Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent, debilitating and sometimes deadly
consequence of exposure to severe psychological trauma. Although effective treatments …

When rats come to a decision point, they sometimes pause and look back and forth as if
deliberating over the choice; at other times, they proceed as if they have already made their …

How do our brains determine whether something is good or bad? How is this computational
goal implemented in biological systems? Given the critical importance of valence processing …

Orchestrating appropriate behavioral responses in the face of competing signals that predict
either rewards or threats in the environment is crucial for survival. The basolateral nucleus of …

INTRODUCTION Affective or metabolic states, such as anxiety, stress, or thirst, enable
adaptations of perception and the selection of appropriate behaviors to achieve safety or …

Based on recent molecular genetics, as well as functional and quantitative anatomical
studies, the basal forebrain (BF) cholinergic projections, once viewed as a diffuse system …

We propose a new conceptual framework (computational validity) for translation across
species and populations based on the computational similarity between the information …

Survival depends on a balance between seeking rewards and avoiding potential threats, but
the neural circuits that regulate this motivational conflict remain largely unknown. Using an …

The explore-exploit dilemma refers to the challenge of deciding when to forego immediate
rewards and explore new opportunities that could lead to greater rewards in the future …

Motivated behaviors are often studied in isolation to assess labeled lines of neural
connections underlying innate actions. However, in nature, multiple systems compete for …