# Neural mechanisms linking need to reward

> **NIH NIH RF1** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · $2,731,674

## Abstract

Abstract
Behavior is motivated by reward, and the most powerful rewards are those that satisfy a physiologic need. For
decades, neuroscientists have studied the midbrain dopamine system to understand reward and hypothalamic
circuits to understand sensing of internal needs. But how these two neural systems are interact to give rise to
behaviors like eating and drinking remains poorly understood. Recently, we have used approaches for
simultaneous neural recording and manipulation to observe directly the communication between these two
systems. We have also mapped the signals they each receive from the gut in response to ingestion of food and
fluids. This has revealed that hunger and thirst powerfully modulate the dopamine system, but do so in different
ways and likely involve distinct circuit mechanisms. We propose here to build on these findings to
systematically delineate how these neural circuits for need and reward interact in the brain. In Aim 1, we
investigate how these circuits represent internal needs, by recording their dynamics at multiple levels of
analysis under different physiologic states, and further measuring how those dynamics are influenced by
targeted circuit manipulations. In Aim 2, we investigate how these circuits use information about bodily needs
to drive learning about food, by monitoring and manipulating their activity during the learning process. In Aim 3,
we investigate how these circuits use information about internal state to drive motivation, by monitoring and
manipulating their activity during tasks where animals must evaluate competing needs and rewards. These
studies will provide fundamental insight into the mechanisms by which information about body needs is utilized
by the brain to generate learning and motivation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9972733
- **Project number:** 1RF1NS116626-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** JOSHUA D BERKE
- **Activity code:** RF1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $2,731,674
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9972733

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9972733, Neural mechanisms linking need to reward (1RF1NS116626-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9972733. Licensed CC0.

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