The obesity epidemic has been widely publicized in the media worldwide. Investigators at all
levels have been looking for factors that have contributed to the development of this …

Operant behavior is not only regulated by factors related to the quality or quantity of
reinforcement, but also by the work requirements inherent in performing instrumental …

The gut microbiome is a collection of microorganisms and parasites in the gastrointestinal
tract. Many factors can affect this community's composition, such as age, sex, diet …

Effort-based decision making is studied using tasks that offer choices between high-effort
options leading to more highly valued reinforcers versus low-effort/low-reward options …

Instrumental behavior is a very complex and multifaceted process. Behavioral output during
instrumental performance is influenced by a variety of factors, including associative …

Reward-seeking behavior is regulated by a diverse collection of inputs to the nucleus
accumbens (NAc). The information encoded in each excitatory afferent to the NAc is …

Sensory cues that precede reward acquire predictive (expected value) and incentive (drive
reward-seeking action) properties. Mesolimbic dopamine neurons' responses to sensory …

Animals use exteroceptive stimuli that have acquired, through learning, the ability to predict
available resources allowing them to engage in adaptive behaviors. Meanwhile, peripheral …

Environmental variations can influence eating and motivated behaviors, as well as the
brain's feeding circuits to predisposing overweight and obesity. The identification of …

Highlights•Striatal dopamine can both promote cognitive control and undermine it.•Opposing
effects may be resolved considering striatal action selection biases.•Dopamine may …