Att inlärning med hjälp av belöning sker via andra nervbanor i hjärnan än inlärning genom bestraffning, visas i försök med möss som genmodifierats så att särskilda grupper av nerver kan aktiveras genom ljus. (Av Alexxai Kravitz, Lynne Tye och Anatol Kreitzer, 2012)
Titel: Distinct roles for direct and indirect pathway striatal neurons in reinforcement
Författare: Kravitz, Alexxai V; Tye, Lynne D; Kreitzer, Anatol C
Publikation: Nat Neurosci
Volym: 15
Nummer: 6
Sidor: 816-818
Publicerad: 2012
Sammandrag: Dopamine signaling is implicated in reinforcement learning, but the neural substrates targeted by dopamine are poorly understood. We bypassed dopamine signaling itself and tested how optogenetic activation of dopamine D1 or D2 receptor–expressing striatal projection neurons influenced reinforcement learning in mice. Stimulating D1 receptor–expressing neurons induced persistent reinforcement, whereas stimulating D2 receptor–expressing neurons induced transient punishment, indicating that activation of these circuits is sufficient to modify the probability of performing future actions.
Länk till original: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.3100