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GABA Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area Responding to Peripheral Sensory Input

Dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) not only participate in reward processing, but also respond to aversive stimuli. Although GABA neurons in this area are actively involved in regulating the firing of DA neurons, few data exist concerning the responses of these neurons to aver...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Liu, Chang-Liang, Gao, Ming, Jin, Guo-Zhang, Zhen, Xuechu
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3519727/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23251560
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051507
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author Liu, Chang-Liang
Gao, Ming
Jin, Guo-Zhang
Zhen, Xuechu
author_facet Liu, Chang-Liang
Gao, Ming
Jin, Guo-Zhang
Zhen, Xuechu
author_sort Liu, Chang-Liang
collection PubMed
description Dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) not only participate in reward processing, but also respond to aversive stimuli. Although GABA neurons in this area are actively involved in regulating the firing of DA neurons, few data exist concerning the responses of these neurons to aversive sensory input. In this study, by employing extracellular single-unit recording and spectral analysis techniques in paralyzed and ventilated rats, we found that the firing pattern in 44% (47 of 106) of GABA cells in the VTA was sensitive to the sensory input produced by the ventilation, showing a significant ventilation-associated oscillation in the power spectra. Detailed studies revealed that most ventilation-sensitive GABA neurons (38 of 47) were excited by the stimuli, whereas most ventilation-sensitive DA neurons (11 of 14) were inhibited. When the animals were under anesthesia or the sensory pathways were transected, the ventilation-associated oscillation failed to appear. Systemic administration of non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartase (NMDA) receptor antagonist MK-801 completely disrupted the association between the firing of GABA neurons and the ventilation. Interestingly, local MK-801 injection into the VTA dramatically enhanced the sensitivity of GABA neurons to the ventilation. Our data demonstrate that both GABA and DA neurons in the VTA can be significantly modulated by sensory input produced by the ventilation, which may indicate potential functional roles of VTA in processing sensation-related input.
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spelling pubmed-35197272012-12-18 GABA Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area Responding to Peripheral Sensory Input Liu, Chang-Liang Gao, Ming Jin, Guo-Zhang Zhen, Xuechu PLoS One Research Article Dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) not only participate in reward processing, but also respond to aversive stimuli. Although GABA neurons in this area are actively involved in regulating the firing of DA neurons, few data exist concerning the responses of these neurons to aversive sensory input. In this study, by employing extracellular single-unit recording and spectral analysis techniques in paralyzed and ventilated rats, we found that the firing pattern in 44% (47 of 106) of GABA cells in the VTA was sensitive to the sensory input produced by the ventilation, showing a significant ventilation-associated oscillation in the power spectra. Detailed studies revealed that most ventilation-sensitive GABA neurons (38 of 47) were excited by the stimuli, whereas most ventilation-sensitive DA neurons (11 of 14) were inhibited. When the animals were under anesthesia or the sensory pathways were transected, the ventilation-associated oscillation failed to appear. Systemic administration of non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartase (NMDA) receptor antagonist MK-801 completely disrupted the association between the firing of GABA neurons and the ventilation. Interestingly, local MK-801 injection into the VTA dramatically enhanced the sensitivity of GABA neurons to the ventilation. Our data demonstrate that both GABA and DA neurons in the VTA can be significantly modulated by sensory input produced by the ventilation, which may indicate potential functional roles of VTA in processing sensation-related input. Public Library of Science 2012-12-10 /pmc/articles/PMC3519727/ /pubmed/23251560 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051507 Text en © 2012 Liu et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Liu, Chang-Liang
Gao, Ming
Jin, Guo-Zhang
Zhen, Xuechu
GABA Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area Responding to Peripheral Sensory Input
title GABA Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area Responding to Peripheral Sensory Input
title_full GABA Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area Responding to Peripheral Sensory Input
title_fullStr GABA Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area Responding to Peripheral Sensory Input
title_full_unstemmed GABA Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area Responding to Peripheral Sensory Input
title_short GABA Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area Responding to Peripheral Sensory Input
title_sort gaba neurons in the ventral tegmental area responding to peripheral sensory input
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3519727/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23251560
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051507
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