EVALUATION OF BEHAVIORAL SELECTION PROCESSES IN CONFLICT SCENARIOS USING A NEWLY DEVELOPED MOUSE BEHAVIORAL PARADIGM

Abstract Background Selecting an appropriate behavior is critical for survival in conflict situations during which animals face both appetitive and aversive stimuli. Animals in conflict situations exhibit several processes. First, they stay still in a safe place (suspension); once they decide to take action, they assess risks at a place where danger may occur (risk assessment) and finally reach the reward. However, most studies have not addressed these conflict processes. Aims & Objectives We developed a new experimental paradigm– the three-compartment conflict task– to quantitatively evaluate conflict processes and examine the pharmacological validity of the task. Method The experimental apparatus for the three- compartment conflict task consisted of start, flat, and grid compartments. Mice were required to explore the grid compartment where they might receive electric footshocks while trying to obtain sucrose. We injected them with diazepam (1.0 mg/kg) intraperitoneally to evaluate its previously reported anti-conflict effect. Results We found that applying foot shocks increased sucrose acquisition latency, time in the start compartment, and the number of retreats in the subsequent trials, reflecting an elevated conflict level throughout the trials, in suspension, and in risk assessment, respectively. Strong footshock changed the location of retreats from near to far from the danger zone, reflecting fear generalization. Treatment with diazepam decreased these parameters. Discussion & Conclusion Our new paradigm is a valuable tool for quantitatively evaluating conflict processes and investigating the cognitive and neural basis of such behavior.