Combined In Vivo Anatomical and Functional Tracing of Ventral Tegmental Area Glutamate Terminals in the Hippocampus

10.3791/61282 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amita Shrestha ◽  
Philip A. Adeniyi ◽  
Olalekan M. Ogundele
Keyword(s):  
Ventral Tegmental Area ◽  
Ventral Tegmental

scholarly journals A probabilistic atlas of the human ventral tegmental area (VTA) based on 7 Tesla MRI data

2021 ◽  
Vol 226 (4) ◽  
pp. 1155-1167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne C. Trutti ◽  
Laura Fontanesi ◽  
Martijn J. Mulder ◽  
Pierre-Louis Bazin ◽  
Bernhard Hommel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ventral Tegmental Area ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
7 Tesla ◽  
Subcortical Structures ◽  
7 Tesla Mri ◽  
Subcortical Nuclei ◽  
Ventral Tegmental ◽  
The Brain

AbstractFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) BOLD signal is commonly localized by using neuroanatomical atlases, which can also serve for region of interest analyses. Yet, the available MRI atlases have serious limitations when it comes to imaging subcortical structures: only 7% of the 455 subcortical nuclei are captured by current atlases. This highlights the general difficulty in mapping smaller nuclei deep in the brain, which can be addressed using ultra-high field 7 Tesla (T) MRI. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a subcortical structure that plays a pivotal role in reward processing, learning and memory. Despite the significant interest in this nucleus in cognitive neuroscience, there are currently no available, anatomically precise VTA atlases derived from 7 T MRI data that cover the full region of the VTA. Here, we first provide a protocol for multimodal VTA imaging and delineation. We then provide a data description of a probabilistic VTA atlas based on in vivo 7 T MRI data.

scholarly journals Insulin in the ventral tegmental area reduces cocaine‐evoked dopamine in the nucleus accumbens in vivo

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 2146-2155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Naef ◽  
Lauren Seabrook ◽  
Jeff Hsiao ◽  
Calvin Li ◽  
Stephanie L. Borgland
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Ventral Tegmental Area ◽  
Ventral Tegmental

Slow Oscillatory Firing: A Major Firing Pattern of Dopamine Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area

2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 3516-3522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Xing Shi
Keyword(s):  
Ventral Tegmental Area ◽  
Single Unit ◽  
Firing Pattern ◽  
Receptor Activation ◽  
Dopamine Neurons ◽  
Interspike Intervals ◽  
Firing Activity ◽  
Unit Recording ◽  
Ventral Tegmental

Using spectral analysis and in vivo single-unit recording in rats, the present study revealed a pronounced slow oscillation (SO) in the firing activity of about half the dopamine (DA) neurons recorded in the ventral tegmental area. DA neurons in this group tended to fire repetitive spike clusters, making them appear to be rhythmic bursting cells. However, only some of these burst-like events met the traditional “80/160 ms” burst criteria entirely. The observation that the SO could be found in nonbursting DA cells, occurred at frequencies different from those of bursts, and persisted after bursts were digitally removed from spike trains further supports the suggestion that the SO is different from the traditionally defined bursting. Interspike intervals (ISIs) had been thought to be bimodally distributed in bursting DA neurons. This study found that some nonbursting DA cells also had a bimodal ISI distribution and a significant number of bursting cells did not. In the majority of cells where less than half the spikes occurred in bursts, a bimodal ISI distribution was highly predictive of the presence of the SO. Results further showed that the generation of the SO required forebrain inputs to DA neurons but not the adrenergic α1 receptor activation responsible for psychostimulant-induced increases in the SO. Taken together, these results suggest that the SO is distinct from the traditionally defined bursting and represents a major firing pattern of DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area.

Long-lasting synaptic regulation of dopamine neurons by astrocytes in the Ventral Tegmental Area

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Requie ◽  
Marta Gómez-Gonzalo ◽  
Francesca Managò ◽  
Mauro Congiu ◽  
Marcello Melone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ventral Tegmental Area ◽  
Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor ◽  
Receptor Activation ◽  
Dopamine Neuron ◽  
Dopamine Neurons ◽  
Neuron Activity ◽  
Astrocytic Process ◽  
Metabotropic Glutamate ◽  
Ventral Tegmental

Abstract The plasticity of glutamatergic transmission in the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) represents a fundamental mechanism in the modulation of dopamine neuron burst firing and the phasic dopamine release at VTA target regions. These processes encode basic behavioral responses, including locomotor activity, learning and motivated-behaviors. Here we describe a hitherto unidentified mechanism of long-lasting potentiation of glutamatergic synapses on DA neurons. We found that VTA astrocytes respond to dopamine neuron bursts with Ca2+ elevations that require activation of endocannabinoid CB1 and dopamine D2 receptors colocalized at the same astrocytic process. Astrocytes, in turn, release glutamate that, through presynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptor activation coupled with neuronal nitric oxide production, induces long-lasting potentiation of excitatory synapses on adjacent dopamine neurons. Consistent with this finding, selective activation of VTA astrocytes increases dopamine neuron bursts in vivo and induces locomotor hyperactivity. Astrocytes play, therefore, a key role in the modulation of VTA dopamine neuron activity.

scholarly journals Excitatory response of prefrontal cortical fast-spiking interneurons to ventral tegmental area stimulation in vivo

Synapse ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 59 (7) ◽  
pp. 412-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuei Y. Tseng ◽  
Nicolas Mallet ◽  
Kathy L. Toreson ◽  
Catherine Le Moine ◽  
François Gonon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ventral Tegmental Area ◽  
Excitatory Response ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Fast Spiking ◽  
Ventral Tegmental
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