Discussion Topics
We have asked our invited speakers to share a few thought-provoking topics for further online and offline discussions. We will have discussion around these topics during breakout sessions and can continue the conversations on Slack...
Day 1, Wed May 20, 12-12:30pm EST
Breakout room 1: Heterogeneity and homogeneity of dopamine function (I): Diversity of behavioral roles
Breakout room 3: Role of dopamine across species
Breakout room 4: Dopamine neural activity vs. dopamine release
Breakout room 5: Dopamine and striatal circuits (I): dopamine receptors and striatal activity
- How does the somewhat slower sensory or motor activation of dopamine neurons relate to the faster reward prediction error coding, and could there be a common underlying function?
- Dopamine plays a role in shaping ongoing performance as well as future behavior. How do we reconcile these diverse roles of dopamine? Are they mechanistically related or distinct?
- If dopamine reflects a multitude of signals in different situations, how would downstream areas know what to "do" with a burst of dopamine?
- How can dopamine provide signals for both learning and motivation, without confusion?
- What is the relationship between D2/D3 receptor density/sensitivity and disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder?
- Why does it take 6 weeks for the antipsychotic medication to be effective when the drug was in the brain within 30 minutes?
Breakout room 3: Role of dopamine across species
- Dopaminergic circuits in both flies and mammals display similar multiplexed representations of rewards and motivated actions, pointing to a conserved functional logic. Why does dopamine play such similar roles on circuits with distinct architecture?
- Can work in Drosophila inform our understanding of the mammalian DA system?
Breakout room 4: Dopamine neural activity vs. dopamine release
- To what extent is DA-dependent behavior regulated by DA neuron activity, vs. local regulation in target regions?
- What is the relationship between dopamine neuron firing and dopamine signaling?
Breakout room 5: Dopamine and striatal circuits (I): dopamine receptors and striatal activity
- Are there different functional subclasses within the canonical striatal direct and indirect pathways, and how might these subclasses be defined?
- How does dopamine release acutely impact the firing of striatal neurons in vivo?
Day 2, Thur May 21, 12-12:30pm EST
Breakout room 6: Heterogeneity and homogeneity of dopamine function (II): Mechanisms of functional heterogeneity
Breakout room 8: Dopamine activity in “real world” situations
Breakout room 9: Neural basis of dopamine-based learning
- What do various results concerning dopaminergic heterogeneity have to do with one another?
- How do the results concerning DA heterogeneity (by neuron or area) relate to those concerning differences between measurement modalities, release vs spiking, tonic vs phasic, etc?
- The role How do the different electrophysiological subtypes of DA cells contribute to their roles in specific circuits?
- How high-dimensional is the population activity of DA neurons?
- Does dopamine have a common function across the striatum or are there regional differences?
- How might DMS and DLS systems interact to control transitions between goal-directed, compulsive, and habitual behavior?
- Why are some animals resistant to the effects of DMS dopamine stimulation?
Breakout room 8: Dopamine activity in “real world” situations
- Dopamine neurons are famously activated by the consumption of rewards, or presentation of cues which strongly predict imminent rewards. How much can we extrapolate from these findings on the activity of dopamine neurons in complex situations involving the processing of abstract stimuli or memory replay? For example:
- Are your dopamine neurons phasically activated at the precise moment when your crush says, "Yes, I’ll go to the prom with you?"
- When in the throes of grief immediately after a breakup, do your DA neurons exhibit phasic suppressions at the precise moment you replay a once-positive memory of your first dance together?
Breakout room 9: Neural basis of dopamine-based learning
- Out of thousands of active synapses, how might social neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin enhance and decrease specific synapses?
- Is there a memory of specific sensory clues, the CS event, that bridges the time to a reward, the US?
- Does temporal shift in DA signaling from the US to the CS binary, i.e., jumps from the time of the US to that of the CS time, or is the transition gradual, i.e., the onset of the DA signal shifts smoothly over training?
- Are Dopaminergic cells primed for increased spontaneous release by all stimuli, i.e., any potential CS?
