Electrophysiological Monitoring of the Interactions between the Serotonin and Dopamine Systems during the Initiation of Goal Directed Behaviors
Abstract
The aim of this project is to record the neural activity of serotonin (5HT) and dopamine (DA) neurons in rats during the performance of a reinforcement learning task. We are interested in how neural activity within these ascending modulatory systems is temporally related to events during learning and decision making. This work will provide a window onto the function of the DA and 5HT systems that is complementary to the rich to existing knowledge from pharmacological and biochemical assays. As there are no studies characterizing the behavior of 5HT neurons during the performance of a behavioral task in any species, a major goal of the work is to identify phasic behavioral correlates of 5HT neural activity. Over the last year, we have overcome many of the technical hurdles associated with recording from 5HT cells in awake behaving animals and in the process have made significant strides towards our goal of characterizing neural activity within the serotonin and dopamine systems during goal directed behavior.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA435440
Entities
People
- Zachary F. Mainen
Organizations
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory