Dopamine and Operant Conditioning Flashcards
What does dorsal mean?
Top/Upwards
What does ventral mean?
Bottom/downwards
What does anterior mean?
Front
What does posterior mean?
Back
What does rostral mean?
Front
What does caudal mean?
Back
What is normally the transmitter that the cortex uses to transfer information out to the rest of the body?
Glutamate
What does ICSS stand for?
Intracranial self-stimulation
What is the most reliable site of ICSS?
The medial forebrain bundle.
Where do the most important fibres for ICSS run from?
The VTA to the nucleus accumbens
If you swap an electrode with a cannula into the nucleus accumbens, what can you show?
That animals will work to self administer dopamine or amphetamine.
If you swap a cannula with a dialysis probe, what can you show?
when the animal is doing something rewarding, dopamine is released.
What happens if you block dopamine receptors?
Animals/rats will lose their drive to press the lever.
What does the neural basis of reward involve?
Release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.
What did Knutson et al’s (2001) study show and how?
They recorded activity of the nucleus accumbens while PPS were gambling. Found that the nucleus accumbens increased in activity when the participant was rewarded with money - won.
