Dopamine activity encodes the changing valence of the same stimulus in conditioned taste aversion paradigms
Mesolimbic dopamine encoding of non-contingent rewards and reward-predictive cues has been well established. Considerable debate remains over how mesolimbic dopamine responds to aversion and in the context of aversive conditioning. Inconsistencies may arise from the use of aversive stimuli that are...
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2025-03-01
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| author | Maxine K Loh Samantha J Hurh Paula Bazzino Rachel M Donka Alexandra T Keinath Jamie D Roitman Mitchell F Roitman |
| author_facet | Maxine K Loh Samantha J Hurh Paula Bazzino Rachel M Donka Alexandra T Keinath Jamie D Roitman Mitchell F Roitman |
| author_sort | Maxine K Loh |
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| description | Mesolimbic dopamine encoding of non-contingent rewards and reward-predictive cues has been well established. Considerable debate remains over how mesolimbic dopamine responds to aversion and in the context of aversive conditioning. Inconsistencies may arise from the use of aversive stimuli that are transduced along different neural paths relative to reward or the conflation of responses to avoidance and aversion. Here, we made intraoral infusions of sucrose and measured how dopamine and behavioral responses varied to the changing valence of sucrose. Pairing intraoral sucrose with malaise via injection of lithium chloride (LiCl) caused the development of a conditioned taste aversion (CTA), which rendered the typically rewarding taste of sucrose aversive upon subsequent re-exposure. Following CTA formation, intraoral sucrose suppressed the activity of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons (VTADA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) dopamine release. This pattern of dopamine signaling after CTA is similar to intraoral infusions of innately aversive quinine and contrasts with responses to sucrose when it was novel or not paired with LiCl. Dopamine responses were negatively correlated with behavioral reactivity to intraoral sucrose and predicted home cage sucrose preference. Further, dopamine responses scaled with the strength of the CTA, which was increased by repeated LiCl pairings and weakened through extinction. Thus, the findings demonstrate differential dopamine encoding of the same taste stimulus according to its valence, which is aligned to distinct behavioral responses. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c37f567d4f9a431dae1f08058a0e6734 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
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| spelling | doaj-art-c37f567d4f9a431dae1f08058a0e67342025-08-20T02:46:43ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2025-03-011310.7554/eLife.103260Dopamine activity encodes the changing valence of the same stimulus in conditioned taste aversion paradigmsMaxine K Loh0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2933-2768Samantha J Hurh1Paula Bazzino2Rachel M Donka3Alexandra T Keinath4Jamie D Roitman5Mitchell F Roitman6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3973-635XDivision of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United StatesGraduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United States; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United States; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United StatesMesolimbic dopamine encoding of non-contingent rewards and reward-predictive cues has been well established. Considerable debate remains over how mesolimbic dopamine responds to aversion and in the context of aversive conditioning. Inconsistencies may arise from the use of aversive stimuli that are transduced along different neural paths relative to reward or the conflation of responses to avoidance and aversion. Here, we made intraoral infusions of sucrose and measured how dopamine and behavioral responses varied to the changing valence of sucrose. Pairing intraoral sucrose with malaise via injection of lithium chloride (LiCl) caused the development of a conditioned taste aversion (CTA), which rendered the typically rewarding taste of sucrose aversive upon subsequent re-exposure. Following CTA formation, intraoral sucrose suppressed the activity of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons (VTADA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) dopamine release. This pattern of dopamine signaling after CTA is similar to intraoral infusions of innately aversive quinine and contrasts with responses to sucrose when it was novel or not paired with LiCl. Dopamine responses were negatively correlated with behavioral reactivity to intraoral sucrose and predicted home cage sucrose preference. Further, dopamine responses scaled with the strength of the CTA, which was increased by repeated LiCl pairings and weakened through extinction. Thus, the findings demonstrate differential dopamine encoding of the same taste stimulus according to its valence, which is aligned to distinct behavioral responses.https://elifesciences.org/articles/103260ventral tegmental areanucleus accumbensrewardaversionmotivationreinforcement |
| spellingShingle | Maxine K Loh Samantha J Hurh Paula Bazzino Rachel M Donka Alexandra T Keinath Jamie D Roitman Mitchell F Roitman Dopamine activity encodes the changing valence of the same stimulus in conditioned taste aversion paradigms eLife ventral tegmental area nucleus accumbens reward aversion motivation reinforcement |
| title | Dopamine activity encodes the changing valence of the same stimulus in conditioned taste aversion paradigms |
| title_full | Dopamine activity encodes the changing valence of the same stimulus in conditioned taste aversion paradigms |
| title_fullStr | Dopamine activity encodes the changing valence of the same stimulus in conditioned taste aversion paradigms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dopamine activity encodes the changing valence of the same stimulus in conditioned taste aversion paradigms |
| title_short | Dopamine activity encodes the changing valence of the same stimulus in conditioned taste aversion paradigms |
| title_sort | dopamine activity encodes the changing valence of the same stimulus in conditioned taste aversion paradigms |
| topic | ventral tegmental area nucleus accumbens reward aversion motivation reinforcement |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/103260 |
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