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Bhimani RV, Vik M, Wakabayashi KT, Szalkowski C, Bass CE, Park J. Distinct dose-dependent effects of methamphetamine on real-time dopamine transmission in the rat nucleus accumbens and behaviors. J Neurochem 2021; 158:865-879. [PMID: 34265079 PMCID: PMC8376794 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Methamphetamine (METH) is a potent psychostimulant that exerts many of its physiological and psychomotor effects by increasing extracellular dopamine (DA) concentrations in limbic brain regions. While several studies have focused on how potent, neurotoxic doses of METH augment or attenuate DA transmission, the acute effects of lower and behaviorally activating doses of METH on modulating DA regulation (release and clearance) through DA D2 autoreceptors and transporters remain to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated how systemic administration of escalating, subneurotoxic doses of METH (0.5-5 mg/kg, IP) alter extracellular DA regulation in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), in both anesthetized and awake-behaving rats through the use of in vivo fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. Pharmacological, electrochemical, and behavioral evidence show that lower doses (≤2.0 mg/kg, IP) of METH enhance extracellular phasic DA concentrations and locomotion as well as stereotypies. In contrast, higher doses (≥5.0 mg/kg) further increase both phasic and baseline DA concentrations and stereotypies but decrease horizontal locomotion. Importantly, our results suggest that acute METH-induced enhancement of extracellular DA concentrations dose dependently activates D2 autoreceptors. Therefore, these different METH dose-dependent effects on mesolimbic DA transmission may distinctly impact METH-induced behavioral changes. This study provides valuable insights regarding how low METH doses alter DA transmission and paves the way for future clinical studies on the reinforcing effects of METH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rohan V. Bhimani
- Neuroscience Program, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214-3005, USA
| | - Megan Vik
- Department of Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214-3005, USA
| | - Ken T. Wakabayashi
- Department of Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214-3005, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214-3005, USA
| | - Caitlin Szalkowski
- Department of Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214-3005, USA
| | - Caroline E. Bass
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214-3005, USA
| | - Jinwoo Park
- Neuroscience Program, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214-3005, USA
- Department of Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214-3005, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214-3005, USA
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2
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Yang P, Li L, Xia S, Zhou B, Zhu Y, Zhou G, Tu E, Huang T, Huang H, Li F. Effect of Clozapine on Anti-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis With Psychiatric Symptoms: A Series of Three Cases. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:315. [PMID: 31024238 PMCID: PMC6465601 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Accepted: 03/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The main clinical manifestations of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis are acute or subacute seizures, cognition impairment, and psychiatric symptoms. Nowadays, the scheme of antipsychotic therapy for this disease has not been established. This study reports three cases of anti-NMDAR encephalitis with psychiatric symptoms. The anti-NMDAR antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum were positive. The psychiatric symptoms still existed after intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment; thus, clozapine was used for antipsychotic therapy. Case 1 was a 37-year-old man who suffered from bad mood and suicide behaviors for 1 month. Hallucination and delusion still existed after IVIG treatment and hormone therapy, and the symptoms were relieved when given clozapine for 12 months. Case 2 was a 28-year-old man who was admitted to our hospital due to injuring other people and destructive behaviors for 2 days. He showed irritability, bad temper, declined cognition, and severe delusion of persecution after IVIG treatment and hormone therapy, but the psychiatric symptoms disappeared when given clozapine for 3 months. Case 3 was a 23-year-old man who suffered from headache and babbing for 7 days. Symptoms such as irritability, bad temper, babbing, and injuring other people still existed after IVIG treatment and hormone therapy, but they disappeared when given clozapine for 2 months. Therefore, we suggest that during the treatment of anti-NMDAR encephalitis with psychiatric symptoms, if the anti-NMDAR antibodies in CSF and serum were positive, and psychiatric symptoms could not be controlled after IVIG and hormone therapy, clozapine may work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Yang
- Department of Psychiatry, Hunan Brain Hospital, Clinical Medical School, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Liang Li
- Provincial Key Laboratory of TCM Diagnostics, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Shuaishuai Xia
- Provincial Key Laboratory of TCM Diagnostics, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Bin Zhou
- Department of Psychiatry, Hunan Brain Hospital, Clinical Medical School, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Yong Zhu
