There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
<p class="first" id="P2">Many learned responses depend on the coordinated activation
and inhibition of synaptic
pathways in the striatum. Local dopamine neurotransmission acts in concert with a
variety of neurotransmitters to regulate cortical, thalamic, and limbic excitatory
inputs to drive the direct and indirect striatal spiny projection neuron outputs that
determine the activity, sequence and timing of learned behaviors. We review recent
advances in the characterization of stereotyped neuronal and operant responses that
predict and then obtain rewards. These depend on local release of dopamine at discrete
times during behavioral sequences, that acting with glutamate, provides a presynaptic
filter to select which excitatory synapses are inhibited and which signals pass to
indirect pathway circuits. This is followed by dopamine-dependent activation of specific
direct pathway circuits to procure a reward. These steps may provide a means by which
higher organisms learn behaviors in response to feedback from the environment.
</p>