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Motivation is the driving force that elicits a certain behaviour from an organism in order to satisfy the drive or seek a particular goal. Motivation can be induced by physiological drives such as hunger, thirst or pain, as well as by events in the external environment.
Why animals prefer novel social encounters over familiar ones is unclear. Here, authors find that mesolimbic dopamine encodes novel social interaction bout length; whereas familiar social encounters are shortened by an IPN→LDTg circuit that restricts dopamine to control novelty preference.
Increasing evidence point to a dysfunction of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in eating disorders. Here, the authors provide evidence that dysregulation of the activity of NAc dopaminoceptive neuronal subpopulations is sufficient to alter energy balance.
Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) causes anxiety by modulating the HP1γKLF11-MAOB pathway, depleting dopamine in the dorsal hippocampus, and increasing MAOB while reducing dopamine levels, leading to anxiety-like behaviors.
A study in mice helps to resolve a debate surrounding striatal DA dynamics and reward benefit or cost and also reveals motivation and transient striatal DA release have a bidirectional causal relationship.
Sensory association learning is impaired in people with insulin resistance but can be restored following a one-time intervention with liraglutide. These findings provide ample evidence for metabolic signals as modulators of adaptive behaviour and suggest a potential role for GLP-1 receptor agonists in obesity management.
Activating a specific subpopulation of glutamatergic neurons in the brainstem issues a motor command for global motor arrest. This motor arrest is distinct from defensive freezing and has a striking pause-and-play pattern accompanied by a reduction in respiration and heart rate.
