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Project 10: Investigation of expectation violation in laboratory rats: incentive salience, signal detection and the role of ultrasound vocalizations

Prof. Dr. Rainer Schwarting

PhD Students: Annuska Berz, Nivethini Sangarapillai

In this project, an established rat model for sign- and goal-tracking is used to investigate the role of external and internal (i.e. genetic, neuronal) factors and mechanisms in these phenotypes. So-called sign- and goal-trackers, as determined by a Pavlovian food-rewarded task, not only respond differently to cue vs. reward presentation, but also behave differently to expectation violations, e.g. concerning extinction or changes in response/outcome contingencies. Among others, it will be tested whether specific genetic factors are involved and whether certain neurochemical mechanisms (especially prefrontal and striatal) play a central role. In addition, psychological explanations shall be examined for sign-tracking, such as conditioned approach or reinforcement.

Publications

Berz, A., Pasquini de Souza, C., Wöhr, M., & Schwarting, R. K. W. (in press). Limited generalizability, pharmacological modulation, and state-dependency of the habituation towards pro-social 50-kHz calls in rats. iScience.

Sangarapillai, N., Ellenberger, M., Wöhr, M., & Schwarting, R.K.W. (in press). Ultrasonic vocalizations and individual differences in rats performing a Pavlovian conditioned approach task. Behavioural Brain Research.

Kube, T., Schwarting, R., Rozenkrantz, L., Glombiewski, J. A., & Rief, W. (2020). Distorted Cognitive Processes in Major Depression: A Predictive Processing Perspective. Biological Psychiatry 87, 388-389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.07.017

Redecker, T. M., Kisko, T. M., Wöhr, M., & Schwarting, R. K. W. (2020). Cacna1c haploinsufficiency lacks effects on adult hippocampal neurogenesis and volumetric properties of prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in female rats. Physiology & Behaviour. 223:112974. 

Willadsen, M., Uengoer, M., Schwarting, R., Homberg, J. R., & Wöhr, M. (2020). Reduced emission of alarm 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations during fear conditioning in rats lacking the serotonin transporter. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry.

Wöhr, M., Willadsen, M., Kisko, T. M., Schwarting, R. K., & Fendt, M. (2020). Sex-dependent effects of Cacna1c haploinsufficiency on behavioral inhibition evoked by conspecific alarm signals in rats. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 99, 109849.

Redecker, T. M., Kisko, T. M., Schwarting, R. K., & Wöhr, M. (2019). Effects of Cacna1c haploinsufficiency on social interaction behavior and 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in adult female rats. Behavioural Brain Research, 367, 35-52.

Rief, W., Glombiewski, J. A., Gollwitzer, M., Schubö, A., Schwarting, R., & Thorwart, A. (2015). Expectancies as core features of mental disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 28(5), 378-385.

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