In this issue of Neuron, Saal et al. find that exposure to any of five addictive drugs or exposure to a brief stressor produces a shared cellular modification of excitatory synapses in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). This common response may represent a starting point for dissecting early changes that underlie addiction.

The mammalian mesopontine tegmentum (MPT) contains two cholinergic nuclei, the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg) and the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDTg). These provide the cholinergic innervation of, among other brain areas, the dopaminergic A9 and A10 cell groups. Their axons are thus the source of endogenous acetylcholine (ACh) acting on somato-dendritic acetylcholine receptors ...

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor deficits caused the loss of dopaminergic neurons in Substantia Nigra (SN) and Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA). However, clinical data revealed that not only system affected PD. Pharmacological models support concept modification noradrenergic transmission can influence PD-like phenotype induced neurotoxins. Exposure to...

Motor activity elicited pharmacologically from the nucleus accumbens by the mu-opioid receptor agonist D-Ala-Tyr-Gly-NMePhe-Gly-OH (DAMGO) is augmented in rats sustaining dopamine depletions. GABAergic projections from the nucleus accumbens to ventral pallidum and ventral tegmental area (VTA) are involved because stimulation of GABAB receptors in the VTA (by baclofen) or GABAA receptors in the ...

Background: Recent cross-sectional studies highlighted the loss of dopaminergic neurons in ventral tegmental area (VTA) as an early pathophysiological event Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Objective: In this study, we longitudinally investigated by resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) a cohort patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD evaluate impact VTA disconnection predicting conversion AD. ...

Potentiation of excitatory inputs onto dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) induced by cocaine exposure allows remodeling of the mesocorticolimbic circuitry, which ultimately drives drug-adaptive behavior. This potentiation is mediated by changes in NMDAR and AMPAR subunit composition. It remains unknown how this synaptic plasticity affects the activity of dopamine neurons. Here...

UNLABELLED Protracted opiate withdrawal is accompanied by altered responsiveness of midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons, including a loss of DA cell response to morphine, and by behavioral alterations, including affective disorders. GABAergic neurons in the tail of the ventral tegmental area (tVTA), also called the rostromedial tegmental nucleus, are important for behavioral responses to opiates...

Abstract DNA methylation and gene expression can be altered by early life stress (ELS) and/or ethanol consumption. The present study aimed to investigate whether of the Vesicular Glutamate Transporters ( Vglut ) 1-3 is related previously observed Vglut1-3 transcriptional differences in ventral tegmental area (VTA), nucleus accumbens (Acb), dorsal striatum (dStr) medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) ...

Introduction: Stimulation or inactivation of the lateral hypothalamus (LH) produces antinociception. Studies showed a role for the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the antinociception induced by LH chemical stimulation through the orexinergic receptors. In this study, we assessed the role of intra-VTA dopamine D1 and D2 receptors in antinociceptive effects of cholinergic agonist, carbachol, m...

One reported mechanism for morphine activation of dopamine (DA) neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is the disinhibition model of VTA-DA neurons. Morphine inhibits GABA inhibitory neurons, which shifts the balance between inhibitory and excitatory input to VTA-DA neurons in favor of excitation and then leads to VTA-DA neuron excitation. However, it is not known whether morphine has an a...