Abuse of psychoactive substances can lead to drug addiction. In animals, addiction is best
modeled by drug self-administration paradigms. It has been proposed that the crucial …

The tendency to engage in or maintain feeding behaviour is potently influenced by the
rewarding properties of food. Affective and goal-directed behavioural responses for food …

Recent evidence suggests that the hypocretin–orexin system participates in the regulation of
reinforcement processes. The current studies examined the extent to which hypocretin …

The authors investigated the contribution of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core and shell to
effort-based decision making using a discounting procedure. Selection of 1 lever delivered a …

Obese humans and animals exhibit reduced functioning of the dopamine (DA) system in the
nucleus accumbens (NAc). The question addressed here is whether this change in NAc DA …

Nucleus accumbens dopamine (DA) is a critical component of the brain circuitry regulating
work output in reinforcement-seeking behavior and effort-related choice behavior. Moreover …

Mesolimbic dopamine (DA) is a critical component of the brain circuitry regulating behavioral
activation and effort-related processes. Rats with impaired DA transmission reallocate their …

Negative symptoms encompass diminution in emotional expression and motivation, some of
which relate to human attributes that may not be accessible readily in animals. Additionally …

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) are 2 structures within a
larger corticolimbic network mediating goal-directed actions, especially when the …

Brain dopamine, particularly in the nucleus accumbens, has been implicated in activational
aspects of motivation and effort-related processes. Accumbens dopamine depletions reduce …