NAc-VTA circuit underlies emotional stress-induced anxiety-like behavior in the three-chamber vicarious social defeat stress mouse model.

ABSTRACT: Emotional stress is considered a severe pathogenetic factor of psychiatric disorders. However, the circuit mechanisms remain largely unclear. Using a three-chamber vicarious social defeat stress (3C-VSDS) model in mice, we here show that chronic emotional stress (CES) induces anxiety-like behavior and transient social interaction changes. Dopaminergic neurons of ventral tegmental area (VTA) are required to control this behavioral deficit. VTA dopaminergic neuron hyperactivity induced by CES is involved in the anxiety-like behavior in the innate anxiogenic environment. Chemogenetic activation of VTA dopaminergic neurons directly triggers anxiety-like behavior, while chemogenetic inhibition of these neurons promotes resilience to the CES-induced anxiety-like behavior. Moreover, VTA dopaminer

SUBMITTER: Qi G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8804001 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature