Glutamatergic input from the insula to the ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis controls reward-related behavior.

ABSTRACT: Individuals suffering from substance use disorder often experience relapse events that are attributed to drug craving. Insular cortex (IC) function is implicated in processing drug-predictive cues and is thought to be a critical substrate for drug craving, but the downstream neural circuit effectors of the IC that mediate reward processing are poorly described. Here, we uncover the functional connectivity of an IC projection to the ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (vBNST), a portion of the extended amygdala that has been previously shown to modulate dopaminergic activity within the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and investigate the role of this pathway in reward-related behaviors. We utilized ex vivo slice electrophysiology and in vivo optogenetics to examine the functional conne

SUBMITTER: Girven KS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8651178 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature