To make adaptive decisions, we build an internal model of the associative relationships in an environment and use it to make predictions and inferences about specific available outcomes. Detailed, identity-specific cue–reward memories are a core feature of such cognitive maps. Here we used fiber photometry, cell-type and pathway-specific optogenetic manipulation, Pavlovian cue–reward conditioning and decision-making tests in male and female rats, to reveal that ventral tegmental area dopamine (VTA_DA) projections to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) drive the encoding of identity-specific cue–reward memories. Dopamine is released in the BLA during cue–reward pairing; VTA_DA→BLA activity is necessary and sufficient to link the identifying features of a reward to a predictive cue but does not assign general incentive properties to the cue or mediate reinforcement. These data reveal a dopaminergic pathway for the learning that supports adaptive decision-making and help explain how VTA_DA neurons achieve their emerging multifaceted role in learning.

为了做出适应性决策，我们构建了环境中关联关系的内部模型，并使用它来对特定的可用结果进行预测和推断。详细的、特定于身份的线索奖励记忆是此类认知图的核心特征。在这里，我们在雄性和雌性大鼠中使用纤维光度测定、细胞类型和通路特异性光遗传学操作、巴甫洛夫提示奖励调节和决策测试，以揭示腹侧被盖区多巴胺（VTA _DA）对基底外侧杏仁核（BLA）的投射）驱动特定身份提示奖励记忆的编码。在提示-奖励配对过程中，BLA 会释放多巴胺；VTA _DA →BLA 活动对于将奖励的识别特征与预测提示联系起来是必要且充分的，但不会将一般激励属性分配给提示或中介强化。这些数据揭示了一条支持适应性决策的多巴胺能学习通路，并有助于解释 VTA _DA神经元如何在学习中发挥其新兴的多方面作用。