title: The heterogeneity of ventral tegmental area neurons: Projection functions in a mood-related context.
abstract: The ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the brain's reward circuitry is composed of a heterogeneous population of dopamine, GABA, and glutamate neurons that play important roles in mediating mood-related functions including depression. These neurons project to different brain regions, including the nucleus accumbens (NAc), the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and the amygdala. The functional understanding of these projection pathways has been improved since the extensive use of advanced techniques such as viral-mediated gene transfer, cell-type-specific neurophysiology and circuit-probing optogenetics. In this article, we will discuss the recent progress in understanding these VTA projection-specific functions, focusing on mood-related disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Neuroscience Program, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: jwalsh2@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000378:metabolism*; D009434:Neural Pathways; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D012201:Reward; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: animal models; depression; mood disorders; neural circuits; projection functions; ventral tegmental area