Perinatal interference with the serotonergic system affects VTA function in the adult via glutamate co-transmission.

ABSTRACT: Serotonin and dopamine are associated with multiple psychiatric disorders. How they interact during development to affect subsequent behavior remains unknown. Knockout of the serotonin transporter or postnatal blockade with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) leads to novelty-induced exploration deficits in adulthood, potentially involving the dopamine system. Here, we show in the mouse that raphe nucleus serotonin neurons activate ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons via glutamate co-transmission and that this co-transmission is reduced in animals exposed postnatally to SSRIs. Blocking serotonin neuron glutamate co-transmission mimics this SSRI-induced hypolocomotion, while optogenetic activation of dopamine neurons reverses this hypolocomotor phenotype. Our data demonstrat

SUBMITTER: Cunha C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7657958 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature