Dopamine axon population Ca signals in the striatum during odor cue- and reward-based choice tasks in mice

Dopamine axon activity in the ventral, dorsomedial, and dorsolateral striatum was recorded, while mice performed a perceptual and value-based decision-making task. In one experiment, thirsty mice performed a perceptual decision-making task using mixtures of odor A and B (100/0, 90/10, 65/35, 35/65, 10/90, 0/100), in which identity of a dominant odor determined an available water port, and odor C which signaled no outcome. A fixed amount of water was always delivered with a correct choice. In the next experiment, mice performed a perceptual and value-based decision-making task using mixtures of odor A and B (100/0, 65/35, 35/65, 0/100), in which identity of a dominant odor determined an available water port, with probabilistic water reward. In this task, a fixed amount of water was delivered in block 1, and then in block 2, one water port delivered big or medium size of water in a pseudo-random order, and another water port delivered medium or small size of water in a pseudo-random order...