This article reviews the behavioral neuroscience of extinction, the phenomenon in which a
behavior that has been acquired through Pavlovian or instrumental (operant) learning …

Nearly 40 years of research on the function of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) has provided a
wealth of information on its contributions to behavior but has also yielded controversies and …

Emotional learning is necessary for individuals to survive and prosper. Once acquired,
however, emotional associations are not always expressed. Indeed, the regulation of …

Extinction is a form of inhibitory learning that suppresses a previously conditioned response.
Both fear and drug seeking are conditioned responses that can lead to maladaptive …

Learning theory and computational accounts suggest that learning depends on errors in
outcome prediction as well as changes in processing of or attention to events. These …

Orexins (also named hypocretins) are recently discovered neuropeptides made exclusively
in the hypothalamus. Recent studies have shown that orexin cells located specifically in …

Over the past 20 years there has been a growing interest in the neural underpinnings of
cost/benefit decision-making. Recent studies with animal models have made considerable …

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a heterogeneous midbrain structure that contains
dopamine (DA), GABA, and glutamate neurons that project to many different brain regions …

Mesocortical dopamine (DA) regulates a variety of cognitive functions via actions on D1
and/or D2 receptors. For example, risk/reward decision making is modulated differentially by …

Impairments in decision making about risks and rewards have been observed in patients
with amygdala damage. Similarly, lesions of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in rodents …