# Amygdala Output Circuitry in Reward Encoding, Expectation, and Decision Making

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2024 · $649,566

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
To make good decisions we mentally cast ourselves into the future to consider the identity and value of the
outcomes of our potential choices. This prospective consideration is facilitated by an encoded internal model (aka
cognitive map) of environmental associative relationships, e.g., between stimuli and the specific rewards they
predict. Such cue-reward learning enables one to contemplate potential forthcoming events and facilitates adaptive
decision making. While we know of brain regions that contribute, the pathways and circuits of cue-reward learning
and decision making are less explored. Given that substance use disorders are characterized by deficits in cue-
reward learning and decision making, this gap in knowledge limits clinical advance. The goal of this project is, thus,
to expose the neuronal pathways and circuit motifs that support the cue-reward learning and memory processes
that enable adaptive decision making.
 In the last funding period, we discovered the basolateral amygdala (BLA) is a hub for the encoding and use of
the detailed, identity-specific cue-reward memories, i.e., cognitive map, that enable flexible decision making. The
BLA output pathways that subserve these functions are largely unknown. Our preliminary data suggest the BLA
may mediate cue-reward memory via projections to the lateral (lOFC) and medial (mOFC) orbitofrontal cortex.
Activity in these projections is critical for using cue-reward memories to guide decision making, with the BLAlOFC
and BLAmOFC pathway needed for identity and value predictions, respectively. The information conveyed by
these pathways and whether they also support cue-reward learning is unknown. The BLA may also mediate cue-
reward learning and decision making via projections to the striatum, including the dorsomedial striatum (DMS),
nucleus accumbens (NAc) core and shell. Whereas DMS and NAc shell have been implicated in choices based on
predicted reward identity, NAc core has been implicated decisions based on predicted value. Little is known about
how these functions are achieved. Our general working hypothesis is that BLA projections to lOFC, NAc shell, and
DMS contribute to encoding and using identity-specific cue-reward memories to enable adaptive decisions,
whereas BLA projections to mOFC and NAc core contribute to aspects of cue-reward memory that enable
decisions to adapt based on predicted reward value. We will test this hypothesis using a suite of modern systems
neuroscience tools including pathway-specific, optogenetic neuronal activity monitoring and bidirectional
manipulation coupled with precision behavioral assessments of cue-reward learning and its influence on decision
making with outcome-specific Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer and devaluation tests. We will expose critical
functions of 5 BLA output pathways, fill important gaps in knowledge of the neuronal pathways that support cue-
reward learning and decision making, and reveal an appetitive learn...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10904555
- **Project number:** 2R01DA035443-11
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Kate M Wassum
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $649,566
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2013-05-01 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10904555

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10904555, Amygdala Output Circuitry in Reward Encoding, Expectation, and Decision Making (2R01DA035443-11). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10904555. Licensed CC0.

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