Fluctuations in nucleus accumbens extracellular glutamate and glucose during motivated glucose-drinking behavior: dissecting the neurochemistry of reward.

ABSTRACT: While motivated behavior involves multiple neurochemical systems, few studies have focused on the role of glutamate, the brain's excitatory neurotransmitter, and glucose, the energetic substrate of neural activity in reward-related neural processes. Here, we used high-speed amperometry with enzyme-based substrate-sensitive and control, enzyme-free biosensors to examine second-scale fluctuations in the extracellular levels of these substances in the nucleus accumbens shell during glucose-drinking behavior in trained rats. Glutamate rose rapidly after the presentation of a glucose-containing cup and before the initiation of drinking (reward seeking), decreased more slowly to levels below baseline during consumption (sensory reward), and returned to baseline when the ingested glucose reached

SUBMITTER: Wakabayashi KT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4332560 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature