GABAergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area represent and regulate force vectors

Summary: The ventral tegmental area (VTA), a midbrain region associated with motivated behaviors, contains mostly dopaminergic (DA) neurons and GABAergic (GABA) neurons. Previous work has suggested that VTA GABA neurons provide a reward prediction signal, which is used in computing a reward predicti...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qiaochu Jiang, Konstantin I. Bakhurin, Ryan N. Hughes, Bryan Lu, Shaolin Ruan, Henry H. Yin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-02-01
Series:Cell Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124725000841
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Summary: The ventral tegmental area (VTA), a midbrain region associated with motivated behaviors, contains mostly dopaminergic (DA) neurons and GABAergic (GABA) neurons. Previous work has suggested that VTA GABA neurons provide a reward prediction signal, which is used in computing a reward prediction error. In this study, by using in vivo electrophysiology and continuous quantification of force exertion in head-fixed mice, we identify distinct populations of VTA GABA neurons that exhibit precise force tuning independently of learning, reward prediction, and outcome valence. Their activity usually precedes force exertion, and selective optogenetic manipulations of these neurons systematically modulate force exertion without influencing reward prediction. Together, these findings show that VTA GABA neurons can continuously regulate force vectors during motivated behavior.
ISSN:2211-1247