小柯机器人

美国圣路易斯华盛顿大学Michael R. Bruchas、Ream Al-Hasani等研究人员合作发现，腹侧伏隔核胆碱能中间神经元的腹侧被盖区GABA能抑制能够促进奖励强化。2021年8月12日，《自然—神经科学》杂志在线发表了这项成果。

研究人员表示，从腹侧被盖区（VTA）到横状隔核（NAc）的长程GABA能输入的研究相对较少，因此它在奖赏处理中的作用仍然是未知的。

研究人员在雄性和雌性小鼠中发现，从VTA到NAc腹侧壳的长程GABA能投射，而不是到NAc背侧壳或NAc核心，参与奖励和强化行为。研究人员表明，这种GABA能投射专门与腹侧NAc壳中的胆碱能中间神经元（CIN）突触，从而在通过抑制腹侧NAc壳CIN来调节强化奖励行为方面发挥专门功能。这些发现突出了VTA GABA能投射的结构和功能拓扑的多样性，以及它们在NAc壳背腹侧梯度上的神经调节相互作用。这些发现还进一步加深了人们对直接牵涉到神经精神疾病（如抑郁症和成瘾）神经元回路的理解。

附：英文原文

Title: Ventral tegmental area GABAergic inhibition of cholinergic interneurons in the ventral nucleus accumbens shell promotes reward reinforcement

Author: Al-Hasani, Ream, Gowrishankar, Raajaram, Schmitz, Gavin P., Pedersen, Christian E., Marcus, David J., Shirley, Sofia E., Hobbs, Taylor E., Elerding, Abigail J., Renaud, Sophie J., Jing, Miao, Li, Yulong, Alvarez, Veronica A., Lemos, Julia C., Bruchas, Michael R.

Issue&Volume: 2021-08-12

Abstract: The long-range GABAergic input from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is relatively understudied, and therefore its role in reward processing has remained unknown. In the present study, we show, in both male and female mice, that long-range GABAergic projections from the VTA to the ventral NAc shell, but not to the dorsal NAc shell or NAc core, are engaged in reward and reinforcement behavior. We show that this GABAergic projection exclusively synapses on to cholinergic interneurons (CINs) in the ventral NAc shell, thereby serving a specialized function in modulating reinforced reward behavior through the inhibition of ventral NAc shell CINs. These findings highlight the diversity in the structural and functional topography of VTA GABAergic projections, and their neuromodulatory interactions across the dorsoventral gradient of the NAc shell. They also further our understanding of neuronal circuits that are directly implicated in neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression and addiction. Al-Hasani, Gowrishankar et al. show that long-range GABAergic projections from the ventral tegmental area to the ventral nucleus accumbens shell inhibit cholinergic activity to promote reward reinforcement.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-021-00898-2

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-021-00898-2

Nature Neuroscience：《自然—神经科学》，创刊于1998年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：28.771
官方网址：https://www.nature.com/neuro/
投稿链接：https://mts-nn.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex