Thesis supervisor: Rita Gálosi
Location of studies (in Hungarian): PTE ÁOK Pécs, Szigeti u. 12. Abbreviation of location of studies: ÁOK
Description of the research topic:
Our main question is to determine the role of monoamine in reinforcement learning including ingestive and avoidance behavior. It is known that the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine systems are involved in the regulation of reinforcement. Other monoamine as the forebrain noradrenergic system has an influence on the activity of dopamine system, but in the reinforcement processes the role of this interaction is not known. The main component of incentive learning together incentive salience, reward prediction and prediction error will be examined during operant as well as pavlovian condition. The aim of these studies to map the neuronal network involving in regulation of reinforcement learning using rodent models and to detect the changes in dopamine and noradrenaline levels with description of the interactions between these systems. The effects of pharmacologic or pharmacogenetic manipulations of dopamine and adrenergic receptors will be examined. Automatic behavioral conditional system will be used in the experiments. Monoamines and their metabolites in vivo and from in vitro samples will be detected with HPLC system and electrochemical detection. The results of these experiments may contribute to understand the psychophysiology of reinforcement and by this way the learning mechanisms.