Cited by 1,266Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Phasic Firing in Dopaminergic Neurons Is Sufficient for Behavioral Conditioning

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Tsai, Hsing-Chen, Zhang, Feng, Adamantidis, Antoine, Stuber, Garret D., Bonci, Antonello, de Lecea, Luis, Deisseroth, Karl·2009·Science

Abstract

Rewarding Bursts of Dopamine: Dopaminergic neurons are thought to be involved in the cognitive and hedonic underpinnings of motivated behaviors. However, it is still unclear whether dopaminergic neuron activation is sufficient to elicit reward-related behavior and which type of neuronal activity pattern serves this purpose. Tsai et al. (p. 1080; published online 23 April) directly compared tonic versus phasic firing of dopaminergic cells in the ventral tegmental area, and the effects on both behavior and dopamine release. Using a transgenic system and virus injection in mice, they targeted the dopaminergic cells with rhodopsin. Light stimulation was then used to drive dopaminergic cells either with a tonic low level of pulses or bursts of high-frequency pulses, with the number of pulses being equal across conditions. Only the high-frequency phasic firing induced a conditioned place preference and dopamine release.

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Authors
Tsai, H.-C., Zhang, F., Adamantidis, A., Stuber, G. D., Bonci, A., de Lecea, L., & Deisseroth, K.
Affiliations
  • Stanford University (US)
  • University of California, San Francisco (US)
  • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, W083 Clark Center, 318 Campus Drive West, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Corresponding author
  • Tsai, Hsing-Chen
  • Zhang, Feng
  • Deisseroth, Karl
Venue
Science
Published
2009-05-22
Volume
324
Issue
5930
Pages
1080-1084
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W1980737345
Cited by
1,266
References
28
Citations by year
2026: 31 · 2025: 53 · 2024: 63 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 68 · 2021: 58 · 2020: 74 · 2019: 68 · 2018: 74 · 2017: 92 · 2016: 90 · 2015: 99 · 2014: 105 · 2013: 87 · 2012: 82
FWCI
34.69
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Bern Open Repository and Information System (University of Bern) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH087592)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA021880)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (K99NS065009)
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
phasic firing, dopaminergic neurons, ventral tegmental area, behavioral conditioning, optogenetic stimulation, natural reward, drugs of abuse
MeSH terms
Channelrhodopsins, Action Potentials, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Conditioning, Psychological, Dopamine, Electrodes, Implanted, Genetic Vectors, Light, Mice, Transgenic, Neurons, Reward, Transduction, Genetic, Ventral Tegmental Area, Patch-Clamp Techniques, Mice

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