Separate populations of neurons in ventral striatum encode value and motivation.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 23724077.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0064673 and PMC identifier 3665540.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Neurons in the ventral striatum (VS) fire to cues that predict differently valued rewards. It is unclear whether this activity represents the value associated with the expected reward or the level of motivation induced by reward anticipation. To distinguish between the two, we trained rats on a task in which we varied value independently from motivation by manipulating the size of the reward expected on correct trials and the threat of punishment expected upon errors. We found that separate populations of neurons in VS encode expected value and motivation.
Medical subject headings
- Basal Ganglia
- Motivation
- Neurons
- Reward