Josh Berke - Dopamine firing versus dopamine release during motivated behavior - ViDA 2020 

Josh Berke
UCSF
05-21-2020
Dopamine firing versus dopamine release during motivated behavior.
​Moderator: Howard Fields (UCSF)
Co-Moderator: Lauren Burgeno (University of Oxford)
We have reported that the spiking of identified VTA dopamine neurons does not account for dopamine release within the NAc, at least under some behavioral conditions. For example, many labs have observed fast ramps in dopamine concentration as rats approach rewards, but these are not accompanied by increased dopamine cell spiking. This work has received substantial interest but also criticism. I will briefly describe our main findings and some key points of controversy, and then present new results on the mechanisms governing dopamine release during reward anticipation.