Medial prefrontal dopamine dynamics reflect allocation of selective attention.

The mesocortical dopamine system is comprised of midbrain dopamine neurons that predominantly innervate the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and exert a powerful neuromodulatory influence over this region . mPFC dopamine activity is thought to be critical for fundamental neurobiological processes including valence coding and decision-making . Despite enduring interest in this pathway, the stimuli and conditions that engage mPFC dopamine release have remained enigmatic due to inherent limitations in conventional methods for dopamine monitoring which have prevented real-time observation .