Reward Signals Support Encoding of Reward-Item Associations During Motivated Learning
Abstract
Rewards crucially shape behavior and memory. Twenty years ago, Adcock et al. (2006) reported that anticipatory mesolimbic activation predicts later recollection of high-reward stimuli, outlining a VTA-hippocampus-NAcc circuit that gates selective motivated memory formation. Here, we report a preregistered direct replication of this seminal study using the small-telescope approach and a 2.5-fold larger sample. We found evidence for anticipatory reward-related activation preceding high-reward memory formation in the left VTA, but did not replicate corresponding effects in the medial temporal lobe or evidence for a VTA-hippocampus-NAcc network specifically supporting motivated memory formation. These findings suggest that anticipatory mesolimbic effects on high-reward memory formation are more spatially circumscribed, and likely smaller, than previously assumed. Exploratory analyses indicate that reward-cue activity can alternatively be explained by the encoding of reward-item associations, which later provide a value signal for goal-directed retrieval. Together with previous large-scale behavioural evidence from our group, we propose a shift of the mechanistic emphasis from reward-mediated gating of item memories to the formation and later use of reward-item associations, a perspective that provides a framework for further empirical evaluation.
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BibTeX
@misc{nagel2026reward,
title = {{Reward Signals Support Encoding of Reward-Item Associations During Motivated Learning}},
author = {Juliane Nagel and Martin Fungisai Gerchen and Peter Kirsch and Gordon Feld},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/zq62s_v2},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/zq62s_v2/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Reward Signals Support Encoding of Reward-Item Associations During Motivated Learning
AU - Juliane Nagel
AU - Martin Fungisai Gerchen
AU - Peter Kirsch
AU - Gordon Feld
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/04
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/zq62s_v2
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/zq62s_v2/
AB - Rewards crucially shape behavior and memory. Twenty years ago, Adcock et al. (2006) reported that anticipatory mesolimbic activation predicts later recollection of high-reward stimuli, outlining a VTA-hippocampus-NAcc circuit that gates selective motivated memory formation. Here, we report a preregistered direct replication of this seminal study using the small-telescope approach and a 2.5-fold larger sample. We found evidence for anticipatory reward-related activation preceding high-reward memory formation in the left VTA, but did not replicate corresponding effects in the medial temporal lobe or evidence for a VTA-hippocampus-NAcc network specifically supporting motivated memory formation. These findings suggest that anticipatory mesolimbic effects on high-reward memory formation are more spatially circumscribed, and likely smaller, than previously assumed. Exploratory analyses indicate that reward-cue activity can alternatively be explained by the encoding of reward-item associations, which later provide a value signal for goal-directed retrieval. Together with previous large-scale behavioural evidence from our group, we propose a shift of the mechanistic emphasis from reward-mediated gating of item memories to the formation and later use of reward-item associations, a perspective that provides a framework for further empirical evaluation.
ER -