Local dopamine production in the dorsal striatum restores goal-directed behavior in dopamine-deficient mice.
To determine whether dopamine signaling in the dorsal striatum is sufficient for performance of goal-directed behaviors, local dopamine production was restored in the dorsal striatum of dopamine-deficient (DD) mice through viral-mediated gene therapy. Virally rescued DD (vrDD) mice were tested for learning of an appetitive T-maze task designed to measure goal-directed behavior. The results indicate that in contrast with the performance of DD mice that have dysregulated dopamine signaling, vrDD mice were able to perform the T-maze task and reverse their behavior as well as sham-operated control mice. The authors conclude that finely tuned dopaminergic signaling within the dorsal striatum is sufficient for performance of goal-directed behavior.
Robinson
Siobhan
S
Neurobiology and Behavior Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. siobhanr@u.washington.edu
Sotak
Bethany N
BN
During
Matthew J
MJ
Palmiter
Richard D
RD
D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology*; D000229:Dependovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000378:metabolism; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006040:Goals; D007858:Learning; D018782:Maze Learning; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000821:virology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D014161:Transduction, Genetic / Q000379:methods
D004298:Dopamine