AA Grace

AM Thompson

Bernd Porr

Graeme Hattan

Y Niv

English

PubMed

Porr Bernd

Hattan Graeme

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BMC Neuroscience

A limbic system model for the control of release of tonic dopamine and its effect on response vigor

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POSTER PRESENTATION Open Access
A limbic system model for the control of
release of tonic dopamine and its effect
on response vigor
Graeme Hattan*, Bernd Porr
From Twentieth Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting: CNS*2011
Stockholm, Sweden. 23-28 July 2011
It has been proposed that phasic dopamine activity is
responsible for learning whereas tonic dopamine is
rather responsible for the response vigour [1]. In con-
trast to previous more abstract work on this topic we
have created a biologically realistic limbic system model
where the release of tonic dopamine controls the overall
response vigour of a simulated agent and where the
release of phasic dopamine controls learning. Tonic
dopamine provides a signal similar to the average rate
of reward suggested by Daw [1] and directly affects the
response rate of the agent.
Here, we show how tonic dopamine is controlled by the
sub-cortical nuclei of the limbic system, especially by the
nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell and the ventral pallidum
[2]. By embedding these nuclei in a system level model of
the limbic system we are able to generate tonic activity as
seen in behavioural experiments. The NAc shell thereby
learns new associations between rewards and stimuli
which are then used to control the tonic dopamine which
in turn controls the vigour. The learning which takes
place in the shell is triggered by phasic dopamine and is
implemented as a third factor [3].
* Correspondence: g.hattan.1@research.gla.ac.uk
School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8LT, UK
Figure 1
Hattan and Porr BMC Neuroscience 2011, 12(Suppl 1):P256
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/12/S1/P256
© 2011 Hattan and Porr; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
To demonstrate our model, we have set up a simple
food seeking task [3] where an agent has to learn to
associate the colour of a food pot with a reward con-
tained inside. The VTA activity is initially controlled by
the unexpected rewards received, which generate phasic
activity and learning. Learning in the NAc core allows
the association of specific visual information with speci-
fic motor activities. Learning in the NAc shell allows
specific sensory information to disinhibit the VTA via a
shell - ventral pallido pathway (Figure 1). The subse-
quent increase in tonic dopamine activity allows for an
increase in vigour brought about purely by the presenta-
tion of reward predicting stimuli.
Published: 18 July 2011
References
1. Niv Y, Daw ND, Dayan P: Tonic dopamine: opportunity costs and the
control of response vigor. Psychopharmacology 2006, 191(3):507-520.
2. Grace AA, Floresco SB, Goto Y, Lodge DJ: Regulation of firing of
dopaminergic neurons and control of goal-directed behaviours. Trends
Neurosci 2007, 30(5):220-227.
3. Thompson AM, Porr B, Wörgötter F: Learning and Reversal Learning in
the Sub-cortical Limbic System: A Computational Model. Adapt Behav
2010, 18(3-4):211-236.
doi:10.1186/1471-2202-12-S1-P256
Cite this article as: Hattan and Porr: A limbic system model for the
control of release of tonic dopamine and its effect on response vigor.
BMC Neuroscience 2011 12(Suppl 1):P256.
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Hattan and Porr BMC Neuroscience 2011, 12(Suppl 1):P256
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Learning and Reversal Learning in the Sub-cortical Limbic System: A Computational Model. Adapt Behav

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Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Central and take full advantage of: • Convenient online submission • Thorough peer review • No space constraints or color ﬁgure charges • Immediate publication on acceptance

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A limbic system model for the control of release of tonic dopamine and its effect on response vigor

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