Chronic nicotine increases midbrain dopamine neuron activity and biases individual strategies towards reduced exploration in mice.

ABSTRACT: Long-term exposure to nicotine alters brain circuits and induces profound changes in decision-making strategies, affecting behaviors both related and unrelated to drug seeking and consumption. Using an intracranial self-stimulation reward-based foraging task, we investigated in mice the impact of chronic nicotine on midbrain dopamine neuron activity and its consequence on the trade-off between exploitation and exploration. Model-based and archetypal analysis revealed substantial inter-individual variability in decision-making strategies, with mice passively exposed to nicotine shifting toward a more exploitative profile compared to non-exposed animals. We then mimicked the effect of chronic nicotine on the tonic activity of dopamine neurons using optogenetics, and found that photo-stimulat

SUBMITTER: Dongelmans M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8635406 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature