title: Phasic mesolimbic dopamine release tracks reward seeking during expression of Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent theories addressing mesolimbic dopamine's role in reward processing emphasize two apparently distinct functions, one in reinforcement learning (i.e., prediction error) and another in incentive motivation (i.e., the invigoration of reward seeking elicited by reward-paired cues). Here, we evaluate the latter.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry, we monitored, in real time, dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens core of rats (n = 9) during a Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer task in which the effects of a reward-predictive cue on an independently trained instrumental action were assessed. Voltammetric data were parsed into slow and phasic components to determine whether these forms of dopamine signaling were differentially related to task performance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that a reward-paired cue, which increased reward-seeking actions, induced an increase in phasic mesolimbic dopamine release and produced slower elevations in extracellular dopamine. Interestingly, phasic dopamine release was temporally related to and positively correlated with lever-press activity generally, while slow dopamine changes were not significantly related to such activity. Importantly, the propensity of the reward-paired cue to increase lever pressing was predicted by the amplitude of phasic dopamine release events, indicating a possible mechanism through which cues initiate reward-seeking actions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that those phasic mesolimbic dopamine release events thought to signal reward prediction error may also be related to the incentive motivational impact of reward-paired cues on reward-seeking actions.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. kwassum@ucla.edu
authors: Kate M
authors: KM
authors: Wassum
authors: Sean B
authors: SB
authors: Ostlund
authors: Gabriel C
authors: GC
authors: Loewinger
authors: Nigel T
authors: NT
authors: Maidment
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology*; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D012201:Reward; D014163:Transfer, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine
references: J Neural Transm Gen Sect. 1993;91(2-3):223-40
references: 8099798
references: Appetite. 2009 Dec;53(3):422-5
references: 19635514
references: Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 1998 Dec;28(3):309-69
references: 9858756
references: Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Apr 15;67(8):737-44
references: 20044074
references: Trends Neurosci. 2003 Aug;26(8):423-8
references: 12900173
references: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Apr;191(3):391-431
references: 17072591
references: Front Neurosci. 2012 Jun 25;6:93
references: 22737108
references: Psychol Rev. 1974 May;81(3):199-213
references: 4424766
references: J Neurochem. 2003 Dec;87(5):1224-36
references: 14622102
references: Synapse. 1991 Oct;9(2):79-94
references: 1821487
references: Eur J Neurosci. 2009 Nov;30(10):1889-99
references: 19912327
references: Behav Brain Res. 2009 Mar 2;198(1):231-9
references: 19041898
references: J Neurophysiol. 1998 Jul;80(1):1-27
references: 9658025
references: J Neurosci. 2000 Nov 1;20(21):8122-30
references: 11050134
references: Nat Methods. 2010 Feb;7(2):126-9
references: 20037591
references: Annu Rev Neurosci. 2000;23:473-500
references: 10845072
references: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2012 Dec;22(6):1054-61
references: 22749132
references: Behav Neurosci. 2000 Jun;114(3):468-83
references: 10883798
references: J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process. 1983 Jul;9(3):225-47
references: 6153052
references: Neuroscience. 1991;41(1):1-24
references: 1676137
references: J Neurosci. 2009 Feb 11;29(6):1735-42
references: 19211880
references: J Neurochem. 2012 Apr;121(2):252-62
references: 22296263
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 May 5;106(18):7281-8
references: 19342487
references: Synapse. 1991 Mar;7(3):221-34
references: 1882331
references: J Neurosci Methods. 1980 Dec;3(2):129-49
references: 6110810
references: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2010 Jul;34(8):1277-95
references: 20385164
references: Neuroscience. 2010 Sep 15;169(4):1682-8
references: 20600644
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Jul 19;102(29):10023-8
references: 16006505
references: J Neurosci. 2004 Feb 11;24(6):1265-71
references: 14960596
references: Trends Neurosci. 2003 Sep;26(9):507-13
references: 12948663
references: J Neurosci. 2008 Aug 27;28(35):8821-31
references: 18753384
references: J Neurosci. 2010 Oct 20;30(42):14273-83
references: 20962248
references: Nature. 2011 Jan 6;469(7328):53-7
references: 21150898
references: Psychol Rev. 1967 May;74(3):151-82
references: 5342881
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Aug 19;105(33):11957-62
references: 18689678
references: Biol Psychiatry. 2012 May 15;71(10):846-54
references: 22305286
references: Neural Netw. 2002 Jun-Jul;15(4-6):535-47
references: 12371510
references: J Neurochem. 1992 Jan;58(1):212-8
references: 1727431
references: Learn Mem. 2011 Jun 21;18(7):475-83
references: 21693635
references: Neuropsychopharmacology. 2012 Jan;37(2):508-19
references: 21918507
references: Anal Chem. 2004 Oct 1;76(19):5697-704
references: 15456288
references: J Neurosci. 2011 Aug 17;31(33):11786-94
references: 21849539
references: Eur J Neurosci. 2003 Sep;18(5):1306-14
references: 12956729
references: Learn Mem. 2008 Jul 14;15(7):483-91
references: 18626092
references: Nat Neurosci. 1998 Aug;1(4):304-9
references: 10195164
references: Learn Mem. 2008 Apr 25;15(5):299-303
references: 18441288
references: J Neurophysiol. 1992 Jan;67(1):145-63
references: 1552316
references: J Neurosci. 2011 Jan 5;31(1):200-7
references: 21209205
references: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 May;1104:357-76
references: 17416928
references: Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2009 Feb;9(1):65-73
references: 19162544
references: Neuron. 2002 Oct 10;36(2):241-63
references: 12383780
references: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1996;20(1):1-25
references: 8622814
references: Nat Neurosci. 2007 Aug;10(8):1020-8
references: 17603481
references: Nat Neurosci. 2003 Sep;6(9):968-73
references: 12897785
references: PLoS Comput Biol. 2009 Jul;5(7):e1000437
references: 19609350