Le Pr. M. Pessiglione donnera le mardi 11 octobre un cours intitulé «Dopamine and reward maximization: insights from pharmacological studies in humans».
Cet événement (invitation) se déroulera dans la salle de séminaire Martin V (42A) à partir de 9h30, sur le campus de Louvain-en-Woluwé (UCL). Il sera précédé le lundi 10 octobre d'une conférence grand public (invitation 
).
Mathias Pessiglione est professeur au laboratoire "Motivation, Brain & Behavior (MBB)" de l'Institut du Cerveau de la Moelle (ICM) (Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France)
Abstract: Dopamine has been implicated in several aspects of behavioral control: notably motor, motivational and learning processes. In this talk, I will intend to specify a unified computational role for dopamine, based on the simple notion that it may adjust the weight of reward prospect (in motivation processes) or reward obtainment (in learning processes). Such computational role can account for the effects of dopaminergic replacement therapy in Parkinson’s disease, observed during tasks that involve a trade-off between reward maximization and effort minimization. It can be further dissociated from the motor role of dopamine, which may consist in adjusting the rate of muscle contraction/relaxation, irrespective of the rewards at stake. This talk will thus be an occasion to present basic computational models of motivation and learning, their putative neural implementation and their potential application to clinical purposes.
Contact : Dr. Alexandre Zenon, IoNS/COSY (alexandre.zenon@uclouvain.be)