Sensitivity to cognitive effort mediates psychostimulant effects on a novel rodent cost/benefit decision-making task.

Abstract in brief

• The study introduces a new rat cognitive effort task (rCET) based on a visual discrimination test to explore how animals decide between easy and hard work, revealing individual differences similar to humans.
• The research finds that psychostimulants like amphetamine and caffeine alter effort-based choices differently depending on the rat's baseline motivation level, with stimulants reducing effort in motivated "workers" and increasing effort in less motivated "slackers," while also boosting impulsivity.
• These findings suggest that sensitivity to mental effort influences how psychostimulants affect decision-making, offering insights into motivational impairments seen in clinical conditions and potential avenues for developing treatments.]