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Fraser KM, Pribut HJ, Janak PH, Keiflin R. From Prediction to Action: Dissociable Roles of Ventral Tegmental Area and Substantia Nigra Dopamine Neurons in Instrumental Reinforcement. J Neurosci 2023; 43:3895-3908. [PMID: 37185097 PMCID: PMC10217998 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0028-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2023] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Reward seeking requires the coordination of motor programs to achieve goals. Midbrain dopamine neurons are critical for reinforcement, and their activation is sufficient for learning about cues, actions, and outcomes. Here we examine in detail the mechanisms underlying the ability of ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra (SNc) dopamine neurons to support instrumental learning. By exploiting numerous behavioral tasks in combination with time-limited optogenetic manipulations in male and female rats, we reveal that VTA and SNc dopamine neurons generate reinforcement through separable psychological processes. VTA dopamine neurons imbue actions and their associated cues with motivational value that allows flexible and persistent pursuit, whereas SNc dopamine neurons support time-limited, precise, action-specific learning that is nonscalable and inflexible. This architecture is reminiscent of actor-critic reinforcement learning models with VTA and SNc instructing the critic and actor, respectively. Our findings indicate that heterogeneous dopamine systems support unique forms of instrumental learning that ultimately result in disparate reward-seeking strategies.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Dopamine neurons in the midbrain are essential for learning, motivation, and movement. Here we describe in detail the ability of VTA and SNc dopamine neurons to generate instrumental reinforcement, a process where an agent learns about actions they can emit to earn reward. While rats will avidly work and learn to respond for activation of VTA and SNc dopamine neurons, we find that only VTA dopamine neurons imbue actions and their associated cues with motivational value that spur continued pursuit of reward. Our data support a hypothesis that VTA and SNc dopamine neurons engage distinct psychological processes that have consequences for our understanding of these neurons in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt M Fraser
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
| | - Heather J Pribut
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
| | - Patricia H Janak
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
- Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
| | - Ronald Keiflin
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, 93106
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Slosky LM, Pires A, Bai Y, Clark NB, Hauser ER, Gross JD, Porkka F, Zhou Y, Chen X, Pogorelov VM, Toth K, Wetsel WC, Barak LS, Caron MG. Establishment of multi-stage intravenous self-administration paradigms in mice. Sci Rep 2022; 12:21422. [PMID: 36503898 PMCID: PMC9742147 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24740-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Genetically tractable animal models provide needed strategies to resolve the biological basis of drug addiction. Intravenous self-administration (IVSA) is the gold standard for modeling psychostimulant and opioid addiction in animals, but technical limitations have precluded the widespread use of IVSA in mice. Here, we describe IVSA paradigms for mice that capture the multi-stage nature of the disorder and permit predictive modeling. In these paradigms, C57BL/6J mice with long-standing indwelling jugular catheters engaged in cocaine- or remifentanil-associated lever responding that was fixed ratio-dependent, dose-dependent, extinguished by withholding the drug, and reinstated by the presentation of drug-paired cues. The application of multivariate analysis suggested that drug taking in both paradigms was a function of two latent variables we termed incentive motivation and discriminative control. Machine learning revealed that vulnerability to drug seeking and relapse were predicted by a mouse's a priori response to novelty, sensitivity to drug-induced locomotion, and drug-taking behavior. The application of these behavioral and statistical-analysis approaches to genetically-engineered mice will facilitate the identification of neural circuits driving addiction susceptibility and relapse and focused therapeutic development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren M Slosky
- Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
| | - Andrea Pires
- Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Yushi Bai
- Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Elizabeth R Hauser
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Joshua D Gross
- Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Fiona Porkka
- Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Yang Zhou
- Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Xiaoxiao Chen
- School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Vladimir M Pogorelov
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Krisztian Toth
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Campbell University, Buies Creek, NC, USA
| | - William C Wetsel
- Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Mouse Behavioral and Neuroendocrine Analysis Core Facility, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Marc G Caron
- Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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López AJ, Johnson AR, Euston TJ, Wilson R, Nolan SO, Brady LJ, Thibeault KC, Kelly SJ, Kondev V, Melugin P, Kutlu MG, Chuang E, Lam TT, Kiraly DD, Calipari ES. Cocaine self-administration induces sex-dependent protein expression in the nucleus accumbens. Commun Biol 2021; 4:883. [PMID: 34272455 PMCID: PMC8285523 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02358-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Substance use disorder (SUD) is a chronic neuropsychiatric condition characterized by long-lasting alterations in the neural circuitry regulating reward and motivation. Substantial work has focused on characterizing the molecular substrates that underlie these persistent changes in neural function and behavior. However, this work has overwhelmingly focused on male subjects, despite mounting clinical and preclinical evidence that females demonstrate dissimilar progression to SUD and responsivity to stimulant drugs of abuse, such as cocaine. Here, we show that sex is a critical biological variable that defines drug-induced plasticity in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Using quantitative mass spectrometry, we assessed the protein expression patterns induced by cocaine self-administration and demonstrated unique molecular profiles between males and females. We show that 1. Cocaine self-administration induces non-overlapping protein expression patterns in significantly regulated proteins in males and females and 2. Critically, cocaine-induced protein regulation differentially interacts with sex to eliminate basal sexual dimorphisms in the proteome. Finally, eliminating these baseline differences in the proteome is concomitant with the elimination of sex differences in behavior for non-drug rewards. Together, these data suggest that cocaine administration is capable of rewriting basal proteomic function and reward-associated behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto J López
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Amy R Johnson
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Tanner J Euston
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Rashaun Wilson
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- WM Keck Biotechnology Resource Laboratory, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Suzanne O Nolan
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Lillian J Brady
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Kimberly C Thibeault
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Shannon J Kelly
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Veronika Kondev
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Patrick Melugin
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - M Gunes Kutlu
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Emily Chuang
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - TuKiet T Lam
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- WM Keck Biotechnology Resource Laboratory, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Yale/NIDA Neuroproteomics Center, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Drew D Kiraly
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Seaver Center for Autism, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Erin S Calipari
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
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