Choose your path: Divergent basolateral amygdala efferents differentially mediate incentive motivation, flexibility and decision-making.

Behav Brain Res

Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States. Electronic address:

Published: July 2021

To survive in a complex environment, individuals form associations between environmental stimuli and rewards to organize and optimize reward seeking behaviors. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) uses these learned associations to inform decision-making processes. In this review, we describe functional projections between BLA and its cortical and striatal targets that promote learning and motivational processes central to decision-making. Specifically, we compare and contrast divergent projections from the BLA to the orbitofrontal (OFC) and to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and examine the roles of these pathways in associative learning, value-guided decision-making, choice behaviors, as well as cue and context-driven drug seeking. Finally, we consider how these projections are involved in disorders of motivation, with a focus on Substance Use Disorder.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8189324PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113306DOI Listing

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