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Do substantia Nigra dopaminergic neurons differentiate between reward and punishment? Free
Michael J. Frank 1 and D. James Surmeier2,*
1Departments of Cognitive & Linguistic Sciences, Psychology, and Psychiatry, Brown University, 190 Thayer Street, Providence, RI 02912-1978, USA
2Department of Physiology, Northwestern University, 303 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60611, USA *Correspondence to:D. James Surmeier, E-mail: j-surmeier@northwestern.edu
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 1, Issue 1, October 2009, 15-16,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjp010

The activity of dopaminergic neurons are thought to be increased by stimuli that predict reward and decreased by stimuli that predict aversive outcomes. Recent work by Matsumoto and Hikosaka challenges this model by asserting that stimuli associated with either rewarding or aversive outcomes increase the activity of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta.

Volume 1, Issue 1
October 2009