Although cells in many brain regions respond to reward, the cortical-basal ganglia circuit is
at the heart of the reward system. The key structures in this network are the anterior …

The ability to establish behaviorally what psychological capacity an animal is deploying—to
discern accurately what an animal is doing—is key to functional analyses of the brain. Our …

Recent behavioral studies in both humans and rodents have found evidence that
performance in decision-making tasks depends on two different learning processes; one …

Recent application of theories of embodied or grounded cognition to the recognition and
interpretation of facial expression of emotion has led to an explosion of research in …

Emotions are multifaceted, but a key aspect of emotion involves the assessment of the value
of environmental stimuli. This article reviews the many psychological representations …

The basal ganglia as a whole are broadly responsible for sensorimotor coordination,
including response selection and initiation. However, it has become increasingly clear that …

Habits are controlled by antecedent stimuli rather than by goal expectancy. Interval
schedules of feedback have been shown to generate habits, as revealed by the insensitivity …

Considerable evidence suggests that, in instrumental conditioning, rats learn the
relationship between actions and their specific consequences or outcomes. The present …

Microdialysis studies in animals have shown that addictive drugs preferentially increase
extracellular dopamine (DA) in the n. accumbens (NAc). Brain imaging studies, while …

Impulsive choice is exemplified by choosing a small or poor reward that is available
immediately, in preference to a larger but delayed reward. Impulsive choice contributes to …