RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Prefrontal Cortical–Ventral Striatal Interactions Involved in Affective Modulation of Attentional Performance: Implications for Corticostriatal Circuit Function JF The Journal of Neuroscience JO J. Neurosci. FD Society for Neuroscience SP 773 OP 780 DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0949-03.2004 VO 24 IS 4 A1 Anastasia Christakou A1 Trevor W. Robbins A1 Barry J. Everitt YR 2004 UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/24/4/773.abstract AB Anatomically segregated systems linking the frontal cortex and the striatum are involved in various aspects of cognitive, affective, and motor processing. In this study, we examined the effects of combined unilateral lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the core subregion of the nucleus accumbens (AcbC) in opposite hemispheres (disconnection) on a continuous performance, visual attention test [five-choice serial reaction-time task (5CSRTT)]. The disconnection lesion produced a set of specific changes in performance of the 5CSRTT, resembling changes that followed bilateral AcbC lesions while, in addition, comprising a subset of the behavioral changes after bilateral mPFC lesions previously reported using the same task. Specifically, both mPFC/AcbC disconnection and bilateral AcbC lesions markedly affected aspects of response control related to affective feedback, as indexed by perseverative responding in the 5CSRTT. These effects were comparable, although not identical, to those in animals with either bilateral AcbC or mPFC/AcbC disconnection lesions. The mPFC/AcbC disconnection resulted in a behavioral profile largely distinct from that produced by disconnection of a similar circuit described previously, between the mPFC and the dorsomedial striatum, which were shown to form a functional network underlying aspects of visual attention and attention to action. This distinction provides an insight into the functional specialization of corticostriatal circuits in similar behavioral contexts.