There is active debate on the role of dopamine in processing aversive stimuli, where inferred roles range from no involvement at all, to signaling an aversive prediction error (APE). Here, we systematically investigate dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens core (NAC), which is closely linked to reward prediction errors, in rats exposed to white noise (WN, a versatile, underutilized, aversive stimulus) and its predictive cues. Both induced a negative dopamine ramp, followed by slow signal recovery upon stimulus cessation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDopamine signals in the striatum are critical for motivated behavior. However, their regional specificity and precise information content are actively debated. Dopaminergic projections to the striatum are topographically organized.
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