The flow of reward information through neuronal ensembles in the accumbens

The nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) integrates reward information through diverse and specialized neuronal ensembles, influencing decision-making. By training rats in a probabilistic choice task and recording NAcSh neuronal activity, we found that rats adapt their choices based solely on the presence or absence of a sucrose reward, suggesting they build an internal representation of reward likelihood. We further demonstrate that NAcSh ensembles dynamically process different aspects of reward-guided behavior, with changes in composition and functional connections observed throughout the reinforcement learning process. The NAcSh forms a highly connected network characterized by a heavy-tailed distribution and the presence of neuronal hubs, facilitating efficient information flow. Reward delivery enhances mutual information, indicating increased communication between ensembles and network synchronization, whereas reward omission decreases it. Our findings reveal how reward information flows through dynamic NAcSh ensembles, whose flexible membership adapts as the rat learns to obtain rewards (energy) in an ever-changing environment.