Modified viral-genetic mapping reveals local and global connectivity relationships of ventral tegmental area dopamine cells

Dopamine cells in the ventral tegmental area (VTA(DA)) are critical for a variety of motivated behaviors. These cells receive synaptic inputs from over 100 anatomically defined brain regions, which enables control from a distributed set of inputs across the brain. Extensive efforts have been made to map inputs to VTA cells based on neurochemical phenotype and output site. However, all of these studies have the same fundamental limitation that inputs local to the VTA cannot be properly assessed due to non-Cre-dependent uptake of EnvA-pseudotyped virus. Therefore, the quantitative contribution of local inputs to the VTA, including GABAergic, DAergic, and serotonergic, is not known. Here, I used a modified viral-genetic strategy that enables examination of both local and long-range inputs to VTA(DA) cells in mice. I found that nearly half of the total inputs to VTA(DA) cells are located locally, revealing a substantial portion of inputs that have been missed by previous analyses. The majority of inhibition to VTA(DA) cells arises from the substantia nigra pars reticulata, with large contributions from the VTA and the substantia nigra pars compacta. In addition to receiving inputs from VTA(GABA) neurons, DA neurons are connected with other DA neurons within the VTA as well as the nearby retrorubal field. Lastly, I show that VTA(DA) neurons receive inputs from distributed serotonergic neurons throughout the midbrain and hindbrain, with the majority arising from the dorsal raphe. My study highlights the importance of using the appropriate combination of viral-genetic reagents to unmask the complexity of connectivity relationships to defined cells in the brain.