Basolateral amygdala dopamine signals behavioural salience across exploration and learning

Abstract

Animals must balance exploration with threat avoidance, yet how neuromodulatory signals shape information-seeking states remains unclear. Using fibre photometry recordings in the basolateral amygdala in freely moving mice, we show that dopamine release is selectively elevated during self-initiated exploratory actions, adapts with repeated exposure, and tracks the behavioural relevance of predictive cues in associative learning and extinction. Our results advance current models of amygdala dopamine function by suggesting that it conveys a state-dependent salience signal that highlights behaviourally relevant moments arising from both environmental cues and self-generated exploration, thereby priming amygdala circuits for plasticity.