Consolidation of a recurrent choice pattern into a fixed action schema requires the orbitofrontal cortex

Abstract

Our actions are crystallized by repetition, warranting the efficiency, reproducibility and stability of decisions. Unlike a habit that is formally defined as insensitive to reward value, such persistency in choice can still be shaped and executed in a goal-directed manner, which underlies many volitional behaviors in animals. Yet, largely due to the absence of an established procedure that accesses non-habitual but persistent patterns of choice in animal models, empirical findings that identify its neural substrates are lacking. Using a cost-benefit conflicting decision paradigm in rodents, we here introduce an experimental procedure involving extensive decision opportunities in a fixed contingency, whereby mice acquire a recurrent pattern of choice and shape it into a fixed schema of goal-directed action to guide behavior. A subsequent functional screening of neural circuitry by chemogenetic inhibition reveals the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) as a candidate for this form of choice. Notably, we found that OFC plays a specific role in embedding the recurrent choice pattern into the fixed schema for action selection, but not in merely defining conflicting choice. Consistently, we uncover that OFC ablation leaves animals ability intact to make a conflicting choice, but selectively disrupts the formation of the fixed action schema. These findings suggest that OFC is crucial to ensure persistency in action selection by solidifying extensive history of recurrent choices into a firmly established schema of action selection, providing novel insights into how the stability and persistency of behavior are held in the brain.