The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives

Matan Cohen and Shir Atzil present a framework that defines reward and motivation as “a biologically grounded and quantifiable function, where behavior and learning operate most basically in the service of metabolic optimization.” Dopamine and opioids, they argue, should be considered physiological regulators rather than reward agents.

A paper on cortical progenitor cells’ influence on neuronal and glial development supports “a model in which fate potential and timing co-regulate the spatial and laminar organization of cortical cell types.”