The Corticostriatal Circuit: Order

Question 1

classical conditioning

Answer 1

development of a physiological response to a cue for a reward.
- a passive form of learning

Question 2

Pavlov’s dogs

Answer 2

one of the first studies of classical conditioning: food could be predicted by some other stimulus

Question 3

laying out pavlov’s dogs study

Answer 3

1. food was the primary reinforcer, salivating was the unconditioned reflex
2. food was the primary reinforce and the bell was the secondary reinforcer (paired together), salivating was the unconditioned reflex
3. the bell become the secondary reinforcer, bringing about the salivating as the conditioned response

Question 4

classical conditiong and fear conditioning

Answer 4

fear learning is a negative form of classical conditioning

Question 5

STUDY: monkeys trained to expect juice with cue

Answer 5

studies dopamine and reward
1. when unpredicted reward occurs, dopamine immediately after
2. when cue and predicted award, shift in dopamine from reward to cue
3. when predicted reward doesn’t occur, there’s dopamine release after cue but then a dip in dopamine when the reward is left out

Question 6

primary reinforcer pathway

Answer 6

(ex. eating can trigger the release of dopamine)
BLA, HF, VTA (by way of primary enforcer) –> VS –> lateral hypothalamus, ventral pallidum (to lateral hypothalamus & NBM)

Question 7

secondary reinforcer pathway

Answer 7

(paired with primary reinforcer)
BLA, HF, Ventral tegmental area (by way of secondary reinforcer) –> VS –> LH, VP (to LH & NBM)

Question 8

primary reinforcers

Answer 8

food, drugs, alcohol, sex

Question 9

STUDY: milkshake

Answer 9

(studied response to drinking milkshake if dehydrated and given water)
Finds: magnitude of VS activation positively connected with subjective exposure

Question 10

what are the pathways of signaling for primary reinforcers

Answer 10

opioid signaling in hedonic hotspot

Question 11

STUDY: favorite foods

Answer 11

*remember ugly pic of fav soup
Finds: direct neural activity in VS when viewing images of your favorite foods

Question 12

STUDY: sex as a primary enforcer

Answer 12

(viewed porn in a scanner)
Finds: strong VS activation in men and women when viewing porn

*differs only in hypothalamus related to medial preoptic area between men & women (dimorphism)

Question 13

primary reinforcer uniquely in humans

Answer 13

music (intrinsically rewarding)
humor

Question 14

secondary reinforcers

Answer 14

visual cues: pictures of food (makes you salivate)
cigarette smokers: activation (craving)

Question 15

STUDY: bong & cannabis

Answer 15

higher VS activation leading to higher vmPFC activation
(many had financial incentives)
higher VS and midbrain VTA activity in anticipation of winning money

Question 16

STUDY: non-alcoholic beer

Answer 16

Finds: greater activation of VS even flavor activates the VS
- found dopamine release

Question 17

uses of PET

Answer 17

can be used to see dopamine signaling

Question 18

operant conditioning

Answer 18

goal-directed plans, working for a reward. motivation satisfied by action
(ex. it requires a specific behavioral response to get food)

Question 19

operant conditioning pathway (need a plan)

Answer 19

dlPFC –> vmPFC –> VS

(vmPFC integrates bottom-up sensory interoceptive, contextual input with motivational states, leading to internal and external subjective awareness)

Question 20

operant conditioning pathway (execution of plan)

Answer 20

VS –> Substantia Nigra –> DS –> DP –> vaN/ vlN of thalamus –> motor cortices

Question 21

operant conditioning pathway (plan being executed correctly?)

Answer 21

(Monitoring)
VS –> SN –> DS –> dlPFC

Question 22

operant conditioning pathway (error detection)

Answer 22

VS –> VP –> dmN –> dlPFC & vmPFC (to dACC and dlPFC)

Question 23

operant conditioning pathway (if output/ goal is successful)

Answer 23

input planning –> VS –> output (action/ behavior) –> goal achieved –> VTA (dopamine release) (to VS)

Question 24

operant conditioning pathway (goal not achieved by plan, no dopamine release)

Answer 24

new input –> VS –> dACC (back to new input) & new output

Question 25

STUDY: dopamine with PET

Answer 25

more effort = more dopamine
release in vmPFC and striatum

Question 26

STUDY: dopamine with fMRI

Answer 26

as it became harder (more effort required) –> more activity in the VS gate and more functional connectivity between VS and motor cortex

Question 27

STUDY: cue, delay, target, winning money (MIDT, money incentive delay task)

Answer 27

delay: more activation of vmPFC in this anticipation, VS and VTA
–> engaged most in anticipation of forthcoming reward

Question 28

what does VS and vmPFC activation mean?

Answer 28

indicates how pleasant/ enjoyable participants find substances (“hedonic hot spots”)

Question 29

STUDY: shopping study

Answer 29

(asked participants to look at common items, ex. chocolate, and decide if they should buy them. gave them $25 and said they would ship the items to their homes – to mimic real-world behavior)
ACTIVATION:
preference – vs activation when shown product & price (especially during purchase)
price differential – vmPFC activation during price (especially when purchased)
purchase – insula activation during choice (especially when didn’t purchase)

Question 30

STUDY: music

Answer 30

(brought favorite music) PET and bold fMRI data
FIND: greater dopamine and VS activation (more activated when we find something more pleasant)

Question 31

STUDY: buying new music

Answer 31

magnitude of activation tracks how much you’re willing to pay to have a song

Question 32

STUDY: humor

Answer 32

greater VS activity when find something funny

Question 33

STUDY: social reciprocity

Answer 33

(present with a choice, either maintain both your earnings and maintain trust or increase your earnings and break the trust)
learn who is and isn’t trustworthy
FIND: VS gate activity and vmPFC increased when someone is generous and kind to us

Question 34

STUDY: social reciprocity (response following the end of the game)

Answer 34

greater VS activation to faces of trustworthy partners
lower VS activation to faces of untrustworthy partners
(building patterns of association)

Question 35

what is the impact of a positive social exchange on the corticostriatal circuit?

Answer 35

happy expressions & interactions –> BS activation

Question 36

STUDY: pleasure in the suffering of others

Answer 36

(Red socks vs. Yankees, sports rivalries)
FIND: activity in the striatum and putamen with the success of their team and failure of the opposing team
activity in dACC with loss of your team

Question 37

Understanding impulsivity

Answer 37

(think of the graphs here)
greater impulsivity = greater VS activity & lower dlPFC and dACC regions & reduced functional connectivity between VS and prefrontal regions

Question 38

STUDY: impulsivity & delaying gratification

Answer 38

In children: ability to delay gratification in childhood can predict more success and less impulsivity
*caveat 1: when neglected child, taking most accessible option (Not waiting for second marshmallow) is the safest
caveat 2: depends on someones trustworthiness (higher trustworthiness = higher likelihood of waiting)

Question 39

STUDY: effort & reward

Answer 39

(squeezing an inflated ball or pressing a button with pinky)
- greater effort required to obtain reward = greater dopamine release and cmPFC release (DA projects to vmPFC)
- correlated with greater activity in motor cortex

Question 40

STUDY: shopping

Answer 40

(presented with image of item, wait, told price of item, wait, do you want to buy?, wait)
- greater VS activation for products purchased vs. those not purchased

Question 41

STUDY: couples study

Answer 41

(couples separated in 2 fMRI scans simultaneously could communicate and send love notes)
- processing compliments, especially from a significant other –> greater VS and vmPFC activation