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Abstract

Pavlovian influences notoriously interfere with operant behaviour - with dopamine being one potential culprit. Here, using the examples of active avoidance and omission behaviour, we examine the possibility that direct manipulation of the dopamine signal is an instrument of control itself. We argue that dopamine levels might be affected by the controlled deployment of a reframing mechanism that recasts the prospect of possible punishment as an opportunity to approach safety, and the prospect of future reward in terms of a possible loss of that reward. We model two canonical experiments, showing that we can capture critical features of both behaviour and dopamine transients. This is joint work with Kevin Lloyd, Azadeh Nazemorroaya and Dan Bang.