Noradrenergic Transmission at Alpha1-Adrenergic Receptors in the Ventral Periaqueductal Gray Modulates Arousal.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Dysregulation of arousal is symptomatic of numerous psychiatric disorders. Previous research has shown that the activity of dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral periaqueductal gray (vPAG) tracks with arousal state, and lesions of vPAG^DA cells increase sleep. However, the circuitry controlling these wake-promoting DA neurons is unknown.

Methods

This study combined designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs), behavioral pharmacology, electrophysiology, and immunoelectron microscopy in male and female mice to elucidate mechanisms in the vPAG that promote arousal.

Results

Activation of locus coeruleus projections to the vPAG or vPAG^DA neurons induced by DREADDs promoted arousal. Similarly, agonist stimulation of vP

SUBMITTER: Porter-Stransky KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6326840 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature