Role of Glutamatergic Projections from Lateral Habenula to Ventral Tegmental Area in Inflammatory Pain-Related Spatial Working Memory Deficits.

ABSTRACT: The lateral habenula (LHb) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA), which form interconnected circuits, have important roles in the crucial control of sensory and cognitive motifs. Signaling in the LHb-VTA pathway can be exacerbated during pain conditions by a hyperactivity of LHb glutamatergic neurons to inhibit local VTA DAergic cells. However, it is still unclear whether and how this circuit is endogenously engaged in pain-related cognitive dysfunctions. To answer this question, we modulated this pathway by expressing halorhodopsin in LHb neurons of adult male rats, and then selectively inhibited the axonal projections from these neurons to the VTA during a working memory (WM) task. Behavioral performance was assessed after the onset of an inflammatory pain model. We evaluated the impact o

SUBMITTER: Alemi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10045719 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature