Role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in the control of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons.
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry. 2009-11-01; 33(8): 1336-1346
DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2009.07.010
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1. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Nov 13;33(8):1336-46. doi:
10.1016/j.pnpbp.2009.07.010. Epub 2009 Jul 16.
Role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in the control of ventral
tegmental area dopamine neurons.
Jalabert M(1), Aston-Jones G, Herzog E, Manzoni O, Georges F.
Author information:
(1)INSERM, U862, Neurocentre Magendie, Pathophysiology of synaptic plasticity
group, Bordeaux, F-33000, France.
Projections from neurons of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) to the
ventral tegmental area (VTA) are crucial to behaviors related to reward and
motivation. Over the past few years, we have undertaken a series of studies to
understand: 1) how excitatory inputs regulate in vivo excitable properties of BST
neurons, and 2) how BST inputs in turn modulate neuronal activity of dopamine
neurons in VTA. Using in vivo extracellular recording techniques in anesthetized
rats and tract-tracing approaches, we have demonstrated that inputs from the
infralimbic cortex and the ventral subiculum exert a strong excitatory influence
on BST neurons projecting to the VTA. Thus, the BST is uniquely positioned to
receive emotional and learning-associated informations and to integrate these
into the reward/motivation circuitry. We will discuss how changes in the activity
of BST neurons projecting to the VTA could participate in the development or
exacerbation of psychiatric conditions such as drug addiction.
DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2009.07.010
PMCID: PMC3635540
PMID: 19616054 [Indexed for MEDLINE]