Dopaminergic mechanism underlying reward-encoding of punishment omission during reversal learning in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Animals form and update learned associations between otherwise neutral sensory cues and aversive outcomes (i.e., punishment) to predict and avoid danger in changing environments. When a cue later occurs without punishment, this unexpected omission of aversive outcome is encoded as reward via activation of reward-encoding dopaminergic neurons. How such activation occurs remains unknown. Using real-time in vivo functional imaging, optogenetics, behavioral analysis and synaptic reconstruction from electron microscopy data, we identify the neural circuit mechanism through which Drosophila reward-encoding dopaminergic neurons are activated when an olfactory cue is unexpectedly no longer paired with electric shock punishment. Reduced activation of punishment-encoding dopaminergic neurons relieve

SUBMITTER: McCurdy LY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7893153 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature