NMDA Receptors on Dopaminoceptive Neurons Are Essential for Drug-Induced Conditioned Place Preference.

ABSTRACT: Plasticity of the brain's dopamine system plays a crucial role in adaptive behavior by regulating appetitive motivation and the control of reinforcement learning. In this study, we investigated drug- and natural-reward conditioned behaviors in a mouse model in which the NMDA receptor-dependent plasticity of dopaminoceptive neurons was disrupted. We generated a transgenic mouse line with inducible selective inactivation of the NR1 subunit in neurons expressing dopamine D1 receptors (the NR1(D1CreERT2) mice). Whole-cell recordings of spontaneous EPSCs on neurons in the nucleus accumbens confirmed that a population of neurons lacked the NMDA receptor-dependent component of the current. This effect was accompanied by impaired long-term potentiation in the nucleus accumbens and in the CA1 area

SUBMITTER: Sikora M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4899680 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature