The PTZ kindling mouse model of epilepsy exhibits exploratory drive deficits and aberrant activity amongst VTA dopamine neurons in both familiar and novel space

•PTZ kindling impairs novelty-driven more than fear-driven exploration.•Reduced exploratory drive after kindling co-varies with poorer spatial memory.•Kindling induces hyperactivity within midbrain dopamine neurons.•Kindling blunts spatial novelty-induced activation of midbrain dopamine neurons.•Spatial detection and spatial motivation impairments may feed into each other.