The sodium leak NALCN channel functions as a core effector of GABA-B and D2 receptors that is used along with GIRK channels to regulate action potential firing in dopamine neurons.

The subcortical visual pathway through the midbrain superior colliculus is responsible for visually evoked Pavlovian conditioning and dopamine neuron responses with predicted value in monkeys, which remained after lesioning V1.

Experiments examining the actions of morphine on single neurons from one of the brain's reward centers, the VTA, reveal the mechanism by which the drug exerts its hedonic effects.

For mice, knowing when it is time to feed is dependent on the neurotransmitter dopamine and the D1R receptor of neurons in the dorsal striatum.

Dopamine neurons make novel glutamatergic connections to striatal cholinergic interneurons in the lateral dorsal striatum that are mediated by metabotropic glutamate receptors coupled to TrpC channels.

The molecular mechanisms by which midbrain dopamine neurons acquire the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA for synaptic release are revealed.

Disinhibition of dopamine neurons in the midbrain drives heroin reinforcement, the initial step towards opioid addiction.

Midbrain dopamine neurons in rats signal discrepancies between predicted and actual rewards, regardless of whether the rewards are predicted on the basis of experience or inference.

Dopamine neurons projecting to different targets receive a similar set of inputs, rather than forming reciprocal connections, whereas those projecting to the posterior striatum receive a distinct set of inputs.

Despite the fundamental relationship between movement and value, they are represented in a separable manner in dopamine neurons.