Behavioral functions of the mesolimbic dopaminergic system: an affective neuroethological perspective.

TL;DR: A comprehensive comparative analysis of the two neural circuits of social behavior network and mesolimbic reward system concludes that they were already present in early vertebrates and proposes that these circuits form a larger social decision‐making (SDM) network that regulates adaptive behavior.

TL;DR: The results demonstrate that reward has an impact on vision that is independent of its role in the strategic establishment of endogenous attention and suggests that reward plays an important and undervalued role in attentional control.

TL;DR: Since all vertebrates appear to have some capacity for primal affective feelings, the implications for animal-welfare and how the authors ethically treat other animals are vast.

TL;DR: The structure of opponency is considered in terms of previous biases about the nature of the decision problems that animals face, the conflicts that may arise between Pavlovian and instrumental responses, and an additional spectrum joining invigoration to inhibition to shed light on aspects of the role of serotonin and its interactions with dopamine.

TL;DR: It is shown that pre-trial intra-NAc core administration of the NMDA, AMPA/KA, and D1 receptor antagonists AP-5, LY293558, and SCH23390 impaired acquisition of a lever-pressing response, whereas post-trial administration left memory consolidation unaffected.

TL;DR: It is shown that the newt brain actively produces 7alpha-hydroxypregnenolone, a previously undescribed amphibian neurosteroid that stimulates locomotor activity in newts through the dopaminergic system.

TL;DR: The results suggest that novelty preference behavior may be mediated by a central DA pathway similar to that involved in other types of reinforcing stimuli, such as food, water and drugs of abuse.

TL;DR: A signaling pathway between the VTA and the sNAcc is suggested in which opioids and DA facilitate feeding in an interdependent manner.