Glutamate cotransmission predicts the behavioral functions and characteristics of dopaminergic neurons in the VTA.

Using a novel intersectional genetic strategy for sparse neuronal labeling, Grossouw, Heijmink, et al. reconstruct individual midbrain dopamine neurons throughout development, adulthood, and degeneration. They reveal previously unrecognized morphological diversity, developmental wiring principles, and subtype-specific connectivity, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding how dopaminergic circuits are assembled, maintained, and disrupted.

Neurons in the brain are often many synapses away from motoneurons, yet if a movement results in error, each distant neuron needs a teacher that considers its specific contribution to production of th...

Sleep not only makes us feel better, but it’s vital for helping us form memories and learn new skills. For many years, neuroscientists have studied how the brain consolidates episodic memories during ...

Standard animal learning studies minimize individual reward magnitudes to maximize the repetitions of reinforced behaviors. We investigated how reward magnitude influences initial learning across five...

Nature Communications - Neural mechanisms underlying the ability to identify salient events are not fully understood. This study identifies the superior colliculus as a key brain region that...

Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities ment...

Perceptual decisions are shaped by expectations about sensory stimuli and rewards, learned through sensory and reward prediction errors. Dopamine is known to convey reward prediction errors that shape...