<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><xml><records><record><source-app name="HighWire" version="7.x">Drupal-HighWire</source-app><ref-type name="Journal Article">17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Shang, Zhigang</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Zhang, Jiashuo</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Li, Mengmeng</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Li, Suchen</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Wang, Yinghui</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Yang, Lifang</style></author></authors><secondary-authors></secondary-authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Dynamic Encoding of Reward Prediction Error Signals in the Pigeon Ventral Tegmental Area during Reinforcement Learning</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eneuro</style></secondary-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2026</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2026-03-01 00:00:00</style></date></pub-dates></dates><elocation-id><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">ENEURO.0355-25.2026</style></elocation-id><doi><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">10.1523/ENEURO.0355-25.2026</style></doi><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">13</style></volume><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">3</style></issue><abstract><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Reward prediction errors (RPEs) guide learning by comparing expected and obtained outcomes. In mammals, ventral tegmental area (VTA) activity is closely linked to RPE-like signaling, yet how avian VTA dynamics evolve during reinforcement learning remains less well characterized. Here we recorded VTA spiking in pigeons (two females and one male) performing a cue-guided operant task in which a green cue (cue+) predicted reward contingent on a key peck, whereas a red cue (cue−) was unrewarded. Using a 16-channel microwire array, we analyzed pooled channel-level multiunit activity (MUA) aligned to task events. Across sessions, cue+ trials showed a learning-related redistribution of event-locked modulation: outcome-locked activity was more prominent early in training, while cue-locked modulation became stronger as performance stabilized, consistent with a temporal-difference–like shift of prediction-related signals. Cue− trials were sparse after early learning and showed limited cue-locked modulation in the available dataset. Together, these results provide initial evidence that pigeon VTA pooled MUA exhibits learning-related dynamics consistent with RPE-like processing and support cross-species comparisons of dopaminergic learning signals.</style></abstract></record></records></xml>