D1-and D2-like receptors differentially mediate the effects of dopaminergic transmission on cost benefit evaluation and motivation in monkeys

Abstract

It has been widely accepted that dopamine (DA) plays a major role in motivation, yet theAU : Inordertomaintainconsistencythroughoutthearticle; specific contribution of DA signaling at D1-like receptor (D1R) and D2-like receptor (D2R) to cost benefit trade-off remains unclear. Here, by combining pharmacological manipulation of DA receptors (DARs) and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, we assessed the relationship between the degree of D1R/D2R blockade and changes in benefit-and costbased motivation for goal-directed behavior of macaque monkeys. We found that the degree of blockade of either D1R or D2R was associated with a reduction of the positive impact of reward amount and increasing delay discounting. Workload discounting was selectively increased by D2R antagonism. In addition, blocking both D1R and D2R had a synergistic effect on delay discounting but an antagonist effect on workload discounting. These results provide fundamental insight into the distinct mechanisms of DA action in the regulation of the bAU : Inordertomaintainconsistencythroughoutthearticle; cost andbenefit basedmotivationhasbeenchangedtobenefit enefit-and cost-based motivation, which have important implications for motivational alterations in both neurological and psychiatric disorders.