Oxytocin functions as a spatiotemporal filter for excitatory synaptic inputs to VTA dopamine neurons.

ABSTRACT: The experience of rewarding or aversive stimuli is encoded by distinct afferents to dopamine (DA) neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Several neuromodulatory systems including oxytocin regulate DA neuron excitability and synaptic transmission that process socially meaningful stimuli. We and others have recently characterized oxytocinergic modulation of activity in mouse VTA DA neurons, but the mechanisms underlying oxytocinergic modulation of synaptic transmission in DA neurons remain poorly understood. Here, we find that oxytocin application or optogenetic release decrease excitatory synaptic transmission, via long lasting, presynaptic, endocannabinoid-dependent mechanisms. Oxytocin modulation of excitatory transmission alters the magnitude of short and long-term depression. We f

SUBMITTER: Xiao L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5910020 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature