Context matters.
Midbrain dopamine neurons are thought to encode the difference between predicted and actual reward on conditioning tasks. Successful models assumed a simple form of prediction that depended only on currently available information. In this issue of Neuron, Nakahara and colleagues record from dopamine neurons in alert monkeys and show that the neurons can encode predictions that are not so restricted, taking into account the context of past trends.
Gold
Joshua I
JI
Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 19104, USA.
Kalwani
Rishi M
RM
D000818:Animals; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology*; D000882:Haplorhini / Q000502:physiology; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012201:Reward
D004298:Dopamine