- Department of Psychiatry, Hunan Brain Hospital, Clinical Medical School, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Gaoya Zhou
- Department of Psychiatry, Hunan Brain Hospital, Clinical Medical School, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Erwen Tu
- Department of Psychiatry, Hunan Brain Hospital, Clinical Medical School, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Tianhao Huang
- Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Huiyong Huang
- Provincial Key Laboratory of TCM Diagnostics, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Feng Li
- Provincial Key Laboratory of TCM Diagnostics, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China.,School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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Dela Peña I, Gevorkiana R, Shi WX. Psychostimulants affect dopamine transmission through both dopamine transporter-dependent and independent mechanisms. Eur J Pharmacol 2015; 764:562-570. [PMID: 26209364 PMCID: PMC4600454 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2015.07.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2015] [Revised: 07/15/2015] [Accepted: 07/20/2015] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The precise mechanisms by which cocaine and amphetamine-like psychostimulants exert their reinforcing effects are not yet fully defined. It is widely believed, however, that these drugs produce their effects by enhancing dopamine neurotransmission in the brain, especially in limbic areas such as the nucleus accumbens, by inducing dopamine transporter-mediated reverse transport and/or blocking dopamine reuptake though the dopamine transporter. Here, we present the evidence that aside from dopamine transporter, non-dopamine transporter-mediated mechanisms also participate in psychostimulant-induced dopamine release and contribute to the behavioral effects of these drugs, such as locomotor activation and reward. Accordingly, psychostimulants could increase norepinephrine release in the prefrontal cortex, the latter then alters the firing pattern of dopamine neurons resulting in changes in action potential-dependent dopamine release. These alterations would further affect the temporal pattern of dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens, thereby modifying information processing in that area. Hence, a synaptic input to a nucleus accumbens neuron may be enhanced or inhibited by dopamine depending on its temporal relationship to dopamine release. Specific temporal patterns of dopamine release may also be required for certain forms of synaptic plasticity in the nucleus accumbens. Together, these effects induced by psychostimulants, mediated through a non-dopamine transporter-mediated mechanism involving norepinephrine and the prefrontal cortex, may also contribute importantly to the reinforcing properties of these drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ike Dela Peña
- Departments of Pharmaceutical and Administrative Sciences, Loma Linda University Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA.
| | - Ruzanna Gevorkiana
- Departments of Pharmaceutical and Administrative Sciences, Loma Linda University Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA
| | - Wei-Xing Shi
- Departments of Pharmaceutical and Administrative Sciences, Loma Linda University Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA; Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA.
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Marinelli M, McCutcheon JE. Heterogeneity of dopamine neuron activity across traits and states. Neuroscience 2014; 282:176-97. [PMID: 25084048 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.07.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2014] [Revised: 07/21/2014] [Accepted: 07/22/2014] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Midbrain dopamine neurons fire irregularly, with interspersed clusters of high-frequency spikes, commonly called 'bursts'. In this review we examine such heterogeneity in activity, and provide insight into how it can participate in psychiatric conditions such as drug addiction. We first describe several techniques used to evaluate dopamine neuron activity, and comment on the different measures that each provides. We next describe the activity of dopamine neurons in 'basal' conditions. Specifically, we discuss how the use of anesthesia and reduced preparations may alter aspects of dopamine cell activity, and how there is heterogeneity across species and regions. We also describe how dopamine cell firing changes throughout the peri-adolescent period and how dopamine neuron activity differs across the population. In the final section, we discuss how dopamine neuron activity changes in response to life events. First, we focus attention on drugs of abuse. Drugs themselves change firing activity through a variety of mechanisms, with effects on firing while drug is present differing from those seen after drug discontinuation. We then review how stimuli that are rewarding, aversive, or salient can evoke changes in firing rate and discharge pattern of dopamine neurons, and provide behavioral relevance of dopamine signaling. Finally, we discuss how stress can modulate dopamine neuron firing and how this may contribute to the role that stressful experiences play in psychiatric disorders such as addiction and depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Marinelli
- Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, 107 W. Dean Keeton, C0875, BME 6.114A, Austin, TX 78756, USA.
| | - J E McCutcheon
- Department of Cell Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology, University of Leicester, Maurice Shock Medical Sciences Building, University Road, P.O. Box 138, Leicester LE1 9HN, UK.
