies, affecting behaviors both related and unrelated to drug seeking and consumption. Using an intracranial self-stimulation reward-based foraging task, we investigated the impact of chronic nicotine on the trade-off between exploitation and exploration, and the role of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine (DA) neuron activity in decision-making unrelated to nicotine-seeking. Model-based and archetypal analysis revealed a substantial inter-individual variability in decision-making strategies, with mice passively exposed to chronic nicotine visiting more frequently options associated with higher reward probability and therefore shifting toward a more exploitative profile compared to non-exposed animals. We then mimicked the effect of chronic nicotine on the tonic activity of VTA DA neurons using optogenetics, and found that photo-stimulated mice had a behavioral phenotype very close to that of mice exposed to nicotine, suggesting that the dopaminergic control of the exploration/exploitation balance is altered under nicotine exposure. Our results thus reveal a key role of tonic midbrain DA in the exploration/exploitation trade-off and highlight a potential mechanism by which nicotine affects decision-making.

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Dongelmans, M., Durand-de Cuttoli, R., Nguyen, C., Come, M., Durante, E. K., Lemoine, D., Britto, R., Yahia, T. A., Mondoloni, S., Didienne, S., Bousseyrol, E., Hannesse, B., Reynolds, L. M., Torquet, N., Dalkara, D., Marti, F., Mourot, A., Naude, J., Faure, P.. 2021-02-01. Chronic nicotine increases midbrain dopamine neuron activity and biases individual strategies towards reduced exploration in a foraging task.. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.29.428835

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