fMRI studies suggest that nucleus accumbens (NAc) activation increases in response to stimuli of different hedonic valence, whereas physiological evidence suggests that NAc neurons show increases in activity for rewarding stimuli and pauses for aversive stimuli. Using cyclic voltammetry, the authors find that patterns of dopamine release and metabolic activity differentiate between rewarding and aversive stimuli.
- Mitchell F Roitman
- Robert A Wheeler
- Regina M Carelli