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Asymmetric total synthesis and identification of tetrahydroprotoberberine derivatives as new antipsychotic agents possessing a dopamine D1, D2 and serotonin 5-HT1A multi-action profile. Bioorg Med Chem 2013; 21:856-68. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2012.12.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2012] [Revised: 12/12/2012] [Accepted: 12/14/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Branch SY, Beckstead MJ. Methamphetamine produces bidirectional, concentration-dependent effects on dopamine neuron excitability and dopamine-mediated synaptic currents. J Neurophysiol 2012; 108:802-9. [PMID: 22592307 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00094.2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Amphetamine-like compounds are commonly used to enhance cognition and to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but they also function as positive reinforcers and are self-administered at doses far exceeding clinical relevance. Many of these compounds (including methamphetamine) are substrates for dopamine reuptake transporters, elevating extracellular dopamine by inhibiting uptake and promoting reverse transport. This produces an increase in extracellular dopamine that inhibits dopamine neuron firing through autoreceptor activation and consequently blunts phasic dopamine neurotransmission, an important learning signal. However, these mechanisms do not explain the beneficial behavioral effects observed at clinically useful concentrations. In the present study, we have used patch-clamp electrophysiology in slices of mouse midbrain to show that, surprisingly, low concentrations of methamphetamine actually enhance dopamine neurotransmission and increase dopamine neuron firing through a dopamine transporter-mediated excitatory conductance. Both of these effects are reversed by higher concentrations of methamphetamine, which inhibit firing through dopamine D2 autoreceptor activation and decrease the peak amplitude of dopamine-mediated synaptic currents. These competing, concentration-dependent effects of methamphetamine suggest a mechanistic interplay by which lower concentrations of methamphetamine can overcome autoreceptor-mediated inhibition at the soma to increase phasic dopamine transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Y Branch
- Department of Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas 78229, USA
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Park J, Takmakov P, Wightman RM. In vivo comparison of norepinephrine and dopamine release in rat brain by simultaneous measurements with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. J Neurochem 2011; 119:932-44. [PMID: 21933188 DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2011.07494.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Brain norepinephrine and dopamine regulate a variety of critical behaviors such as stress, learning, memory, and drug addiction. In this study, we demonstrate differences in the regulation of in vivo neurotransmission for dopamine in the anterior nucleus accumbens (NAc) and norepinephrine in the ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (vBNST) of the anesthetized rat. Release of the two catecholamines was measured simultaneously using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry at two different carbon-fiber microelectrodes, each implanted in the brain region of interest. Simultaneous dopamine and norepinephrine release was evoked by electrical stimulation of a region where the ventral noradrenergic bundle, the pathway of noradrenergic neurons, courses through the ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra, the origin of dopaminergic cell bodies. The release and uptake of norepinephrine in the vBNST were both significantly slower than for dopamine in the NAc. Pharmacological manipulations in the same animal demonstrated that the two catecholamines are differently regulated. The combination of a dopamine autoreceptor antagonist and amphetamine significantly increased basal extracellular dopamine whereas a norepinephrine autoreceptor antagonist and amphetamine did not change basal norepinephrine concentration. α-Methyl-p-tyrosine, a tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor, decreased electrically evoked dopamine release faster than norepinephrine. The dual-microelectrode fast-scan cyclic voltammetry technique along with anatomical and pharmacological evidence confirms that dopamine in the NAc and norepinephrine in the vBNST can be monitored selectively and simultaneously in the same animal. The high temporal and spatial resolution of the technique enabled us to examine differences in the dynamics of extracellular norepinephrine and dopamine concurrently in two different limbic structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinwoo Park
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
