Prior Cocaine Experience Impairs Normal Phasic Dopamine Signals of Reward Value in Accumbens Shell

Mode of sucrose delivery alters reward-related phasic dopamine signals in nucleus accumbens

Cocaine Self-Administration Experience Induces Pathological Phasic Accumbens Dopamine Signals and Abnormal Incentive Behaviors in Drug-Abstinent Rats.

UNLABELLED Chronic exposure to drugs of abuse is linked to long-lasting alterations in the function of limbic system structures, including the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Although cocaine acts via dopaminergic mechanisms within the NAc, less is known about whether phasic dopamine (DA) signaling in the NAc is altered in animals with cocaine self-administration experience or if these animals learn a...

Phasic Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Encodes

JONATHAN SUGAM: Phasic nucleus accumbens dopamine encodes risk-based decision making behavior (Under the direction of Regina M. Carelli) When deciding to act organisms must correctly evaluate the costs and benefits of action selection in order to optimize resources. Several factors influence the evaluation of reward value including the behavioral cost, the delay to, probability of, and magnitud...

Nucleus Accumbens Shell Dopamine Preferentially Tracks Information Related to Outcome Value of Reward

Effective decision-making requires organisms to predict reward values and bias behavior toward the best available option. The mesolimbic dopamine system, including the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell and core, is involved in this process. Although studies support a role of the shell and core in specific aspects of decision-making (e.g., risk, effort, delay), no studies have directly compared dopa...

Neural encoding of cocaine-seeking behavior is coincident with phasic dopamine release in the accumbens core and shell.

Mesolimbic dopamine neurons projecting from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) are part of a complex circuit mediating cocaine-directed behaviors. However, the precise role of rapid (subsecond) dopamine release within the primary subregions of the NAc (the core and shell) and its relationship to NAc cell firing during this behavior remain unknown. Here, using fast-scan cy...