Neuronal basis of behavioral responses to reward-predictive cues

Cue-evoked reward-seeking behaviors require recognition of learned cues that predict reward availability and selection of appropriate motor responses to the cues. Multiple brain areas such as the nucleus accumbens (NAc), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), basolateral amygdala and ventral tegmental area contribute to the performance of cue-evoked reward-seeking behavior. However, less is known about function of the neuronal circuits consisting of those brain regions. Recent study has reported the importance of projections from the dmPFC to the NAc core in behavioral and NAc neuronal responses to reward-predictive cues in a discriminative stimulus (DS) task in which and intermittently presented cue directs rats to make and operant response for reward. Here I review the neuronal mechanism underlying cue-evoked reward-seeking behaviors focusing on behavioral, anatomical and electrophysiological evidence for the significance of dmPFC projections to the NAc core in cue responding in the DS task.

anterior cingulate cortex

basolateral amygdala

discriminative stimulus

nucleus accumbens

prelimbic cortex