The dopamine reward circuitry is based on prior experience, current experience, and anticipated outcomes, with surprise and positive novelty driving the biggest rewards.

“The basic findings of the study were that they could measure surprise by the release of dopamine in two areas of the brain, part of what are called, is called, excuse me, the mesolimbic reward pathway. So the two areas of the brain that are important here are the nucleus accumbens and the VTA, the ventral tegmental area.”

“everything about the dopamine reward circuitry which of course includes other chemicals too is based on prior experience relative to current experience relative to anticipated outcom what sometimes referred to as reward prediction error think something Great's going to happen something great happens great think something Great's going to happen something less than great happens sucks way more Yep than you would anticipate think that something not so great is going to happen something so so great happens huge reward not novelty surprise brings the positive novelty and and surprise brings the biggest rewards”

“It is true that there's this unexpected reward >> that you that your expectations, your series of expectations did not anticipate and that augments that is the learning rule. That's that's what we think uh the the dopamine fluctuations are encoding. And so it does both jobs. It it lets you update and learn and it codes for the kind of motivation you should have.”