Reward vs. aversion: false dichotomy

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SUMMARY

This discussion critiques the prevailing assumption in 14 physiology papers that treats reward and aversiveness as opposite ends of a single continuous dimension of value. It establishes that dopamine neurons in the primate ventral midbrain are activated by reward evidence but show insensitivity to aversiveness, indicating that these two dimensions are represented independently. The findings support the existence of four types of value-sensitive neurons: reward-ON, reward-OFF, aversive-ON, and aversive-OFF. This distinction challenges the oversimplified physiological and computational models in favor of a more nuanced psychological and behavioral perspective.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of dopamine neuron function in the primate brain
  • Familiarity with psychological and behavioral models, particularly Skinner's behaviorism
  • Knowledge of physiological and computational models in neuroscience
  • Basic grasp of the concepts of reward and aversiveness in psychology
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  • Research the role of dopamine neurons in reward processing
  • Explore the implications of Skinner's behaviorism in modern psychology
  • Investigate the neural mechanisms underlying aversiveness and its representation
  • Study the concept of opponent processing in neuroscience
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Neuroscientists, psychologists, and behavioral researchers interested in the neural representation of value and the distinctions between reward and aversiveness.

Pythagorean
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a refutation of an assumption in 14 physiology papers. Apparently, the psychological/behavioral model is favored and the physiological/computational model is oversimplified (that is, if you take these 14 papers to be representative). Skinner is the one reference representing psych/behavior perspective, that could be defensible depending on how this particular idea of behaviorism is actually modeled by psychologists today.

Whereas reward (appetitiveness) and aversiveness (punishment) have been distinguished as two discrete dimensions within psychology and behavior, physiological and computational models of their neural representation have treated them as opposite sides of a single continuous dimension of “value.” Here, I show that although dopamine neurons of the primate ventral midbrain are activated by evidence for reward and suppressed by evidence against reward, they are insensitive to aversiveness. This indicates that reward and aversiveness are represented independently as two dimensions, even by neurons that are closely related to motor function. Because theory and experiment support the existence of opponent neural representations for value, the present results imply four types of value-sensitive neurons corresponding to reward-ON (dopamine), reward-OFF, aversive-ON, and aversive-OFF.

http://www.sciencemag.org.proxy.lib.uwaterloo.ca/content/341/6145/546.full
Two Dimensions of Value: Dopamine Neurons Represent Reward But Not Aversiveness
Science 2 August 2013:
Vol. 341 no. 6145 pp. 546-549
DOI: 10.1126/science.1238699
 
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