title: A Diencephalic Dopamine Source Provides Input to the Superior Colliculus, where D1 and D2 Receptors Segregate to Distinct Functional Zones.
abstract: Modulation of neural responses is frequently observed in the superior colliculus (SC), a retinorecipient midbrain structure that controls orienting and the localization of attention. Although behavioral contingencies that influence SC responses are well documented, the neural pathways and molecular mechanisms responsible for this modulation are not completely understood. Here, we illustrate a dopaminergic system that strongly impacts neural responses in the SC. After using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to detail the transcriptome of dopamine-related genes in the SC, we show that D1 receptors are enriched in the superficial visual SC, while D2 receptors segregate to the intermediate multimodal/motor SC. Retrograde injections into the SC consistently label A13, a small dopamine cell group located in the zona incerta. We surmise that A13 mimics dopaminergic effects that we observed in SC slices, which suggests that dopamine in the SC may reduce the tendency of an animal to orient or attend to salient stimuli.
authors.affiliation: McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Electronic address: andrew.d.bolton@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andrew D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Bolton
authors.affiliation: McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Yasunobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.affiliation: McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Rory
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kirchner
authors.affiliation: Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Sung-Yon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Tru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetic and Behavioral Neuroscience, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuchio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yanagawa
authors.affiliation: McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Constantine-Paton
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009928:Organ Specificity; D051381:Rats; D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013477:Superior Colliculi / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D050495:Vesicular Inhibitory Amino Acid Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; D050495:Vesicular Inhibitory Amino Acid Transport Proteins; C493406:vesicular GABA transporter; D004298:Dopamine