Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Optimal Foraging00:48

Optimal Foraging

13.2K
How animals obtain and eat their food is called foraging behavior. Foraging can include searching for plants and hunting for prey and depends on the species and environment.
13.2K
Decision Making01:20

Decision Making

797
Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive process that involves evaluating alternatives and selecting among them. This process can range from simple choices, such as deciding what to wear, to complex decisions, like choosing a major in college or a career path. The complexity of the decision often dictates the approach we use, which can be broadly categorized into two types: automatic and controlled decision-making.
Automatic decision-making is fast, intuitive, and relies on gut feelings...
797
Decision Making: Traditional Method01:14

Decision Making: Traditional Method

5.0K
The process of hypothesis testing based on the traditional method includes calculating the critical value, testing the value of the test statistic using the sample data, and interpreting these values.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is decided based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to this claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses, out of which a null hypothesis would be a...
5.0K
Decision Making: P-value Method01:09

Decision Making: P-value Method

6.7K
The process of hypothesis testing based on the P-value method includes calculating the P- value using the sample data and interpreting it.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim  is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses:  a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can...
6.7K
Reason and Intuition01:37

Reason and Intuition

7.3K
The human brain processes information for decision-making using one of two routes: an intuitive system and a rational system (Epstein, 1994; popularized by Kahneman, 2011 as System 1 and System 2, respectively). The intuitive system is quick, impulsive, and operates with minimal effort, relying on emotions or habits to provide cues for what to do next, while the rational system is logical, analytical, deliberate, and methodical. Research in neuropsychology suggests that the...
7.3K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Methylphenidate enhances or impairs the cognitive control of Pavlovian bias depending on working memory capacity.

eLife·2026
Same author

Stochastic choice drives variability in patch foraging decisions in humans and rats.

Communications psychology·2026
Same author

Neurochemical drivers of effort: The roles of dopamine and beyond in physical and cognitive exertion.

Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews·2026
Same author

The social dimension of apathy: evidence for a distinct domain from 11,243 individuals across health and neurocognitive disorders.

Translational psychiatry·2026
Same author

On the relationships between apathy, depression and anhedonia.

Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry·2026
Same author

A repeat expansion in GOLGA8A is a major risk factor for atypical frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin-positive inclusions.

Nature genetics·2026
Same journal

A Matter of Parameters: Tailored Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Enhances Cortico-Thalamo-Cortical Circuit Resonance.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Proactive visual and motor prioritization differentially scale with cue reliability.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Erratum: Yao et al., "Estrogen Regulates Bcl-w and Bim Expression: Role in Protection against β-Amyloid Peptide-Induced Neuronal Death".

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Erratum: L'Episcopo et al., "Plasticity of Subventricular Zone Neuroprogenitors in MPTP (1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-1,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine) Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease Involves Cross Talk between Inflammatory and Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathways: Functional Consequences for Neuroprotection and Repair".

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Representations of subsecond duration-based timing by complex spike synchrony in cerebellar Purkinje neurons.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

The extended language network: Language-responsive brain areas whose contributions to language remain to be discovered.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 20, 2025

An Automated T-maze Based Apparatus and Protocol for Analyzing Delay- and Effort-based Decision Making in Free Moving Rodents
07:42

An Automated T-maze Based Apparatus and Protocol for Analyzing Delay- and Effort-based Decision Making in Free Moving Rodents

Published on: August 2, 2018

14.2K

Dopamine Modulates Dynamic Decision-Making during Foraging.

Campbell Le Heron1,2,3, Nils Kolling4,5, Olivia Plant4

  • 1Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX39DU, United Kingdom campbell.leheron@nzbri.org.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|May 28, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Dopamine D2 receptor activity influences decisions to leave a location by modulating the perceived opportunity cost of rewards, not their inherent value. This finding clarifies how the brain makes dynamic choices in varying reward environments.

Keywords:
decision makingdopamineforagingopportunity costreward

More Related Videos

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents
07:05

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents

Published on: September 10, 2018

6.3K
Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans
12:09

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

Published on: March 19, 2014

24.0K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 20, 2025

An Automated T-maze Based Apparatus and Protocol for Analyzing Delay- and Effort-based Decision Making in Free Moving Rodents
07:42

An Automated T-maze Based Apparatus and Protocol for Analyzing Delay- and Effort-based Decision Making in Free Moving Rodents

Published on: August 2, 2018

14.2K
Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents
07:05

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents

Published on: September 10, 2018

6.3K
Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans
12:09

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

Published on: March 19, 2014

24.0K

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Decision-making
  • Behavioral Economics

Background:

  • The mesolimbic dopaminergic system is vital for processing incentives.
  • Understanding dopamine's role in dynamic decision-making with variable reward rates is limited.
  • Decisions to stay or leave require comparing current rewards against potential future rewards (opportunity cost).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how dopamine modulates the comparison of foreground and background reward rates in dynamic decision-making.
  • To test the hypothesis that dopamine specifically influences the impact of background reward information.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a novel foraging task simulating ecological reward depletion and varying background rates.
  • Administered cabergoline (dopamine D2 receptor agonist) to human participants.
  • Analyzed participants' decisions to leave locations based on foreground and background reward dynamics.

Main Results:

  • Decision to leave was independently influenced by foreground and background reward rates.
  • Cabergoline administration significantly altered decisions to leave, specifically by modulating the effect of background reward rates.
  • Participants on cabergoline left depleted patches in poor environments earlier.

Conclusions:

  • Dopamine, specifically via D2 receptors, signals the opportunity cost of rewards, influencing decisions to move.
  • This study reveals a specific mechanism of D2 dopamine receptor activity in dynamic decision-making under varying reward conditions.