Figure 2.

Effect of nucleus accumbens muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor blockade on Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer. Prior to each PIT test (see the ‘Materials and Methods' section), rats were bilaterally infused with either scopolamine (Scop; 10 μg), mecamylamine (Mec; 10 μg), or ACSF vehicle (Veh) into the NAc. (a) The PIT effect. Number of lever presses during each 2-min period, averaged across trials compared between the CS-free (baseline), neutral stimulus (CS^Ø), and reward-predictive cue (CS⁺) periods. (b) Conditioned food-port approach responding. Number of entries into the food-delivery port during each 2-min period, averaged across trials compared between the baseline, CS^Ø, and CS⁺ periods. n=24. Error bars represent±1 SEM. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.