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Nucleus Accumbens Medium Spiny Neurons Target Non-Dopaminergic Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area

2011; Society for Neuroscience; Volume: 31; Issue: 21 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1523/jneurosci.1504-11.2011

1529-2401

Yanfang Xia, Joseph R. Driscoll, Linda Wilbrecht, Elyssa B. Margolis, Howard L. Fields, Gregory O. Hjelmstad,

Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

The midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) projection to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is implicated in motivation and reinforcement. A significant number of NAc medium spiny neurons (MSNs) project back to the VTA, although the nature of this projection is essentially unknown. For example, do NAc MSNs directly target accumbens-projecting dopamine neurons and do they act via the GABA A or GABA B receptor? To address these issues, we expressed the light-sensitive channel rhodopsin-2 in the rat NAc and made electrophysiological recordings from VTA neurons ex vivo . We found that the NAc directly targets non-dopaminergic VTA neurons, including some that project back to the NAc. These MSN GABAergic terminals are opioid sensitive and act via GABA A receptors.