Figure 3: Below is a 12-s video of a rat self-administering alcohol. On the bottom of the screen, the dopamine signal from the ventral striatum of that rat scrolls on in real-time with the video. At first, the lever is retracted and the rat turns back and forth from the lever to the empty cup. But when the lights change, the lever extends and the rat immediately presses it -- this event is accompanied by a dopamine transient (~ 70 nM), and the rat turns to drink the alcohol. (The following video requires Flash)
Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill