Dopamine projections to the basolateral amygdala drive the encoding of identity-specific reward memories.

ABSTRACT: To make adaptive decisions, we build an internal model of the associative relationships in an environment and use it to make predictions and inferences about specific available outcomes. Detailed, identity-specific cue-reward memories are a core feature of such cognitive maps. Here we used fiber photometry, cell-type and pathway-specific optogenetic manipulation, Pavlovian cue-reward conditioning and decision-making tests in male and female rats, to reveal that ventral tegmental area dopamine (VTA_DA) projections to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) drive the encoding of identity-specific cue-reward memories. Dopamine is released in the BLA during cue-reward pairing; VTA_DA→BLA activity is necessary and sufficient to link the identifying features of a reward to a predictiv

SUBMITTER: Sias AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11110430 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature