Optogenetic mimicry of the transient activation of dopamine neurons by natural reward is sufficient for operant reinforcement.

Activation of dopamine receptors in forebrain regions, for minutes or longer, is known to be sufficient for positive reinforcement of stimuli and actions. However, the firing rate of dopamine neurons is increased for only about 200 milliseconds following natural reward events that are better than ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kyung Man Kim, Michael V Baratta, Aimei Yang, Doheon Lee, Edward S Boyden, Christopher D Fiorillo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3323614?pdf=render