Learning what to approach.
Most decisions share a common goal: maximize reward and minimize punishment. Achieving this goal requires learning which choices are likely to lead to favorable outcomes. Dopamine is essential for this process, enabling learning by signaling the difference between what we expect to get and what we a...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2018-10-01
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| Series: | PLoS Biology |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6198981?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818884348645998592 |
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| author | Neir Eshel Elizabeth E Steinberg |
| author_facet | Neir Eshel Elizabeth E Steinberg |
| author_sort | Neir Eshel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Most decisions share a common goal: maximize reward and minimize punishment. Achieving this goal requires learning which choices are likely to lead to favorable outcomes. Dopamine is essential for this process, enabling learning by signaling the difference between what we expect to get and what we actually get. Although all animals appear to use this dopamine prediction error circuit, some do so more than others, and this neural heterogeneity correlates with individual variability in behavior. In this issue of PLOS Biology, Lee and colleagues show that manipulating a simple task parameter can bias the animals' behavioral strategy and modulate dopamine release, implying that how we learn is just as flexible as what we learn. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T15:48:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-748f0bef84494cd18d49566e85395ad9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1544-9173 1545-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T15:48:07Z |
| publishDate | 2018-10-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-748f0bef84494cd18d49566e85395ad92022-12-21T20:15:16ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852018-10-011610e300004310.1371/journal.pbio.3000043Learning what to approach.Neir EshelElizabeth E SteinbergMost decisions share a common goal: maximize reward and minimize punishment. Achieving this goal requires learning which choices are likely to lead to favorable outcomes. Dopamine is essential for this process, enabling learning by signaling the difference between what we expect to get and what we actually get. Although all animals appear to use this dopamine prediction error circuit, some do so more than others, and this neural heterogeneity correlates with individual variability in behavior. In this issue of PLOS Biology, Lee and colleagues show that manipulating a simple task parameter can bias the animals' behavioral strategy and modulate dopamine release, implying that how we learn is just as flexible as what we learn.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6198981?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Neir Eshel Elizabeth E Steinberg Learning what to approach. PLoS Biology |
| title | Learning what to approach. |
| title_full | Learning what to approach. |
| title_fullStr | Learning what to approach. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Learning what to approach. |
| title_short | Learning what to approach. |
| title_sort | learning what to approach |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6198981?pdf=render |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT neireshel learningwhattoapproach AT elizabethesteinberg learningwhattoapproach |