Priestley Luke, Chiew Mark, Shahdloo Mo, Mahmoodi Ali, Cheng Xinghao, Cleveland Robin, Rushworth Matthew, Khalighinejad Nima
Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Tinsley Building, Oxford, UK.
Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Sci Adv. 2025 Jun 27;11(26):eads1236. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ads1236.
The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) is an important source of serotonin in the brain, but fundamental aspects of its function remain elusive. Here, we present a combination of minimally invasive recording and disruption studies to show that DRN brings about changes in motivation states. We use recently developed methods for identifying temporal patterns in behavior to show that monkeys change their motivation depending on the availability of rewards in the environment. Distinctive patterns of DRN activity occur when monkeys transition between a high-motivation state occupied when rewards are abundant, to a low-motivation state engendered by reward scarcity. Disrupting DRN diminishes sensitivity to the reward environment and perturbs transitions in motivational states.
中缝背核（DRN）是大脑中血清素的重要来源，但其功能的基本方面仍不清楚。在这里，我们结合微创记录和干扰研究表明，DRN会引起动机状态的变化。我们使用最近开发的识别行为时间模式的方法，表明猴子会根据环境中奖励的可得性改变它们的动机。当猴子从奖励丰富时所处的高动机状态转变为奖励稀缺所导致的低动机状态时，会出现不同的DRN活动模式。破坏DRN会降低对奖励环境的敏感性，并扰乱动机状态的转变。
