title: Reward-predictive cues enhance excitatory synaptic strength onto midbrain dopamine neurons.
abstract: Using sensory information for the prediction of future events is essential for survival. Midbrain dopamine neurons are activated by environmental cues that predict rewards, but the cellular mechanisms that underlie this phenomenon remain elusive. We used in vivo voltammetry and in vitro patch-clamp electrophysiology to show that both dopamine release to reward predictive cues and enhanced synaptic strength onto dopamine neurons develop over the course of cue-reward learning. Increased synaptic strength was not observed after stable behavioral responding. Thus, enhanced synaptic strength onto dopamine neurons may act to facilitate the transformation of neutral environmental stimuli to salient reward-predictive cues.
authors.affiliation: Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA.
authors.forename: Garret D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Stuber
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klanker
authors.forename: Bram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Ridder
authors.forename: M Scott
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bowers
authors.forename: Ruud N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Joosten
authors.forename: Matthijs G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Feenstra
authors.forename: Antonello
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonci
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D003463:Cues; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology*; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials; D007858:Learning; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation; D008297:Male; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D051381:Rats; D018091:Receptors, AMPA / Q000378:metabolism; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000378:metabolism; D012201:Reward; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
chemical_list: D018091:Receptors, AMPA; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D004298:Dopamine
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2000 Aug 1;20(15):5575-80
references.pmid: 10908593
references.citation: Neuron. 2008 Jul 31;59(2):288-97
references.pmid: 18667156
references.citation: Nature. 2001 May 31;411(6837):583-7
references.pmid: 11385572
references.citation: Neuropsychopharmacology. 2003 Jan;28(1):73-6
references.pmid: 12496942
references.citation: Eur J Neurosci. 2003 Sep;18(5):1306-14
references.pmid: 12956729
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2004 Mar 24;24(12):2923-33
references.pmid: 15044531
references.citation: Eur J Neurosci. 2004 Mar;19(6):1661-7
references.pmid: 15066162
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2004 Jun;5(6):483-94
references.pmid: 15152198
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2004 Aug 25;24(34):7482-90
references.pmid: 15329395
references.citation: Neuron. 2004 Sep 30;44(1):5-21
references.pmid: 15450156
references.citation: Anal Chem. 2004 Oct 1;76(19):5697-704
references.pmid: 15456288
references.citation: J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1997 May;281(2):699-706
references.pmid: 9152375
references.citation: Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 1997 Dec;25(3):312-34
references.pmid: 9495561
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 1998 Jul;80(1):1-27
references.pmid: 9658025
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1999 May 15;19(10):3723-30
references.pmid: 10234004
references.citation: Science. 1999 Sep 17;285(5435):1870-4
references.pmid: 10489359
references.citation: Science. 2005 Mar 11;307(5715):1642-5
references.pmid: 15761155
references.citation: Neuron. 2005 May 19;46(4):661-9
references.pmid: 15944133
references.citation: Nature. 2005 Oct 13;437(7061):1027-31
references.pmid: 16222299
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2006 May;9(5):636-41
references.pmid: 16582902
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2007 Aug;10(8):1020-8
references.pmid: 17603481
references.citation: Science. 2007 Jul 27;317(5837):530-3
references.pmid: 17656725
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2007 Sep 26;27(39):10546-55
references.pmid: 17898226
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2000 Aug 1;20(15):5581-6
references.pmid: 10908594