Dopamine Motivational System
Seeking out goals and pleasures seems to be what drives human behavior, but it's really dopamine. Dopamine has long been known to play a role in human behavior, and empirical evidence on exactly how that works has been accumulating fast in recent years. We have been creating models to help integrate that evidence and better understand dopamine's role in cognition for more than a decade.
Our PVLV model (Primary Value, Learned Value, pronounced Pavlov) model integrates a wealth of empirical studies to show how the brain predicts rewards and modulates dopamine release. We began that line of modeling to capture dopamine's role in working memory, and have since expanded it to apply to executive function- how people create and pursue goal-directed plans. The PVLV model is arguably the most complete and detailed model of dopamine release currently in existence.
Select related publications:
Our PVLV model (Primary Value, Learned Value, pronounced Pavlov) model integrates a wealth of empirical studies to show how the brain predicts rewards and modulates dopamine release. We began that line of modeling to capture dopamine's role in working memory, and have since expanded it to apply to executive function- how people create and pursue goal-directed plans. The PVLV model is arguably the most complete and detailed model of dopamine release currently in existence.
Select related publications:
- Neural mechanisms of acquired phasic dopamine responses in learning Hazy, T.E., Frank, M.J. & O'Reilly, R.C. (2010). Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 34, 701--720.
- Dopamine and self-directed learning Herd, S.A., Mingus, B., O'Reilly, R.C. (2010, October). In Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010: Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society (Vol. 221, p. 58). IOS Press.