Characterization of orexin input to dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area projecting to the medial prefrontal cortex and shell of nucleus accumbens.

ABSTRACT: Orexin neurons are involved in homeostatic regulatory processes, including arousal and feeding, and provide a major input from the hypothalamus to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the midbrain. VTA neurons are a central hub processing reward and motivation and target the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the shell part of nucleus accumbens (NAcs). We investigated whether subpopulations of dopamine (DA) neurons in the VTA projecting either to the mPFC or the medial division of shell part of nucleus accumbens (mNAcs) receive differential input from orexin neurons and whether orexin exerts differential electrophysiological effects upon these cells. VTA neurons projecting to the mPFC or the mNAcs were traced retrogradely by Cav2-Cre virus and identified by expression of yellow fluorescent

SUBMITTER: Kallo I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8930802 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature