Fig. 4

Platform-mediated avoidance task. a Food-deprived rats pressing a bar for food are exposed to a tone paired with a footshock. Over several days of training, rats learn to avoid the shock by stepping onto a platform on the opposite side of the chamber far from the food bar (conflict). As avoidance is acquired, freezing to the tone (fear) is reduced. Source: Ref. 72. b Following 2 days of extinction training (tones without shocks), most rats cease avoiding and remain at the food bar when the tone is presented. However, some rats continue to avoid. The immediate early gene cFos, an activity marker, reveals that rats continuing to avoid have elevated activity in BL and reduced activity in IL-PFC. Similar to the Robogator task above, BL activity is associated with lack of movement toward food, perhaps due to a failure of inhibition by inputs from IL. Source: Ref. 73