title: Distinct prestimulus and poststimulus activation of VTA neurons correlates with stimulus detection.
abstract: Dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) signal the occurrence of a reward-predicting conditioned stimulus (CS) with a subsecond duration increase in post-CS firing rate. Important theories about reward-prediction error and reward expectancy have been informed by the substantial number of studies that have examined post-CS phasic VTA neuron activity. On the other hand, the role of VTA neurons in anticipation of a reward-predicting CS and analysis of prestimulus spike rate rarely has been studied. We recorded from the VTA in rats during the 3-choice reaction time task, which has a fixed-duration prestimulus period and a difficult-to-detect stimulus. Use of a stimulus that was difficult to detect led to behavioral errors, which allowed us to compare VTA activity between trials with correct and incorrect stimulus-guided choices. We found a sustained increase in firing rate of both putative dopamine and GABA neurons during the pre-CS period of correct and incorrect trials. The poststimulus phasic response, however, was absent on incorrect trials, suggesting that the stimulus-evoked phasic response of dopamine neurons may relate to stimulus detection. The prestimulus activation of VTA neurons may modulate cortical systems that represent internal states of stimulus expectation and provide a mechanism for dopamine neurotransmission to influence preparatory attention to an expected stimulus.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
authors.forename: Nelson K B
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Totah
authors.forename: Yunbok
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Bita
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Moghaddam
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: ADHD; attention; dopamine; prefrontal cortex; reward; schizophrenia
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Apr;191(3):609-25
references.pmid: 17086392
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2000 Feb 1;20(3):1208-15
references.pmid: 10648725
references.citation: Neuropsychopharmacology. 2011 Jan;36(1):3-25
references.pmid: 20668434
references.citation: Nature. 2009 Jun 11;459(7248):837-41
references.pmid: 19448610
references.citation: PLoS One. 2012;7(1):e29766
references.pmid: 22238652
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2009 May 20;29(20):6418-26
references.pmid: 19458213
references.citation: Science. 1997 Mar 14;275(5306):1593-9
references.pmid: 9054347
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 2013 Mar;23(3):729-38
references.pmid: 22419680
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1990 Sep;10(9):2996-3013
references.pmid: 1975839
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2011 Aug 10;12(9):509-23
references.pmid: 21829219
references.citation: Neuropsychopharmacology. 2011 May;36(6):1227-36
references.pmid: 21307842
references.citation: Nat New Biol. 1973 Sep 26;245(143):123-5
references.pmid: 4518113
references.citation: Synapse. 2004 May;52(2):143-52
references.pmid: 15034920
references.citation: J Neurochem. 1998 Oct;71(4):1443-9
references.pmid: 9751176
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Dec 6;108(49):19767-71
references.pmid: 22106310
references.citation: Nature. 2012 Jan 18;482(7383):85-8
references.pmid: 22258508
references.citation: Brain Res. 1978 Feb 17;142(1):1-24
references.pmid: 626911
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 1998 Jul;80(1):1-27
references.pmid: 9658025
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1998 Oct 1;18(19):8003-15
references.pmid: 9742167
references.citation: Neuroscience. 2008 Apr 9;152(4):1024-31
references.pmid: 18355970
references.citation: Trends Neurosci. 2012 Jul;35(7):422-30
references.pmid: 22459161
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2008 Sep 3;28(36):8908-13
references.pmid: 18768684
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2000 May 15;20(10):3864-73
references.pmid: 10804226
references.citation: Neuroscience. 2000;96(4):651-6
references.pmid: 10727783
references.citation: Annu Rev Neurosci. 2007;30:259-88
references.pmid: 17600522
references.citation: Exp Neurol. 1987 Jun;96(3):481-500
references.pmid: 3582540
references.citation: J Physiol. 2006 Dec 15;577(Pt 3):907-24
references.pmid: 16959856
references.citation: Brain Res. 1979 Aug 3;171(2):213-24
references.pmid: 111772
references.citation: Brain Res Bull. 1982 Jul-Dec;9(1-6):321-53
references.pmid: 6816390
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 2001 Nov;11(11):1015-26
references.pmid: 11590111
references.citation: Neuropharmacology. 2012 Mar;62(3):1175-81
references.pmid: 21530549
references.citation: Brain. 2012 Mar;135(Pt 3):656-77
references.pmid: 21921020
references.citation: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2007 Aug;17(4):465-70
references.pmid: 17709239
references.citation: Science. 1975 Nov 7;190(4214):522-8
references.pmid: 242074
references.citation: Neuropsychopharmacology. 2011 Jan;36(1):207-26
references.pmid: 20881946
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2012 Jun 13;32(24):8424-8428
references.pmid: 22699922
references.citation: Science. 2005 Mar 4;307(5714):1476-9
references.pmid: 15746431
references.citation: Neuroscience. 1983 Oct;10(2):301-15
references.pmid: 6633863
references.citation: Eur J Neurosci. 2010 Nov;32(9):1564-72
references.pmid: 21040517
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2005 Jun 29;25(26):6235-42
references.pmid: 15987953
references.citation: Neuron. 2010 Jul 15;67(1):144-55
references.pmid: 20624598
references.citation: Synapse. 2000 Nov;38(2):114-23
references.pmid: 11018785
references.citation: Science. 2003 Mar 21;299(5614):1898-902
references.pmid: 12649484
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2000 Nov;1(2):147-8
references.pmid: 11252778
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 1990 Mar;63(3):592-606
references.pmid: 2329363
references.citation: Neuron. 2011 Mar 24;69(6):1061-8
references.pmid: 21435553
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 2008 Oct;18(10):2251-62
references.pmid: 18222936
references.citation: Neuron. 2008 Mar 13;57(5):760-73
references.pmid: 18341995
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 1992 Sep;68(3):945-60
references.pmid: 1432059
references.citation: Neuroscience. 2012 Aug 30;218:181-4
references.pmid: 22626641
references.citation: Annu Rev Neurosci. 2007;30:289-316
references.pmid: 17376009
references.citation: Biol Psychiatry. 2011 Jun 15;69(12):e89-99
references.pmid: 21489408