title: D2 dopamine modulation of corticoaccumbens synaptic responses changes during adolescence.
abstract: Dopaminergic afferents from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) modulate information processing in the nucleus accumbens (NA), a brain region critical for motivation and reward mechanisms. In NA medium spiny neurons (MSNs) from young rats, D(2) agonists have been shown to decrease the amplitude of corticoaccumbens synaptic responses. As several dopamine-related functions change during adolescence, we assessed the D(2) modulation of cortical inputs with whole-cell recordings in slices obtained from adult and preadolescent rats. The D(2) agonist quinpirole (5 microM) decreased synaptic response of NA MSNs to electrical cortical stimulation in slices from preadolescent rats. In slices from adult rats, however, quinpirole increased both the amplitude of evoked synaptic responses and the frequency of spontaneous synaptic events. These effects were blocked by the GABA-A antagonist picrotoxin (50 microM), revealing a D(2)-mediated decrease These results suggest that D(2) receptors modulate NA neurons differently in young and adult rats, due to the emergence of a D(2)-facilitated GABA component in corticoaccumbens responses during adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuropharmacology & Neuroscience, Albany Medical College, 47 New Scotland Ave., Albany, NY 12208, USA.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benoit-Marand
authors.forename: Patricio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology*; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000819:agonists / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D004298:Dopamine