• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Dopamine Ramps Are a Consequence of Reward Prediction Errors
  • Contributor: Gershman, Samuel J.
  • Published: MIT Press - Journals, 2014
  • Published in: Neural Computation, 26 (2014) 3, Seite 467-471
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1162/neco_a_00559
  • ISSN: 1530-888X; 0899-7667
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: Temporal difference learning models of dopamine assert that phasic levels of dopamine encode a reward prediction error. However, this hypothesis has been challenged by recent observations of gradually ramping stratal dopamine levels as a goal is approached. This note describes conditions under which temporal difference learning models predict dopamine ramping. The key idea is representational: a quadratic transformation of proximity to the goal implies approximately linear ramping, as observed experimentally.