Animals explore their environment spontaneously in order to obtain food, water and shelter, as well as to find mates. Feedback from the environment, including the acquisition of rewards (such as those listed above) or avoiding aversive outcomes (such as encountering a predator), alters the future behavior of the animal. This form of learning and adaptation is essential to survival and, in vertebrates, is shaped by the basal ganglia and strongly influenced by neurons that make dopamine. Here we examine when dopamine neurons are active during free exploration and how that activity is influenced by the virtual acquisition of an expected reward, or a reward triggered by the execution of a specific motor action. We will compare the activity of two different sources of dopamine that have been differentially implicated in signaling reward and in executing motor actions. Lastly, we will examine how the activity of dopamine neurons regulates their downstream targets to sculpt on going and future motor action. Our results will be integrated into a computational framework that will be used to guide future research into motor control, dopamine signaling, and behavioral adaptation.
