Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Research Service, Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA.
Nat Commun. 2024 May 18;15(1):4233. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48340-y.
The ventral pallidum (VP) contains GABA and glutamate neurons projecting to ventral tegmental area (VTA) whose stimulation drives approach and avoidance, respectively. Yet little is known about the mechanisms by which VP cell types shape VTA activity and drive behavior. Here, we found that both VP GABA and glutamate neurons were activated during approach to reward or by delivery of an aversive stimulus. Stimulation of VP GABA neurons inhibited VTA GABA, but activated dopamine and glutamate neurons. Remarkably, stimulation-evoked activation was behavior-contingent such that VTA recruitment was inhibited when evoked by the subject's own action. Conversely, VP glutamate neurons activated VTA GABA, as well as dopamine and glutamate neurons, despite driving aversion. However, VP glutamate neurons evoked dopamine in aversion-associated ventromedial nucleus accumbens (NAc), but reduced dopamine release in reward-associated dorsomedial NAc. These findings show how heterogeneous VP projections to VTA can be engaged to shape approach and avoidance behaviors.
腹侧苍白球 (VP) 包含投射到腹侧被盖区 (VTA) 的 GABA 和谷氨酸能神经元，它们的刺激分别驱动趋近和回避。然而，关于 VP 细胞类型如何塑造 VTA 活动并驱动行为的机制知之甚少。在这里，我们发现，在接近奖励或接受厌恶刺激时，VP GABA 和谷氨酸能神经元均被激活。VP GABA 神经元的刺激抑制 VTA GABA，但激活多巴胺和谷氨酸能神经元。值得注意的是，刺激引起的激活是与行为相关的，当由主体自身的行为引起时，VTA 的募集被抑制。相反，尽管 VP 谷氨酸能神经元驱动回避，但它们激活 VTA GABA 以及多巴胺和谷氨酸能神经元。然而，VP 谷氨酸能神经元在与厌恶相关的伏隔核（NAc）中诱发多巴胺，但减少与奖励相关的背内侧 NAc 中的多巴胺释放。这些发现表明，如何使 VP 到 VTA 的异质投射参与塑造趋近和回避行为。
