Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Saunders BT
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6082399 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Saunders Benjamin T BT Richard Jocelyn M JM Margolis Elyssa B EB Janak Patricia H PH
Nature neuroscience 20180723 8
Environmental cues, through Pavlovian learning, become conditioned stimuli that guide animals toward the acquisition of rewards (for example, food) that are necessary for survival. We tested the fundamental role of midbrain dopamine neurons in conferring predictive and motivational properties to cues, independent of external rewards. We found that brief phasic optogenetic excitation of dopamine neurons, when presented in temporal association with discrete sensory cues, was sufficient to instanti ...[more]