Ventral Pallidum GABA Neurons Mediate Motivation Underlying Risky Choice

Pursuing rewards while avoiding danger is an essential function of any nervous system. Here, we examine a new mechanism helping rats negotiate the balance between risk and reward when making high-stakes decisions. Specifically, we focus on GABA neurons within an emerging mesolimbic circuit nexus: the ventral pallidum (VP). These neurons play a distinct role from other VP neurons in simple motivated behaviors in mice, but their role in more complex motivated behaviors is unknown. Here, we interrogate the behavioral functions of VP neurons in male and female transgenic GAD1:Cre rats (and WT littermates), using a reversible chemogenetic inhibition approach. Using a behavioral assay of risky decision-making, and of the food-seeking and shock-avoidance components of this task, we show that engaging inhibitory G signaling specifically in VP neurons suppresses motivation to pursue highly salient palatable foods, and possibly also motivation to avoid being shocked. In contrast, inhibiting these neurons did not affect seeking of low-value food, free consumption of palatable food, or unconditioned affective responses to shock. Accordingly, when rats considered whether to pursue food despite potential for shock in a risky decision-making task, inhibiting VP neurons caused them to more readily select a small but safe reward over a large but dangerous one, an effect not seen in the absence of shock threat. Together, results indicate that VP neurons are critical for high-stakes adaptive responding that is necessary for survival, but which may also malfunction in psychiatric disorders. In a dynamic world, it is essential to implement appropriate behaviors under circumstances involving rewards, threats, or both. Here, we demonstrate a crucial role for VP neurons in high-stakes motivated behavior of several types. We show that this VP role in motivation impacts decision-making, as inhibiting these neurons yields a conservative, risk-averse strategy not seen when the task is performed without threat of shock. These new roles for VP neurons in behavior may inform future strategies for treating addiction, and other disorders of maladaptive decision-making.