Financial gain‐ and loss‐related BOLD signals in the human ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra pars compacta

Neurons in the ventral tegmental area ( VTA ) and substantia nigra pars compacta ( SNC ) play central roles in reward‐related behaviours. Nonhuman animal studies suggest that these neurons also process aversive events. However, our understanding of how the human VTA and SNC responds to such events is limited and has been hindered by the technical challenge of using functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) to investigate a small structure...