Dopamine release in decision making

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Dopamine release in decision making Mark Walton1* 1 University of Oxford, Department of Experimental Psychology, United Kingdom The value of an available option depends not simply on the anticipated benefits that may be accrued, but also on the costs that will occur through choosing that option and the motivational state of the animal. Phasic midbrain dopamine responses to reward-predicting cues have been shown to encode several aspects of subjective cost-benefit value, including reward magnitude, probability, delay and uncertainty. Therefore, the firing of dopamine neurons, and by extension, release of the neurotransmitter in target structures such as the basal ganglia, may be closely involved in signalling the desirability of an available course of action. Using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV), we have investigated how fast dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens core (NAcc) codes for anticipated value associated with predictive cues. Animals learn to choose the highest value available option, whether value is defined by reward size, internal motivational state or response cost. NAcc dopamine release reflects the expected benefits of an available option, with greater signals to cues signalling high magnitude rewards or outcomes that fulfil the animals´ current motivation (i.e., food if hungry, water if thirsty). However, in spite of comparable effects on behaviour, it does not similarly encode value elicited by different response costs. Instead, “effort” net value only appears evident as differences in NAcc dopamine transmission when the response cost is both better than a reference value and novel, but not when either there is a greater response requirement or, after extended training, when the range of cost alternatives is known. These results will be considered in the light of how NAcc dopamine might influence cost-benefit decision making. Conference: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting, Rhodes Island, Greece, 13 Sep - 18 Sep, 2009. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Symposia lectures Citation: Walton M (2009). Dopamine release in decision making. Conference Abstract: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.08.2009.09.060 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 05 Jun 2009; Published Online: 05 Jun 2009. * Correspondence: Mark Walton, University of Oxford, Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford, United Kingdom, mark.walton@psy.ox.ac.uk Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Mark Walton Google Mark Walton Google Scholar Mark Walton PubMed Mark Walton Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.