Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:23:58 BST CiteULike: stefanherzog Wheeler http://www.citeulike.org/user/stefanherzog/author/Wheeler CiteULike.org en-gb Copyright © 2004-2008 citeulike.org http://www.citeulike.org/user/stefanherzog/article/460432 <i>Neuron, Vol. 45, No. 4. (17 February 2005), pp. 587-597.</i><br /><br />The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a key component of the brain's reward pathway, yet little is known of how NAc cells respond to primary rewarding or aversive stimuli. Here, naive rats received brief intraoral infusions of sucrose and quinine paired with cues in a classical conditioning paradigm while the electrophysiological activity of individual NAc neurons was recorded. NAc neurons (102) were typically inhibited by sucrose (39 of 52, 75%) or excited by quinine (30 of 40, 75%) infusions. Changes in firing rate were correlated with the oromotor response to intraoral infusions. Most taste-responsive neurons responded to only one of the stimuli. NAc neurons developed responses to the cues paired with sucrose and quinine. Thus, NAc neurons are innately tuned to rewarding and aversive stimuli and rapidly develop responses to predictive cues. The results indicate that the output of the NAc is very different when rats taste rewarding versus aversive stimuli. Nucleus accumbens neurons are innately tuned for rewarding and aversive taste stimuli, encode their predictors, and are linked to motor output. MF Roitman RA Wheeler RM Carelli doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2004.12.055 Neuron, Vol. 45, No. 4. (17 February 2005), pp. 587-597. 2006-01-09T22:58:17-00:00 2005 Neuron 0896-6273 45 4 587 597 nacc neuroscience nucleus-accumbens reward taste http://www.citeulike.org/user/stefanherzog/article/73544 <i>Psychological Science, Vol. 16, No. 1., 56.</i><br /><br />The malleability of stereotyping matters in social psychology and in society. Previous work indicates rapid amygdala and cognitive responses to racial out-groups, leading some researchers to view these responses as inevitable. In this study, the methods of social-cognitive neuroscience were used to investigate how social goals control prejudiced responses. Participants viewed photographs of unfamiliar Black and White faces, under each of three social goals: social categorization (by age), social individuation (vegetable preference), and simple visual inspection (detecting a dot). One study recorded brain activity in the amygdala using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and another measured cognitive activation of stereotypes by lexical priming. Neither response to photos of the racial out-group was inevitable; instead, both responses depended on perceivers' current social-cognitive goal. Controlling Racial Prejudice: Social-Cognitive Goals Affect Amygdala and Stereotype Activation Mary Wheeler Susan Fiske doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.00780.x Psychological Science, Vol. 16, No. 1., 56. 2005-01-07T16:22:43-00:00 Psychological Science 0956-7976 16 1 56 Blackwell Publishing amygdala bias discrimination goal neuroscience prejudice social-cognition social-psychology stereotype