Ventral tegmental area GABA neurons integrate positive and negative valence.

ABSTRACT: The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is classically linked to reward learning and reinforcement via the actions of dopamine neurons. Intermingled VTA GABA neurons are positioned to regulate dopaminergic systems, but we lack detailed insight into how this population contributes to conditioned motivation across learning contexts. Here, recording population calcium activity in VTA dopamine and GABA neurons during different conditioning paradigms, we found that, while dopamine neurons were selectively responsive only to appetitive stimuli, GABA neurons actively encoded both appetitive and aversive cues and outcomes. GABA neurons also signalled errors in violation of expectations for associations of either valence. Critically, we found that GABA neurons selectively integrated events when both valen

SUBMITTER: Stelzner ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11642998 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature