Dopamine: at the intersection of reward and action
A new paper reports that dopaminergic neurons initially responded optimistically in rats given free choice between two rewards, as though the animal had chosen the better reward, even on trials when it failed to do so. These findings suggest that current computational theories of dopaminergic function may need to be revised.
The historic takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which could come as soon as this weekend, moved to the forefront of the presidential campaign Saturday.
In the arena that night, the whole last minute was drowned out by cheers — and then when the soaring music swelled, the confetti rained down as the harbinger of balloons and the hopeful first family took the stage, forget about it — it was a perfect end to a convention that last Monday, no one even knew if it would happen. But it did, and I'm so glad to have been there.
