= Masayuki Matsumoto
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<Masayuki Matsumoto> studies neural signals associated with <reward>, <learning> and <decision making>. His 2007 study with <Okihide Hikosaka> compared responses in the <lateral habenula> and <dopaminergic neurons> during a rewarded <saccade> task. Reward-predicting and no-reward-predicting targets produced opposing response patterns in the two populations.<Lateral habenula as a source of negative reward signals in dopamine neurons by Masayuki Matsumoto and Okihide Hikosaka>[Abstract; target predictions and opposing neural responses]{ref}
A conceptual example explains the reversal control. Initially, suppose a left target predicts <reward> and a right target predicts no <reward>. Swap those outcomes while leaving the screen positions unchanged. A response that follows the newly unrewarded side cannot be explained solely by a permanent preference for rightward stimuli. The study observed response reversals when rewarded and unrewarded positions changed.<Lateral habenula as a source of negative reward signals in dopamine neurons by Masayuki Matsumoto and Okihide Hikosaka>[Abstract; reversal of rewarded positions, neural responses and saccade-latency bias]{ref}
This design separates spatial stimulation from the outcome associated with it. It also illustrates why a neural signal related to an adverse outcome should be described through the task and measured response, rather than treated as a complete measure of an animal's <emotion>.
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