dopamine signaling (transients) occur with the same temporal and spatial resolution as NAc cell firing relative to goal-directed behaviors for cocaine (Phillips et al., 2003b), natural rewards (Roitman et al., 2004) and ICSS (Cheer et al., 2007). Importantly, we recently demonstrated that rapid dopamine transients in the NAc arise from burst firing in the VTA (Sombers et al., 2009). Now, voltammetric measurements of dopamine can reveal if dopamine release is similar across the core and shell of the NAc during cocaine-seeking, and if dopamine release is positioned to differentially modulate NAc cell firing within discrete locations.
