Reward and reinforcement activity in the nucleus accumbens during learning
The nucleus accumbens core (NAcc) has been implicated in learning associations between sensory cues and profitable motor responses. However, the precise mechanisms that underlie these functions remain unclear. We recorded single-neuron activity from the NAcc of primates trained to perform a visual-m...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2014-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00114/full |
| _version_ | 1828921584890413056 |
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| author | John Thomas Gale Donald C Shields Yumiko eIshizawa Emad N Eskandar |
| author_facet | John Thomas Gale Donald C Shields Yumiko eIshizawa Emad N Eskandar |
| author_sort | John Thomas Gale |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The nucleus accumbens core (NAcc) has been implicated in learning associations between sensory cues and profitable motor responses. However, the precise mechanisms that underlie these functions remain unclear. We recorded single-neuron activity from the NAcc of primates trained to perform a visual-motor associative learning task. During learning, we found two distinct classes of NAcc neurons. The first class demonstrated progressive increases in firing rates at the go-cue, feedback/tone and reward epochs of the task, as novel associations were learned. This suggests that these neurons may play a role in the exploitation of rewarding behaviors. In contrast, the second class exhibited attenuated firing rates, but only at the reward epoch of the task. These findings suggest that some NAcc neurons play a role in reward-based reinforcement during learning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T22:05:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-761ad3d7c27d4d9493667c8c4e97386f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T22:05:32Z |
| publishDate | 2014-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-761ad3d7c27d4d9493667c8c4e97386f2022-12-21T23:29:51ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532014-04-01810.3389/fnbeh.2014.0011468468Reward and reinforcement activity in the nucleus accumbens during learningJohn Thomas Gale0Donald C Shields1Yumiko eIshizawa2Emad N Eskandar3Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolThe nucleus accumbens core (NAcc) has been implicated in learning associations between sensory cues and profitable motor responses. However, the precise mechanisms that underlie these functions remain unclear. We recorded single-neuron activity from the NAcc of primates trained to perform a visual-motor associative learning task. During learning, we found two distinct classes of NAcc neurons. The first class demonstrated progressive increases in firing rates at the go-cue, feedback/tone and reward epochs of the task, as novel associations were learned. This suggests that these neurons may play a role in the exploitation of rewarding behaviors. In contrast, the second class exhibited attenuated firing rates, but only at the reward epoch of the task. These findings suggest that some NAcc neurons play a role in reward-based reinforcement during learning.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00114/fullLearningNucleus AccumbensRewardoperant conditioningincentive salience |
| spellingShingle | John Thomas Gale Donald C Shields Yumiko eIshizawa Emad N Eskandar Reward and reinforcement activity in the nucleus accumbens during learning Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience Learning Nucleus Accumbens Reward operant conditioning incentive salience |
| title | Reward and reinforcement activity in the nucleus accumbens during learning |
| title_full | Reward and reinforcement activity in the nucleus accumbens during learning |
| title_fullStr | Reward and reinforcement activity in the nucleus accumbens during learning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reward and reinforcement activity in the nucleus accumbens during learning |
| title_short | Reward and reinforcement activity in the nucleus accumbens during learning |
| title_sort | reward and reinforcement activity in the nucleus accumbens during learning |
| topic | Learning Nucleus Accumbens Reward operant conditioning incentive salience |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00114/full |
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