Recent studies have revealed an important role of the ventrolateral (subcommissural) aspect of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (vBNST) in motivational aspects of drug abuse (Delfs et al., 2000). Dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) have also long been linked to motivation and drug abuse (Koob and Le Moal, 2001). The present study tested whether activity in the v...

BACKGROUND Alkaloids from Piper longum (PLA), extracted from P. longum, have potent anti-inflammatory effects. The aim of this study was to investigate whether PLA could protect dopaminergic neurons against inflammation-mediated damage by inhibiting microglial activation using a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced dopaminergic neuronal damage rat model. METHODS The animal behaviors of rotational...

Factors that regulate terminal arbor size of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) neurons during development and after injury are not well understood. This study examined the role of dopamine receptors in regulating arbor size. Terminal arbors were examined in mice with targeted deletion of the D1 or D2 dopamine receptor [D1(-/-) and D2(-/-) mice, respectively]. Terminal trees were also examin...

Changes in mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) neurons and their target cells can be induced throughout life and are important determinants of individual differences in susceptibility to psychopathology. The goal of my research is to gain insight into the nature of the cellularand molecular mechanism underlying the selective plasticity of mesocorticolimbic DA neurons. Here, I review work showing th...

Burst firing of dopaminergic neurons in ventral tegmental area (VTA) induces a large transient increase in synaptic dopamine (DA) release and thus is considered the reward-related signal. But the mechanisms of burst generation of dopaminergic neuron still remain unclear. This experiment investigated the burst firing of VTA dopaminergic neurons in rat midbrain slices perfused with carbachol and ...

The A9 dopaminergic (DA) neuronal group projecting to the dorsal striatum is the most vulnerable in Parkinson's disease (PD). We genetically engineered mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells to express the transcription factors Nurr1 or Pitx3. After in vitro differentiation of Pitx3-expressing ES cells, the proportion of DA neurons expressing aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (AHD2) increased, while the total ...

Engrailed1 is a developmental gene of the homeogene family that controls the survival of midbrain dopaminergic neurons throughout life. Since these neurons have been crucially implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD), transgenic mice lacking one En1 allele could be of particular interest for the development of an animal model for PD. We showed in En1+/- mice, some traits reminiscent of PD such as...

Stress induces the release of the peptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) into the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and also increases dopamine (DA) levels in brain regions receiving dense VTA input. Since the role of stress in drug addiction is well established, the present study examined the possible involvement of CRF1 receptor in the interaction between morphine withdrawal and catecholami...

Although Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized primarily by loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons, there is a concomitant loss of norepinephrine (NE) neurons in the locus coeruleus. Dopaminergic lesions induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) are commonly used to model PD, and although MPTP effectively mimics the dopaminergic neuropathology of PD in mice, it fail...

It has been observed that certain developmental environmental risk factors for schizophrenia when modeled in rodents alter the trajectory of dopaminergic development, leading to persistent behavioural changes in adults. This has recently been articulated as the "dopamine ontogeny hypothesis of schizophrenia". To test one aspect of this hypothesis, namely that transient dopaminergic effects duri...