Source Paper
Dopamine Operates as a Subsecond Modulator of Food Seeking
Mitchell F. Roitman, Garret D. Stuber, Paul E. M. Phillips, R. Mark Wightman, Regina M. Carelli
Journal of Neuroscience • 2004
Cue-Evoked Dopamine Response Analysis
Objective: To assess dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens in response to cues signaling opportunity to respond for sucrose, comparing trained versus naive rats to determine the temporal relationship between dopamine changes and food-seeking behavior
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Equipment2
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Software1
Not specified • Not specified
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Protocol Steps
Lever training
Rats were trained to press a lever for sucrose reinforcement to establish the learned association between lever pressing and reward
Note: This training phase established the cue-sucrose pairing that was later tested
View evidence from paper
“rats trained to press a lever for sucrose”
Cue presentation to trained rats
Cues signaling the opportunity to respond for sucrose were presented to rats that had been trained on the lever-sucrose association
Note: These rats had learned the association between cues and sucrose availability
View evidence from paper
“Cues that signal the opportunity to respond for sucrose evoked dopamine release”
Dopamine measurement during cue presentation
Dopamine was sampled every 100 milliseconds using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry at carbon-fiber microelectrodes in the nucleus accumbens during cue presentation
Note: Measurements captured subsecond temporal dynamics of dopamine release
View evidence from paper
“sampled dopamine every 100 msec using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry at carbon-fiber microelectrodes in the nucleus accumbens”
Cue presentation to naive rats
The same cues were presented to rats that were naive to the cue-sucrose pairing to serve as a control condition
Note: These rats had no prior experience with the cue-sucrose association
View evidence from paper
“When the same cues were presented to rats naive to the cue-sucrose pairing, similar dopamine signals were not observed”
Dopamine measurement during lever pressing
Dopamine levels were monitored during lever pressing behavior and subsequent sucrose delivery and consumption
Note: Measurements tracked dopamine dynamics across the complete behavioral sequence
View evidence from paper
“Lever presses for sucrose occurred at the peak of the dopamine surges. After lever presses, and while sucrose was delivered and consumed, no further increases in dopamine were detected”