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Mechanisms involved in systemic nicotine-induced glutamatergic synaptic plasticity on dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area. J Neurosci 2010; 30:13814-25. [PMID: 20943922 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1943-10.2010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Systemic exposure to nicotine induces glutamatergic synaptic plasticity on dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), but mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we report that single, systemic exposure in rats to nicotine (0.17 mg/kg free base) increases the ratio of DA neuronal currents mediated by AMPA relative to NMDA receptors (AMPA/NMDA ratio) assessed 24 h later, based on slice-patch recording. The AMPA/NMDA ratio increase is evident within 1 h and lasts for at least 72 h after nicotine exposure (and up to 8 d after repeated nicotine administration). This effect cannot be prevented by systemic injection of either α7-nAChR (nicotinic ACh receptor)-selective [methyllycaconitine (MLA)] or β2*-nAChR-selective [mecamylamine (MEC)] antagonists but is prevented by coinjection of MLA and MEC. In either nAChR α7 or β2 subunit knock-out mice, systemic exposure to nicotine still increases the AMPA/NMDA ratio. Preinjection in rats of a NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801((+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5,10-imine maleate), but neither DA receptor antagonists [SCH-23390 (R-(+)-7-chloro-8-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine) plus haloperidol] nor a calcineurin inhibitor (cyclosporine), prevents the nicotine-induced increase in AMPA/NMDA ratio. After systemic exposure to nicotine, glutamatergic (but not GABAergic) transmission onto rat VTA DA neuronal inputs is enhanced. Correspondingly, DA neuronal firing measured 24 h after nicotine exposure using extracellular single-unit recording in vivo is significantly faster, and there is conversion of silent to active DA neurons. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that systemic nicotine acting via either α7- or β2*-nAChRs increases presynaptic and postsynaptic glutamatergic function, and consequently initiates glutamatergic synaptic plasticity, which may be an important, early neuronal adaptation in nicotine reward and reinforcement.
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Gao M, Chu HY, Jin GZ, Zhang ZJ, Wu J, Zhen XC. l-Stepholidine-induced excitation of dopamine neurons in rat ventral tegmental area is associated with its 5-HT1A receptor partial agonistic activity. Synapse 2010; 65:379-87. [DOI: 10.1002/syn.20855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2010] [Accepted: 06/28/2010] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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Liu Z, Zhang H, Ye N, Zhang J, Wu Q, Sun P, Li L, Zhen X, Zhang A. Synthesis of dihydrofuroaporphine derivatives: identification of a potent and selective serotonin 5-HT 1A receptor agonist. J Med Chem 2010; 53:1319-28. [PMID: 20041669 DOI: 10.1021/jm9015763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
A series of new aporphine analogues were synthesized and pharmacologically evaluated. 11-Allyloxy-(17), 11-propargyloxy-(20), and dihydrofuro-(19) aporphines displayed the highest affinity at the 5-HT(1A) receptor with K(i) values of 12.0, 14.0, and 6.7 nM, respectively. The high binding potential of the diastereomeric mixture of aporphine 19 was found residing in the cis-diastereomer (cis-19). [(35)S]GTP gamma S function assays on 5-HT(1A) receptor indicated that aporphines 17 and 20 were partial agonists, while trans-19 behaved as a high efficacy full antagonist and cis-19 was a full agonist. The agonistic property of cis-19 at the 5-HT(1A) receptor was further confirmed in vitro and in vivo. This compound may be useful as a potential treatment for anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhili Liu
- Synthetic Organic & Medicinal Chemistry Laboratory (SOMCL), Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
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Electrophysiological characteristics of dopamine neurons: a 35-year update. JOURNAL OF NEURAL TRANSMISSION. SUPPLEMENTUM 2009:103-19. [PMID: 20411771 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-211-92660-4_8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
This chapter consists of four sections. The first section provides a general description of the electrophysiological characteristics of dopamine (DA) neurons in both the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area. Emphasis is placed on the differences between DA and neighboring non-DA neurons. The second section discusses the ionic mechanisms underlying the generation of action potential in DA cells. Evidence is provided to suggest that these mechanisms differ not only between DA and non-DA neurons but also between DA cells located in different areas, with different projection sites and at different developmental stages. Some of the differences may play a critical role in the vulnerability of a DA neuron to cell death. The third section describes the firing patterns of DA cells. Data are presented to show that the current "80/160 ms" criteria for burst identification need to be revised and that the burst firing, originally described by Bunney et al., can be described as slow oscillations in firing rate. In the ventral tegmental area, the slow oscillations are, at least partially, derived from the prefrontal cortex and part of prefrontal information is transferred to DA cells indirectly through inhibitory neurons. The final section focuses on the feedback regulation of DA cells. New evidence suggests that DA autoreceptors are coupled to multiple effectors, and both D1 and D2-like receptors are involved in long-loop feedback control of DA neurons. Because of the presence of multiple feedback and nonfeedback pathways, the effect of a drug on a DA neuron can be far more complex than an inhibition or excitation. A better understanding of the intrinsic properties of DA neurons and their regulation by afferent input will, in time, help to point to the way to more effective and safer treatments for disorders including schizophrenia, drug addiction, and Parkinson's disease.
