The influence of dopamine on learning, memory and cognition is manifold and multifaceted. Its role in reward-related behavior and behavioral affect is well-documented, as is its role in promoting memory consolidation. In recent years, additional fascinating properties of the dopaminergic system have come to light, however. We now know that dopaminergic signaling plays a role in a multitude of associative learning and memory phenomena including working memory, spatial memory, fear memory, explicit and implicit memory forms, extinction learning, social learning, and memory retrieval, as well as the state-dependency of experience encoding.
Dopamine receptors are classified into two main families comprising the D1-like receptors (including D1 and D5 receptors) and the D2-like receptors (including D2 and D3 receptors).
These families of metabotropic receptors trigger distinct downstream signaling cascades that modify the responsiveness of the neuronal cell membrane and drive gene transcription at the level of the cell nucleus. The functional consequence of these processes comprises an ability of dopamine receptors to modulate information processing both acutely and on a long-term basis: a property that exerts a wide-ranging impact on, for example, synaptic transmission, synaptic plasticity, neuronal networks, and information transfer. All of these processes are fundamental for the efficacy and delineation of experience encoding, memory and cognition.
Brain sources of dopamine include striatal structures, such as the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens. More recently it has become apparent that other catecholaminergic structures, such as the locus coeruleus, release dopamine in the brain. This opened up new avenues of inquiry that explore the role and sources of dopamine in information processing and memory in the brain.
In this Research Topic, we wish to showcase the state-of-the-art with regard to the role of dopamine in learning, memory and cognition. We welcome submissions that address the role of different anatomical sources of dopamine in these processes, that scrutinise the role of dopamine in different forms of information processing, and examine the role of different dopamine receptors in the modulation and control of learning, memory and cognition at cortical and subcortical levels.
This Research Topic is open to submission of articles encompassing, but not exclusively limited to, the following themes:
• Role of dopamine release from distinct anatomical structures on learning, memory and cognition
• Contribution of dopaminergic neuromodulation to different forms of learning and memory
• Dopaminergic regulation of brain structures involved in different forms of learning and memory (e.g. hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, amygdala, striatum, neocortex)
• Involvement of dopaminergic neurotransmission in behavioral models of learning, memory and cognition
• Dopaminergic neuromodulation of behavioral state and state-dependent learning, memory and cognition
• Involvement of dopamine and dopamine receptors in synaptic transmission, synaptic plasticity, neuronal networks, and information processing
• Contribution of dopaminergic neurotransmission and dopamine receptors to information processing related to navigation and space (place cells, head directions cells, grid cells, etc...)
• Dopaminergic control of inhibitory neurotransmission on information processing and encoding
• Dopaminergic regulation of experience encoding in the invertebrate brain
The influence of dopamine on learning, memory and cognition is manifold and multifaceted. Its role in reward-related behavior and behavioral affect is well-documented, as is its role in promoting memory consolidation. In recent years, additional fascinating properties of the dopaminergic system have come to light, however. We now know that dopaminergic signaling plays a role in a multitude of associative learning and memory phenomena including working memory, spatial memory, fear memory, explicit and implicit memory forms, extinction learning, social learning, and memory retrieval, as well as the state-dependency of experience encoding.
Dopamine receptors are classified into two main families comprising the D1-like receptors (including D1 and D5 receptors) and the D2-like receptors (including D2 and D3 receptors).
These families of metabotropic receptors trigger distinct downstream signaling cascades that modify the responsiveness of the neuronal cell membrane and drive gene transcription at the level of the cell nucleus. The functional consequence of these processes comprises an ability of dopamine receptors to modulate information processing both acutely and on a long-term basis: a property that exerts a wide-ranging impact on, for example, synaptic transmission, synaptic plasticity, neuronal networks, and information transfer. All of these processes are fundamental for the efficacy and delineation of experience encoding, memory and cognition.
Brain sources of dopamine include striatal structures, such as the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens. More recently it has become apparent that other catecholaminergic structures, such as the locus coeruleus, release dopamine in the brain. This opened up new avenues of inquiry that explore the role and sources of dopamine in information processing and memory in the brain.
In this Research Topic, we wish to showcase the state-of-the-art with regard to the role of dopamine in learning, memory and cognition. We welcome submissions that address the role of different anatomical sources of dopamine in these processes, that scrutinise the role of dopamine in different forms of information processing, and examine the role of different dopamine receptors in the modulation and control of learning, memory and cognition at cortical and subcortical levels.
This Research Topic is open to submission of articles encompassing, but not exclusively limited to, the following themes:
• Role of dopamine release from distinct anatomical structures on learning, memory and cognition
• Contribution of dopaminergic neuromodulation to different forms of learning and memory
• Dopaminergic regulation of brain structures involved in different forms of learning and memory (e.g. hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, amygdala, striatum, neocortex)
• Involvement of dopaminergic neurotransmission in behavioral models of learning, memory and cognition
• Dopaminergic neuromodulation of behavioral state and state-dependent learning, memory and cognition
• Involvement of dopamine and dopamine receptors in synaptic transmission, synaptic plasticity, neuronal networks, and information processing
• Contribution of dopaminergic neurotransmission and dopamine receptors to information processing related to navigation and space (place cells, head directions cells, grid cells, etc...)
• Dopaminergic control of inhibitory neurotransmission on information processing and encoding
• Dopaminergic regulation of experience encoding in the invertebrate brain
