Temporal dynamics of nucleus accumbens neurons in male mice during reward seeking.

ABSTRACT: The nucleus accumbens (NAc) regulates reward-motivated behavior, but the temporal dynamics of NAc neurons that enable "free-willed" animals to obtain rewards remain elusive. Here, we recorded Ca²⁺ activity from individual NAc neurons when mice performed self-paced lever-presses for sucrose. NAc neurons exhibited three temporally-sequenced clusters, defined by times at which they exhibited increased Ca²⁺ activity: approximately 0, -2.5 or -5 sec relative to the lever-pressing. Dopamine D1 receptor (D1)-expressing neurons and D2-neurons formed the majority of the -5-sec versus -2.5-sec clusters, respectively, while both neuronal subtypes were represented in the 0-sec cluster. We found that pre-press activity patterns of D1- or D2-neurons could predict subsequent lever-p

SUBMITTER: Schall TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11519475 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature