Motivation can be characterized as a series of cost–benefit valuations, in which we weigh
the amount of effort we are willing to expend (the cost of an action) in return for particular …

Food and water are rewarding in part because they satisfy our internal needs,.
Dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are activated by gustatory …

The gustatory system serves as a critical line of defense against ingesting harmful
substances. Technological advances have fostered the characterization of peripheral …

Efficient regulation of internal homeostasis and defending it against perturbations requires
adaptive behavioral strategies. However, the computational principles mediating the …

Brief, high-concentration (phasic) spikes in nucleus accumbens dopamine critically
participate in aspects of food reward. Although physiological state (eg, hunger, satiety) and …

Mesolimbic dopamine (DA) is involved in behavioral activation and effort-related processes.
Rats with impaired DA transmission reallocate their instrumental behavior away from food …

Environmental reward‐predictive stimuli provide a major source of motivation for
instrumental reward‐seeking activity and this has been linked to dopamine signaling in the …

Background: Depression and related disorders are characterized by deficits in behavioral
activation, exertion of effort, and other psychomotor/motivational dysfunctions. Depressed …

Objective To test whether high‐fat diet (HFD) decreases dopaminergic tone in reward
regions of the brain and evaluate whether these changes reverse after removal of the HFD …

Accumulating evidence indicates integration of dopamine function with metabolic signals,
highlighting a potential role for dopamine in energy balance, frequently construed as …