Transient inhibition and long-term facilitation of locomotion by phasic optogenetic activation of serotonin neurons.

ABSTRACT: Serotonin (5-HT) is associated with mood and motivation but the function of endogenous 5-HT remains controversial. Here, we studied the impact of phasic optogenetic activation of 5-HT neurons in mice over time scales from seconds to weeks. We found that activating dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) 5-HT neurons induced a strong suppression of spontaneous locomotor behavior in the open field with rapid kinetics (onset ≤1 s). Inhibition of locomotion was independent of measures of anxiety or motor impairment and could be overcome by strong motivational drive. Repetitive place-contingent pairing of activation caused neither place preference nor aversion. However, repeated 15 min daily stimulation caused a persistent increase in spontaneous locomotion to emerge over three weeks. These results show tha

SUBMITTER: Correia PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5308893 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature