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PreprintCC BYbioRxiv

Basolateral amygdala dopamine signals behavioural salience across exploration and learning

  • J. Capece Marsico
  • M. Askarova
  • O. Sharma
  • S. Nandakumar
  • C. M. Pacheco
  • N. Favila
  • S. Blaess
  • S. Krabbe1
  1. 1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
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Abstract

Animals must balance exploration with threat avoidance, yet how neuromodulatory signals shape information-seeking states remains unclear. Using fibre photometry recordings in the basolateral amygdala in freely moving mice, we show that dopamine release is selectively elevated during self-initiated exploratory actions, adapts with repeated exposure, and tracks the behavioural relevance of predictive cues in associative learning and extinction. Our results advance current models of amygdala dopamine function by suggesting that it conveys a state-dependent salience signal that highlights behaviourally relevant moments arising from both environmental cues and self-generated exploration, thereby priming amygdala circuits for plasticity.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{marsico2026basolateral,
  title = {{Basolateral amygdala dopamine signals behavioural salience across exploration and learning}},
  author = {J. Capece Marsico and M. Askarova and O. Sharma and S. Nandakumar and C. M. Pacheco and N. Favila and S. Blaess and S. Krabbe},
  howpublished = {bioRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.64898/2026.09.03.749083},
  url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.749083v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Basolateral amygdala dopamine signals behavioural salience across exploration and learning
AU  - J. Capece Marsico
AU  - M. Askarova
AU  - O. Sharma
AU  - S. Nandakumar
AU  - C. M. Pacheco
AU  - N. Favila
AU  - S. Blaess
AU  - S. Krabbe
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/03
PB  - bioRxiv
DO  - 10.64898/2026.09.03.749083
UR  - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.749083v1
AB  - Animals must balance exploration with threat avoidance, yet how neuromodulatory signals shape information-seeking states remains unclear. Using fibre photometry recordings in the basolateral amygdala in freely moving mice, we show that dopamine release is selectively elevated during self-initiated exploratory actions, adapts with repeated exposure, and tracks the behavioural relevance of predictive cues in associative learning and extinction. Our results advance current models of amygdala dopamine function by suggesting that it conveys a state-dependent salience signal that highlights behaviourally relevant moments arising from both environmental cues and self-generated exploration, thereby priming amygdala circuits for plasticity.
ER  -