Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • In Brief
  • Published:

Neurobiology of reward

Predicting the unexpected

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 16, page 578 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

The calculation of prediction error, that is, the difference between the expected reward from a task and the actual result, is important for associative learning. It is calculated by ventral tegmental area dopaminergic (VTA DA) neurons, but the mechanism is not known. In a classical conditioning paradigm, changing the temporal expectation of a reward resulted in alterations in VTA DA neuron activity — when a cue correctly predicted a reward, VTA DA neuron activity would be suppressed (and vice versa). These activity changes, achieved by a subtraction computation, were found to be mediated by local GABAergic inputs that encode reward expectation, indicating a role for this circuit in reinforcement learning.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Eshel, N. et al. Arithmetic and local circuitry underlying dopamine prediction errors. Nature http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature14855 (2015)

Download references

Authors
  1. Sian Lewis
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lewis, S. Predicting the unexpected. Nat Rev Neurosci 16, 578 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn4034

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn4034

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing