Wolfram Schultz, MD, PhD, FRS
Wellcome Principal Research Fellow, Professor of Neuroscience Tel: +44 (0)1223 333779, Fax: +44 (0)1223 333840, E-mail: ws234@cam.ac.uk
Reward processing in the brain
Our group is interested to relate the mechanics of brain activity to measurable behaviour. We combine behavioural, neurophysiological and neuroimaging techniques to investigate the neural mechanisms of learning, goal-directed behaviour and economic decision making at the level of single neurons and individual brain structures. We use behavioural concepts from animal learning theory and economic utility theory to study the processing of reward information in specific brain regions, including the dopamine system, striatum, orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala. Further details are described in Scholarpedia (Reward and Reward signals). For more information on neuroeconomics see here.
Colleagues
Raymundo Baez (MSc MPI Tuebingen)
Charlotte R. van Coeverden (MSc Univ Amsterdam)
Helen Cousins (Computer Associate) (MSc Univ Cambridge)
Kelly M.J. Diederen (PhD
Univ Utrecht)
Fabian Grabenhorst (PhD Univ Oxford)
Nikhil Howai (BSc Imperial College London)
Armin Lak (MSc Sissa Trieste)
Martin O’Neill (PhD Univ St. Andrews)
William Stauffer (PhD Univ Pittsburgh)
Martin Vestergaard (PhD Technical Univ
Copenhagen)
Main Collaborations
Michelle Baddeley, Christopher Harris & Aldo
Rustichini (Economics Cambridge)
Anthony Dickinson (Experimental Psychology Cambridge)
Paul Fletcher (Psychiatry Cambridge)
Peter Bossaerts, Antonio Rangel & Richard
Andersen (Caltech)
Masamichi Sakagami (Tamagawa University Tokyo)
Main funding
Wellcome Trust
Moore Foundation and Tamagawa Grant at Caltech
Selected publications
O'Neill M, Schultz W. Coding of reward risk by orbitofrontal neurons is mostly
distinct from coding of reward value. Neuron 68: 789-800, 2010
Burke CJ, Tobler PN, Baddeley M, Schultz W. Neuronal mechanisms of observational
learning. Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA) 107: 14431-14436, 2010
Schultz W. Dopamine signals for reward value and risk: basic and recent data.
Behav Brain Funct 2010, 6:24, 2010. http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com/content/6/1/24
Bermudez MA, Schultz W. Responses of amygdala neurons to positive reward predicting
stimuli depend on background reward (contingency) rather than stimulus-reward
pairing (contiguity). J Neurophysiol 103: 1158-1170, 2010
Kobayashi S, Pinto de Carvalho O, Schultz W. Adaptation of reward sensitivity
in orbitofrontal neurons. J Neurosci 30: 534-544, 2010
Tobler PN, Christopoulos GI, O'Doherty JP, Dolan RJ, Schultz W. Risk-dependent
reward value signal in human prefrontal cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA) 106:
7185-7190, 2009
Kobayashi S & Schultz W. Influence
of reward delays on responses of dopamine neurons. J Neurosci 28: 7837-7846,
2008
Tobler PN, O'Doherty JP, Dolan R & Schultz
W. Reward value coding distinct from risk attitude-related uncertainty coding
in human reward systems. J Neurophysiol 97: 1621-1632, 2007
Schultz W. Multiple dopamine functions at different time courses. Ann Rev Neurosci
30: 259-288, 2007
Schultz W. Behavioral theories and the neurophysiology of reward. Ann Rev Psychol
57: 87-115, 2006. Podcast http://www.in-cites.com/media/index.html
Tobler PN, Fiorillo CD & Schultz
W. Adaptive coding of reward value by dopamine neurons. Science 307:
1642-1645, 2005
Fiorillo CD, Tobler PN & Schultz
W. Discrete coding of reward probability and uncertainty by dopamine
neurons. Science 299:
1898-1902, 2003
Waelti, P., Dickinson, A. and Schultz, W.: Dopamine responses comply with basic
assumptions of formal learning theory. Nature 412: 43-48, 2001
Tremblay L & Schultz W. Relative reward preference
in primate orbitofrontal cortex. Nature 398: 704-708, 1999
Schultz W. Predictive reward signal of dopamine neurons. J Neurophysiol. 80:
1-27, 1998
Schultz W, Dayan P & Montague RR. A
neural substrate of prediction and reward. Science 275: 1593-1599,
1997
Schultz W & Romo R. Role of primate basal ganglia
and frontal cortex in the internal generation of movements: I. Preparatory
activity in
the anterior striatum. Exp Brain Res. 91: 363-384, 1992.