| Project/Area Number |
20K16474
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 51020:Cognitive and brain science-related
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| Research Institution | Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University |
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Principal Investigator |
Sarpong Gideon 沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 神経生物学研究ユニット, ポストドクトラルスカラー (00837198)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2022)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000)
Fiscal Year 2021: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
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| Keywords | Dopamine / Motivation / Imaging / dopamine / motivation / reward learning |
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| Outline of Research at the Start |
When things do not go as expected (“disappointment”), we need to increase motivation to overcome it rather than “giving up”, which will lead to future success. By introducing novel behavioral model in rodents, this study aims to reveal the neural mechanisms underlying such motivation.
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
In the natural environment, adapting to variations in foraging and courtship, which are highly dynamic and often not immediately successful, are critical for survival. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the motivation to overcome disappointment are unknown. This study aimed to reveal a new type of activity of midbrain dopamine neurons (DN), the most important element of the brain reward system that was traditionally thought to be critical for passive acceptance of disappointment. In a novel rat behavioral model that strongly induces such motivation, we found that a subpopulation of DN in the ventral tegmental area increased activity in response to unexpected omission of reward. By employing calcium imaging technique at single-cell resolution, it was possible to measure the calcium activity of many dopamine neurons simultaneously. Overall, this study clarified the central neural mechanisms responsible for overcoming the omission of reward.
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
We developed a behavioral task that enabled us to quantitatively measure the ability to adaptively switch toward the next opportunity to obtain a probabilistic reward after the lack of reward. The study provides a better understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression or “hikikomori”.
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