title: Dopaminergic activity coincides with stimulus detection by the frontal lobe.
abstract: For midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons to respond to sensory events, the presence of a stimulus must first be detected. Where is the signal that activates DA neurons coming from? Here we show that DA responses to a vibrotactile stimulus lag significantly behind those of the primary somatosensory cortex, but they arise with a latency that closely matches the onset of premotor neurons known to encode perceptual decisions. In agreement with previous findings, these data suggest that sensory evoked DA activity does not signal a stimulus physical presence but arises from the output of a perceptual decision.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Querétaro, QRO. 76230, Mexico. lafuente@unam.mx
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: de Lafuente
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine