not uniform but occurred primarily at locations where NAc neurons exhibited patterned activation; additionally, the greater the strength of the neural signal the larger the dopamine release event. Furthermore, it was at those locations that electrically-evoked stimulated release was greatest. Together, these data demonstrate: 1) that dopamine release is evident in both the core and shell relative to the cocaine-reinforced response although there are significant differences in the temporal properties of release dynamics across regions, and 2) within both regions dopamine release is heterogeneous and anatomically positioned to modulate the activation of specific NAc neurons that encode cocaine-seeking behaviors. The implications of these findings are considered below.
