Robb B. Rutledge

TL;DR: Using computational modeling, it is shown that emotional reactivity in the form of momentary happiness in response to outcomes of a probabilistic reward task is explained not by current task earnings, but by the combined influence of recent rewards and prediction errors arising from those expectations.

TL;DR: This work uses fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to measure reward-evoked dopamine release at carbon fiber electrodes chronically implanted in the nucleus accumbens core of rats trained on a probabilistic decision-making task and demonstrates that dopamine concentrations transmit a bidirectional RPE signal with symmetrical encoding of positive and negative RPEs.

TL;DR: Surprisingly, gradients in the frequency distribution of some NRY/mtDNA haplogroups across Polynesia and a gradual west-to-east decrease of overall Nry/mt DNA diversity are identified, providing evidence for a west- to-east direction of Polynesian settlements but also suggesting that Pacific voyaging was regular rather than haphazard.

TL;DR: It is found that dopaminergic drugs selectively modulate learning from positive outcomes, and a novel dopamine-dependent effect on decision making that is not accounted for by reinforcement learning models is found.

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that subjective estimates of uncertainty predict the dynamics of subjective and physiological stress responses, and the finding that stress responses are tuned to environmental uncertainty provides new insight into their generation and likely adaptive function.