D1 and D2 dopamine receptors in separate circuits cooperate to drive associative long-term potentiation in the prefrontal cortex.

ABSTRACT: Dopamine release associated with motivational arousal is thought to drive goal-directed learning and consolidation of acquired memories. This dopamine hypothesis of learning and motivation directly suggests that dopamine is necessary for modifications of excitatory synapses in dopamine terminal fields, including the prefrontal cortex (PFC), to "stamp in" posttrial memory traces. It is unknown how such enabling occurs in native circuits tightly controlled by GABAergic inhibitory tone. Here we report that dopamine, via both D1-class receptors (D1Rs) and D2-class receptors (D2Rs), enables the induction of spike timing-dependent long-term potentiation (t-LTP) in layer V PFC pyramidal neurons over a "window" of more than 30 ms that is otherwise closed under intact inhibitory constraint. Dopamin

SUBMITTER: Xu TX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2941310 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature