While conflict between incompatible goals has well-known effects on actions, in many situations the same action may produce harmful or beneficial consequences during different periods in a nonconflicting manner, e.g., crossing the street during a red or green light. To avoid harm, subjects must be cautious to inhibit the action specifically when it is punished, as in passive avoidance, but act when it is beneficial, as in active avoidance or active approach. In mice of both sexes performing a signaled action to avoid harm or obtain reward, we found that addition of a new rule that punishes the action when it occurs unsignaled delays the timing of the signaled action in an apparent sign of increased caution. Caution depended on task signaling, contingency, and reinforcement type. Interestingly, caution became persistent when the signaled action was avoidance motivated by danger but was only transient when it was approach motivated by reward. Although caution is represented by the activity of neurons in the midbrain, it developed independent of frontal cortex or basal ganglia output circuits. These results indicate that caution disrupts actions in different ways depending on the motivational state and may develop from unforeseen brain circuits.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Actions, such as crossing the street at a light, can have benefits during one light signal (getting somewhere) but can be harmful during a different signal (being run over). Humans must be cautious to cross the street during the period marked by the appropriate signal. In mice performing a signaled action to avoid harm or obtain reward, we found that addition of a new rule that punishes the action when it occurs unsignaled, delays the timing of the signaled action in an apparent sign of increased caution. Caution became persistent when the signaled action was motivated by danger, but not when it was motivated by reward. Moreover, the development of caution did not depend on prototypical frontal cortex circuits.

虽然不相容目标之间的冲突对行动有众所周知的影响，但在许多情况下，相同的行动可能会在不同时期以不冲突的方式产生有害或有益的结果，例如，在红灯或绿灯时过马路。为了避免伤害，受试者必须谨慎地在受到惩罚时抑制该行为，如被动回避，但在有益时采取行动，如主动回避或主动接近。在为避免伤害或获得奖励而执行信号动作的两性小鼠中，我们发现添加一个新规则来惩罚在未发出信号的情况下发生的动作会延迟信号动作的时间，这是一个明显增加谨慎的迹象。谨慎取决于任务信号、应急和强化类型。有趣的是，当发出信号的行动是出于危险动机的回避时，谨慎变得持久，但只有在受到奖励动机的接近时才变得短暂。尽管中脑神经元的活动代表了谨慎，但它的发展独立于额叶皮层或基底神经节输出回路。这些结果表明，谨慎会根据动机状态以不同的方式扰乱行为，并且可能从不可预见的大脑回路中发展而来。

重要性声明诸如在红绿灯处过马路之类的行为在一个信号灯（到达某处）期间可能有益，但在另一个信号灯（被碾过）期间可能有害。在相应信号标记的时间段内，人们必须谨慎过马路。在执行信号动作以避免伤害或获得奖励的小鼠中，我们发现添加一个新规则来惩罚在没有信号的情况下发生的动作，延迟信号动作的时间，这是一个明显增加谨慎的迹象。当发出信号的动作是出于危险的动机时，谨慎会变得持久，但当它是出于奖励的动机时则不会。此外，谨慎的发展并不依赖于原型额叶皮层电路。