Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Neurochemical Transmission: Sites of Drug Action

Neurochemical Transmission: Sites of Drug Action

Neurochemical transmission, the conduction of electrical impulses between neurons mediated by neurotransmitters, plays a vital role in various physiological processes. Autonomic drugs exert their effects by modulating neurotransmission within the autonomic nervous system. For instance, drugs such as hemicholinium block the precursor uptake necessary for synthesizing acetylcholine, an essential autonomic neurotransmitter. Following synthesis, neurotransmitters are stored in vesicles. Metyrosine...

Diencephalon: Thalamus and Information Relay

Diencephalon: Thalamus and Information Relay

The thalamus, often called “the gateway to the cerebral cortex,” is vital in processing and directing sensory and motor signals throughout the brain. Almost all inputs destined for the cerebral cortex, except for olfactory signals, are relayed through the thalamus. The thalamus is a sophisticated relay station, channeling information from various brain regions to the cerebral cortex, as well as a filter, prioritizing certain signals over others based on current physiological...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Naturalistic behavior and self-generated neural activity predictive of self-correction.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

AI-Discovered Cognitive Models Reveal Novel Insights into Human and Animal Learning.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Developmental Change in Structure Learning Reflects a Shift From Recency-Based to Relational Prediction.

Developmental science·2026

Same author

Planning in the Brain: It's Not What You Think It Is.

Annual review of neuroscience·2026

Same author

Regional specialization in prefrontal cortex manifests in the reliability of task progression codes.

Neuron·2026

Same author

Hybrid neural-cognitive models reveal how memory shapes human reward learning.

Nature human behaviour·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 18, 2025

Comprehensive Profiling of Dopamine Regulation in Substantia Nigra and Ventral Tegmental Area

Comprehensive Profiling of Dopamine Regulation in Substantia Nigra and Ventral Tegmental Area

Published on: August 10, 2012

Dual credit assignment processes underlie dopamine signals in a complex spatial environment.

Timothy A Krausz¹, Alison E Comrie¹, Ari E Kahn²

¹Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.

|August 23, 2023

Summary

Dopamine signals in rats reveal how the brain updates value estimates for different locations. These signals support multiple learning algorithms, enhancing decision-making in complex environments.

Keywords:

credit assignment decision-making dopamine maze navigation reinforcement learning

More Related Videos

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

Published on: February 20, 2014

Presynaptic Dopamine Dynamics in Striatal Brain Slices with Fast-scan Cyclic Voltammetry

Presynaptic Dopamine Dynamics in Striatal Brain Slices with Fast-scan Cyclic Voltammetry

Published on: January 12, 2012

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 18, 2025

Comprehensive Profiling of Dopamine Regulation in Substantia Nigra and Ventral Tegmental Area

Comprehensive Profiling of Dopamine Regulation in Substantia Nigra and Ventral Tegmental Area

Published on: August 10, 2012

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

Published on: February 20, 2014

Presynaptic Dopamine Dynamics in Striatal Brain Slices with Fast-scan Cyclic Voltammetry

Presynaptic Dopamine Dynamics in Striatal Brain Slices with Fast-scan Cyclic Voltammetry

Published on: January 12, 2012

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience
Animal Behavior

Background:

Animals make decisions based on expected future rewards, or values.
The brain updates these values based on experience, but credit assignment algorithms are unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of accumbens dopamine in updating value-based decisions.
To identify the learning algorithms the brain uses for credit assignment in naturalistic settings.

Main Methods:

Monitoring accumbens dopamine levels in rats foraging in a complex, dynamic environment.
Analyzing dopamine signals in relation to reward receipt, novel path opportunities, and movement towards reward locations.

Main Results:

Dopamine pulses occurred at reward receipt (scaled with prediction error) and at novel path choices.
Dopamine levels ramped up towards reward ports, proportional to location value.
Evidence found for value updates via progressive path propagation and internal model-based inference.

Conclusions:

Accumbens dopamine signals convey location-specific values in complex environments.
Dopamine-based value updates utilize multiple, complementary learning algorithms, including temporal difference learning and model-based inference.