Diverse control of motivational and consummatory feeding by a hindbrain dopaminergic neural circuit

项目摘要：中脑边缘多巴胺(DA)系统由腹侧DA神经元组成 被盖区(VTA)和黑质致密区(SNC)。前人对DA神经元投射的研究很多。 伏隔核(NAC)参与强化学习和奖赏的中介作用。但是 多巴胺在特定食欲控制和潜在神经回路中的生理作用仍然存在 难以捉摸。为了评估激励性喂养行为的特定投入效应，我们采用了一个 结合体内光遗传学、体内电生理学、基于病毒的多学科方法 电路跟踪和各种行为范例。我们发现了一种新型的VTA-PBN神经电路 在控制食欲和食欲方面起着关键作用。在这里，我们推荐一部小说 PBN投射的DA和GABA神经元的子集控制摄食和 体重。我们进一步确定了一组PBN神经元作为VTA的突触后靶点 对进食和食物条件行为有独特贡献的神经元。这个项目向前推进了一个 基因可区分的VTA-PBN神经回路选择性和差异性的新概念 在不同的营养和认知下调节食欲反应和消耗性喂养 各州。

Project Summary: The mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system is composed of DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra compacta (SNc). It is well studied that DA neurons project to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in mediation of reinforcement learning and reward. But the physiological role of dopamine in specific control of appetite and the underlying neural circuit remain elusive. To assess input-specific effects of motivational feeding behaviors, we employ a multidisciplinary approach combining in vivo optogenetics, in vivo electrophysiology, viral-based circuit tracing, and various behavioral paradigms. We identify a novel VTA-PBN neural circuit that plays a pivotal role in control of appetitive and consummatory feeding. Here we suggest a novel neural mechanism by which a subset of PBN-projecting DA and GABA neurons controls feeding and body weight. We further identify a group of PBN neurons as the post-synaptic targets of the VTA neurons that uniquely contribute to feeding and food-conditioned behavior. This project advances a novel concept that a genetically distinguishable VTA-PBN neural circuit selectively and differentially mediates appetitive response and consummatory feeding under distinct nutritional and cognitive states.