Neuwritewest

We sat down with Stanford Neuroscience graduate student Kelly Zalocusky over a Tom Collins to discuss the dopamine reward system, risk tolerance in rodents, and nut caching in squirrels, among other topics. Here's the breakdown: Part 1 (26:23) Dopamine System (extended) “Anyone who has ever gotten out of bed at 6 in the morning knows that you need motivation in order to initiate movement” Part 2 (26:48) Dopamine and Risk-Seeking Behavior in Rats, Rat fMRI, and the Not My Field game show “Have you been able to make the risk-seeking rats into humdrum rats?” Part 3- (20:05) Squirrels “It turns out that they bury walnuts at the distance you would bury walnuts if you were planting a walnut orchard.”