Glutathione in the nucleus accumbens regulates motivation to exert reward-incentivized effort.

ABSTRACT: Emerging evidence is implicating mitochondrial function and metabolism in the nucleus accumbens in motivated performance. However, the brain is vulnerable to excessive oxidative insults resulting from neurometabolic processes, and whether antioxidant levels in the nucleus accumbens contribute to motivated performance is not known. Here, we identify a critical role for glutathione (GSH), the most important endogenous antioxidant in the brain, in motivation. Using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy at ultra-high field in both male humans and rodent populations, we establish that higher accumbal GSH levels are highly predictive of better, and particularly, steady performance over time in effort-related tasks. Causality was established in in vivo experiments in rats that, first, sho

SUBMITTER: Zalachoras I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9642999 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature