mCPP Modulates Behavioral Flexibility in an Automated Reversal Learning Task in Rats

Behavioral flexibility, or the ability to adapt behavior in response to environmental changes, is a key trait often impaired in various mental disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Flexibility can be evaluated using reversal learning, a behavioral paradigm that assesses an individual`s capacity to adjust its behavior when a response-consequence association rule is reversed. Flexibility seems to be modulated by serotonin and the administration of the 5-HT2c agonist meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP) in rodents induces repetitive and/or compulsive behaviors (e.g. self-grooming), resembling those observed in OCD. Understanding how mCPP/5-HT mechanisms affect flexibility can help understand OCD pathophysiology and the development of novel therapeutics.