title: Ventral tegmental area activation promotes firing precision and strength through circuit inhibition in the primary auditory cortex.
abstract: The activation of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) can rebuild the tonotopic representation in the primary auditory cortex (A1), but the cellular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we investigated the firing patterns and membrane potential dynamics of neurons in A1 under the influence of VTA activation using in vivo intracellular recording. We found that VTA activation can significantly reduce the variability of sound evoked responses and promote the firing precision and strength of A1 neurons. Furthermore, the compressed response window was caused by an early hyperpolarization as a result of enhanced circuit inhibition. Our study suggested a possible mechanism of how the reward system affects information processing in sensory cortex: VTA activation strengthens cortical inhibition, which shortens the response window of post-synaptic cortical neurons and further promotes the precision and strength of neuronal activity.
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Department of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yunxiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Department of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University Chongqing, China ; Battalion Cadet Brigade 7, Third Military Medical University Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Wenzhi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Department of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Guangwei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Department of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Department of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Penghui
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Department of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Department of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: VTA; auditory cortex; in vivo; inhibition; intracellular