A special role for anterior cingulate cortex, but not orbitofrontal cortex or basolateral amygdala, in choices involving information.

Subjects are often willing to pay a cost for information. In a procedure that promotes paradoxical choices, animals choose between a richer option followed by a cue that is rewarded 50% of the time (No Info) vs. a leaner option followed by one of two cues that signal certain outcomes: one always rewarded (100%) and the other never rewarded, 0% (Info). Since decisions involve comparing the subjective value of options after integrating all their features, preference for information may rely on cortico-amygdalar circuitry. To test this, male and female rats were prepared with bilateral inhibitory Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs) in the anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, basolateral amygdala, or null virus (control). We inhibited these regions after stable preference was acquired. We found that inhibition of the anterior cingulate cortex destabilized choice preference in female rats without affecting latency to choose or response rate to cues. A logistic regression fit revealed that previous choice predicted current choice in all conditions, however previously rewarded Info trials strongly predicted preference in all conditions except in female rats following anterior cingulate cortex inhibition. The results reveal a causal, sex-dependent role for the anterior cingulate cortex in decisions involving information.