[Interneuronal frontal-amygdala interactions in cats trained for the quality of the reinforcement]

Abstract

In eight cats the appetitive instrumental conditioned reflexes to light were elaborated by the method of "active choice" of reinforcement quality: the short-latency bar-pressing responses were reinforced with bread-meat mixture and the delayed responses were reinforced with meat. The animals differed in behavior strategy: six cats preferred the delayed pressings (the so-called "self-control" group), and two cats preferred the pressings with short delay (the so-called "impulsive" group). The multiunit activity in the basolateral amygdala and frontal cortex was recorded by chronically implanted nichrome semimicroelectrodes. The interactions of the neighboring neurons in the basolateral amygdala and the frontal cortex (within the local neuronal networks) and between the amygdalar and cortical neurons (distributed neuronal networks of amygdalar-frontal and fronto-amygdalar directions) were estimated by means of statistical crosscorrelation analysis of spike trains. The interneuronal cross-correlations were studied with delays in the range of 0-100 ms. The number of cross-correlations between the neuronal discharges both in the local and distributed networks was significantly higher in "impulsive" cats, mainly, with delays in the range of 0-30 ms. In both groups of animals the number of correlations was the highest during omissions of conditioned pressings, i.e., in cases of difficult choice of reinforcement. We suggest that the basolateral amygdala, frontal cortex, and amygdalar-frontal distributed neuronal networks are involved in the system of brain structures, which determine the individual features of animal behavior.