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Zhang D, Yang S, Jin GZ, Bunney BS, Shi WX. Oscillatory firing of dopamine neurons: differences between cells in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area. Synapse 2008; 62:169-75. [PMID: 18081182 DOI: 10.1002/syn.20479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Neuronal oscillations have been suggested to play an important role in information processing in the brain. Using spectral analysis, we have recently shown that the repetitive burst-like firing in many dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) can be described as a slow oscillation (SO) in firing rate. In this study, we examined whether DA neurons in the adjacent substantia nigra (SN) also display a SO. DA neurons were recorded extracellularly using the cells/track technique in chloral hydrate-anesthetized rats. Spectral analysis showed that firing patterns of SN DA neurons exhibited a SO similar to that observed in VTA DA neurons. The amplitude of the SO, however, was much reduced in the SN compared with that in the VTA and so was the number of DA neurons qualified as high-SO cells. In high-SO DA neurons, the amplitude of the SO was strongly correlated with the degree of bursting, and this correlation was observed in both the VTA and SN. In low-SO cells, however, the SO was more significantly correlated with the variability of firing than with firing rate and bursting. Since the generation of the SO depends on afferent inputs to DA neurons, a better understanding of its difference between the SN and VTA may provide important insights into the neural networks that control DA neurons in the two areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Die Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
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Gao M, Liu CL, Yang S, Jin GZ, Bunney BS, Shi WX. Functional coupling between the prefrontal cortex and dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area. J Neurosci 2007; 27:5414-21. [PMID: 17507563 PMCID: PMC6672349 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.5347-06.2007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Stimulation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been shown to have an excitatory influence on dopamine (DA) neurons. We report here that, under nonstimulated conditions, the activity of DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) also covaries, on a subsecond timescale, with the activity of PFC cells. Thus, in 67% of VTA DA neurons recorded in chloral hydrate-anesthetized rats, the firing of the cell displayed a slow oscillation (SO) that was highly coherent with the activity of PFC neurons. The SO was suppressed by transections immediately caudal to the PFC or by intra-PFC infusion of tetrodotoxin, suggesting that it depends on inputs derived from the PFC. Unexpectedly, the SO in most VTA DA neurons was reversed in phase relative to PFC cell activity, suggesting that at least part of PFC information is transferred to DA neurons indirectly through inhibitory relay neurons. These results, together with those reported previously, suggest that the PFC can act through multiple pathways to exert both excitatory and inhibitory influences on DA neurons. The observed functional coupling between DA and PFC neurons further suggests that these pathways not only allow a bidirectional control of DA neurons by the PFC, but also enable action potential-dependent DA release to be coordinated, on a subsecond timescale, with glutamate release from PFC terminals. Further understanding of this coordinated activity may provide important new insights into brain functions and disorders thought to involve both VTA DA and PFC neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Gao
- Department of Pharmacology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China, and
| | - Chang-Liang Liu
- Department of Pharmacology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China, and
| | - Shen Yang
- Department of Pharmacology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China, and
| | - Guo-Zhang Jin
- Department of Pharmacology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China, and
| | - Benjamin S. Bunney
- Neuropsychopharmacological Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06511
| | - Wei-Xing Shi
- Department of Pharmacology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China, and
- Neuropsychopharmacological Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06511
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