Parkinson’s disease (PD) was first described by James Parkinson in 1815 as “shaking palsy syndrome”. Today, it is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, with a lifetime risk of 1 in 45 of developing the debilitating disease and currently affecting 1% of the population over the age of 65 (G. Alves, et al., 2008). PD is characterized by a slow and progressive loss of the pigmented dop...

Introduction: Midbrain dopaminergic neurons are involved in various brain functions, including motor behavior, reinforcement, motivation, learning, and cognition. Primary dopaminergic neurons and also several lines of these cells are extensively used in cell culture studies. Primary dopaminergic neurons prepared from rodents have been cultured in both DMEM/F12 and neurobasal mediums in several ...

Rewards have many influences on learning, decision-making, and performance. All seem to rely on complementary actions of two closely related catecholaminergic neuromodulators, dopamine (DA), and noradrenaline (NA). We compared single unit activity of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC) in monkeys performing a rew...

Midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons signal motivational properties of natural reinforces and addictive drugs. Nicotine, like other drugs of abuse, boosts DA output from the ventral tegmental area (VTA). This increase results from direct stimulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) expressed in the VTA. However, how the DA signal is constructed in the VTA and how nicotine changes thi...

Prenatal ethanol exposure leads to a persistent reduction in the number of spontaneously active dopaminergic (DA) neurons (DA neuron population activity) in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in developing and adult animals. This effect might contribute to the dysfunction of the mesolimbic/cortical DA system and attention problems in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. To characterize...

Cognitive functions associated with prefrontal cortex (PFC), such as working memory and attention, are strongly influenced by catecholamine [dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE)] release. Midbrain dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area and noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus are major sources of DA and NE to the PFC. It is traditionally believed that DA and NE neurons are ...

Recent animal experiments suggest that transplanted neurons become integrated with the host brain. Neuroanatomical studies have shown that transplanted dopaminergic neurons can form synaptic connections on target cells in the host striatum. Other studies also have shown that grafted neurons not only innervate the host striatum but also receive afferent inputs from neurons of the host. However, ...

The dopaminergic neurons of the ventral tegmental area (DA VTA neurons) are important for the rewarding and reinforcing properties of drugs of abuse, including ethanol. Ethanol increases the firing frequency of DA VTA neurons from rats and mice. Because of a recent report on block of ethanol excitation in mouse DA VTA neurons with ZD7288, a selective blocker of the hyperpolarization-activated c...

Parkinson's disease (PD), caused by selective loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra, is the most common movement disorder with no cure or effective treatment. Exposure to the mitochondrial complex I inhibitor rotenone recapitulates pathological hallmarks of PD in rodents and selective loss of DA neurons in Drosophila. However, mechanisms underlying rotenone toxicity are not ...

The mammalian olfactory bulb (OB) displays robust activity-dependent plasticity throughout life. Dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the glomerular layer (GL) of the OB are particularly plastic, with loss of sensory input rapidly reducing tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression and dopamine production, followed by a substantial reduction in DA neuron number. Here, we asked whether microglia participate i...