Historically, the corticomesolimbic system, most notably the VTA dopamine neurons and their projections to the nucleus accumbens, prefrontal cortex and amygdala, is thought of as the neural substrate driving goal-directed behavior.  Classic reinforcement theories have cited this release of dopamine as a common endpoint of both drug and natural reinforcement.  However, this same dopamine system is activated by the cues predicting reward rather than the reinforcer itself, leading to the proposal that the corticomesolimbic system should be thought of as a “learning” system rather than a “reward” system.   Incentive motivation is defined as the process by which stimuli that predict future rewards, such as food, sex or drugs, shape behavioral strategies during goal-directed behavior.  But can we measure the value of a stimulus in discrete areas of the corticomesolimbic system? Electrophysiology in awake, behaving animals provides insight to the specific functions of interconnected areas of the corticomesolimbic system as stimuli acquire and are used to obtain reward in context-specific paradigms.  Robinson will elaborate the concept of incentive-motivation in goal-directed behaviors.  Schoenbaum will discuss the roles of interconnected regions of prefrontal cortex and amygdala in linking incentive value and action. Anstrom will demonstrate context-specific, orbitofrontal coding of taste cues in an alcohol self-administration paradigm.  Schultz will close the session with a discussion integrating the roles of striatal and prefrontal components of the corticomesolimbic system in goal-directed behavior.