New research reveals that learning in the brain occurs not just when there are external rewards like food or money, but also naturally through the constant ebb and flow of dopamine and acetylcholine. The researchers found that this hormonal balancing act is ongoing and independent of rewards, potentially offering new insights into neuropsychiatric conditions.
“Our findings challenge the current understanding of when and how dopamine and acetylcholine work together in the brain,” said study lead author Anne Krok, PhD. “Rather than creating unique conditions for learning, rewards take advantage of a mechanism that is already in place and is constantly at work,” added Krok, who is also a medical student at NYU Grossman School of Medicine., the study team gave dozens of mice access to a wheel on which they could run or rest at will.
That said, Tritsch, an assistant professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Physiology at NYU Langone Health, cautions that their research was not designed to tell whether mouse brains process information the same way as human brains do during this “self-driven” learning, as he describes it.
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