Phasic Firing in Dopaminergic Neurons Is Sufficient for Behavioral Conditioning

Top Cited Papers
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
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.