Talk summary: The experience of a reward, such as the ingestion of food, is accompanied by dynamic patterns of neuronal activity across many brain regions. For example, reward ingestion is often accompanied by brief increases in spike activity by dopamine neurons, amygdala neurons, and neurons in the basal ganglia. I will discuss studies that illustrate different approaches to understanding the behavioral functions of this reward-elicited activity, with a focus on reward signals that promote reward-seeking behavior.
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Reward Evaluation by Subcortical Brain Circuits
12:00 PM to 1:30 PM
Weiser Hall
10th Floor and
via livestream
A reception with light refreshments will take place after the talk for in-person attendees.
This talk is the 2023 Elliot S. Valenstein Distinguished Lecture, In memory of Elliot S. Valenstein (1923-2023), Professor Emeritus of Psychology, whose irreplaceable contributions to the Biopsychology Department included 24 years of teaching and mentoring and over a decade of service as area chair.