Chemogenetic activation of ventral tegmental area GABA neurons, but not mesoaccumbal GABA terminals, disrupts responding to reward-predictive cues.

ABSTRACT: Cues predicting rewards can gain motivational properties and initiate reward-seeking behaviors. Dopamine projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) are critical in regulating cue-motivated responding. Although, approximately one third of mesoaccumbal projection neurons are GABAergic, it is unclear how this population influences motivational processes and cue processing. This is largely due to our inability to pharmacologically probe circuit level contributions of VTA-GABA, which arises from diverse sources, including multiple GABA afferents, interneurons, and projection neurons. Here we used a combinatorial viral vector approach to restrict activating Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs) to GABA neurons in the VTA of wil

SUBMITTER: Wakabayashi KT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6300533 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature