Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

REWARD LEARNING AND BEHAVIOR

When does midbrain dopamine activity exert its effects on behavior?

Rewards direct behavioral adaptation through midbrain dopamine signaling, though the timing of those effects is often ambiguous. Lee and colleagues find that different subpopulations of dopamine neurons obey similar constraints, indirectly regulating reward-related behavior through learning mechanisms restricted to a brief time window following reward.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Manipulation of mDA neuron activity induces learning effects within a tight temporal window following reward delivery.

References

  1. Coddington, L. T. & Dudman, J. T. Neuron 104, 63–77 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bromberg-Martin, E. S., Matsumoto, M. & Hikosaka, O. Neuron 68, 815–834 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Palmiter, R. D. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 1129, 35–46 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Howe, M. W. & Dombeck, D. A. Nature 535, 505–510 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Mohebi, A. et al. Nature 570, 65–70 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Lee, K. et al. Nat Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-0567-0 (2019)

  7. Waelti, P., Dickinson, A. & Schultz, W. Nature 412, 43–48 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Berridge, K. C. Psychopharmacology (Berl.) 191, 391–431 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Cohen, J. Y., Haesler, S., Vong, L., Lowell, B. B. & Uchida, N. Nature 482, 85–88 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Coddington, L. T. & Dudman, J. T. Nat. Neurosci. 21, 1563–1573 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Chang, C. Y. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 19, 111–116 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Fischbach, S. & Janak, P. H. J. Neurosci. 412, 259–269 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Lak, A., et al. Dopaminergic and prefrontal basis of learning from sensory confidence and reward value. Neuron https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.11.018 (2019).

  14. Dreyer, J. K., Herrik, K. F., Berg, R. W. & Hounsgaard, J. D. J. Neurosci. 30, 14273–14283 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Lee, S.J., et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/839035 (2019).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luke T. Coddington.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Coddington, L.T. When does midbrain dopamine activity exert its effects on behavior?. Nat Neurosci 23, 154–156 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-0577-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-0577-y

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing