The ability to make appropriate associations between actions and outcomes (operant conditioning) is a central component to an organism’s survival. I wish to understand how neurons in different, but connected, parts of the brain allow this process to happen. Previously, I have recorded from single nucleus accumbens neurons and midbrain dopamine neurons during operant conditioning tasks (see publications below). In this project I am keen to understand how neurons in parts of the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg) that project differentially to midbrain dopamine neurons are involved in this learning process and whether they are essential to it. I have additional interests in the potential functions of cortico-basal ganglia architecture, such as classical conditioning, motivation, action selection, and decision-making.