title: Excitatory transmission from the amygdala to nucleus accumbens facilitates reward seeking.
abstract: The basolateral amygdala (BLA) has a crucial role in emotional learning irrespective of valence. The BLA projection to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is thought to modulate cue-triggered motivated behaviours, but our understanding of the interaction between these two brain regions has been limited by the inability to manipulate neural-circuit elements of this pathway selectively during behaviour. To circumvent this limitation, we used in vivo optogenetic stimulation or inhibition of glutamatergic fibres from the BLA to the NAc, coupled with intracranial pharmacology and ex vivo electrophysiology. Here we show that optical stimulation of the pathway from the BLA to the NAc in mice reinforces behavioural responding to earn additional optical stimulation of these synaptic inputs. Optical stimulation of these glutamatergic fibres required intra-NAc dopamine D1-type receptor signalling, but not D2-type receptor signalling. Brief optical inhibition of fibres from the BLA to the NAc reduced cue-evoked intake of sucrose, demonstrating an important role of this specific pathway in controlling naturally occurring reward-related behaviour. Moreover, although optical stimulation of glutamatergic fibres from the medial prefrontal cortex to the NAc also elicited reliable excitatory synaptic responses, optical self-stimulation behaviour was not observed by activation of this pathway. These data indicate that whereas the BLA is important for processing both positive and negative affect, the glutamatergic pathway from the BLA to the NAc, in conjunction with dopamine signalling in the NAc, promotes motivated behavioural responding. Thus, optogenetic manipulation of anatomically distinct synaptic inputs to the NAc reveals functionally distinct properties of these inputs in controlling reward-seeking behaviours.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. gstuber@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: Garret D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Stuber
authors.forename: Dennis R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Sparta
authors.forename: Alice M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Stamatakis
authors.forename: Wieke A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: van Leeuwen
authors.forename: Juanita E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Hardjoprajitno
authors.forename: Saemi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Kay M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Tye
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kempadoo
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Deisseroth
authors.forename: Antonello
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonci
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000503:physiopathology; D000075402:Channelrhodopsins; D003463:Cues; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D004326:Drinking; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D012201:Reward; D013395:Sucrose / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000075402:Channelrhodopsins; D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D013395:Sucrose; D004298:Dopamine