Input to the lateral habenula from the basal ganglia is excitatory, aversive, and suppressed by serotonin
Open accessAbstract
The lateral habenula (LHb) has recently been identified as a key regulator of the reward system by driving inhibition onto dopaminergic neurons. However, the nature and potential modulation of the major input to the LHb originating from the basal ganglia are poorly understood. Although the output of the basal ganglia is thought to be primarily inhibitory, here we show that transmission from the basal ganglia to the LHb is excitatory, glutamatergic, and suppressed by serotonin. Behaviorally, activation of this pathway is aversive, consistent with its role as an "antireward" signal. Our demonstration of an excitatory projection from the basal ganglia to the LHb explains how LHb-projecting basal ganglia neurons can have similar encoding properties as LHb neurons themselves. Our results also provide a link between antireward excitatory synapses and serotonin, a neuromodulator implicated in depression.
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LHb-projecting EP/GPi neurons were first suggested to be glutamatergic, purely excitatory, and to signal aversive/negative outcomes.
“Due to immunohistochemical and behavioral findings, LHb-projecting EP/GPi neurons were first suggested to be glutamatergic, purely excitatory, and signal aversive/negative outcomes.38,39”
From Synaptic and circuit functions of multitransmitter neurons in the mammalian brain (2023) · cites this paper as [39]
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- Authors
- Shabel, S. J., Proulx, C. D., Trias, A., Murphy, R. T., & Malinow, R.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Malinow, Roberto
- Venue
- Neuron
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-05
- Volume
- 74
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 475-481
- ISSN
- 0896-6273 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3471532
- OpenAlex
- W2045688922
- Cited by
- 334
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 8.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuron (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG032132)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH091119, R01MH049159)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- lateral habenula, basal ganglia, glutamatergic projections, excitatory synapses, serotonin, aversive behavior, dopaminergic neurons, reward systems, depression, neuromodulation
- MeSH terms
- Channelrhodopsins, Animals, Animals, Newborn, Avoidance Learning, Basal Ganglia, Biophysics, Cholera Toxin, Conditioning, Operant, Dopamine, Electric Stimulation, Glutamate Decarboxylase, Humans, Light, Luminescent Proteins, Membrane Potentials, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Neural Pathways, Neurons, Quinoxalines, Serotonin, Time Factors, Transduction, Genetic, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Patch-Clamp Techniques, Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists, Excitatory Amino Acids, Habenula, Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 2, Rats, Optics and Photonics, In Vitro Techniques
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