PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Shang, Zhigang
AU  - Zhang, Jiashuo
AU  - Li, Mengmeng
AU  - Li, Suchen
AU  - Wang, Yinghui
AU  - Yang, Lifang
TI  - Dynamic Encoding of Reward Prediction Error Signals in the Pigeon Ventral Tegmental Area during Reinforcement Learning
AID  - 10.1523/ENEURO.0355-25.2026
DP  - 2026 Mar 01
TA  - eneuro
PG  - ENEURO.0355-25.2026
VI  - 13
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.eneuro.org/content/13/3/ENEURO.0355-25.2026.short
4100  - http://www.eneuro.org/content/13/3/ENEURO.0355-25.2026.full
SO  - eNeuro2026 Mar 01; 13
AB  - 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.