How conditioned stimuli acquire the ability to activate VTA dopamine cells: A proposed neurobiological component of reward-related learning

@article{Zellner2010HowCS,
  title={How conditioned stimuli acquire the ability to activate VTA dopamine cells: A proposed neurobiological component of reward-related learning},
  author={Maggie Zellner and Robert Ranaldi},
  journal={Neuroscience \& Biobehavioral Reviews},
  year={2010},
  volume={34},
  pages={769-780}
}
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67 Citations

Neurobiology of reward-related learning

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    Reviews in the neurosciences
  • 2014
TLDR
It is proposed that CSs function as such because they acquire the capacity to activate VTA DA neurons and the control by CSs of mesocorticolimbic DA systems and reward-directed behavior is proposed.

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A food-associated CS activates c-Fos in VTA DA neurons and elicits conditioned approach

A food predictive cue must be attributed with incentive salience for it to induce c-fos mRNA expression in cortico-striatal-thalamic brain regions

Motor skill learning and reward consumption differentially affect VTA activation

TLDR
Results indicate that distinct populations of VTA neurons are activated by motor skill acquisition and task performance, and this activation is not merely related to consumption of food rewards.

The Functions of Dopamine in Operant Conditioned Reflexes

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  • Psychology, Biology
    Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology
  • 2019
TLDR
From the very beginning of execution of the operant conditioned reflex, dopamine is secreted in the window between activation of the conditioned signal and the movement, where it combines “activation of the central motor system of behavior” and modulation of synaptic plasticity for further learning.

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...

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