Ventral tegmental area activation promotes firing precision and strength through circuit inhibition in the primary auditory cortex
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 a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2014-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neural Circuits |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fncir.2014.00025/full |
| _version_ | 1823963526537936896 |
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| author | Yunxiao eLou Wenzhi eLuo Guangwei eZhang Can eTao Penghui eChen Yi eZhou Ying eXiong |
| author_facet | Yunxiao eLou Wenzhi eLuo Guangwei eZhang Can eTao Penghui eChen Yi eZhou Ying eXiong |
| author_sort | Yunxiao eLou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T17:31:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b85afab37c64438ba2004615da7877a7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5110 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T17:31:45Z |
| publishDate | 2014-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neural Circuits |
| spelling | doaj.art-b85afab37c64438ba2004615da7877a72022-12-21T21:39:28ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neural Circuits1662-51102014-03-01810.3389/fncir.2014.0002570340Ventral tegmental area activation promotes firing precision and strength through circuit inhibition in the primary auditory cortexYunxiao eLou0Wenzhi eLuo1Guangwei eZhang2Can eTao3Penghui eChen4Yi eZhou5Ying eXiong6Third Military Medical UniversityThird Military Medical UniversityThird Military Medical UniversityThird Military Medical UniversityThird Military Medical UniversityThird Military Medical UniversityThird Military Medical UniversityThe 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.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fncir.2014.00025/fullAuditory CortexinhibitionVTAin-vivointracellular |
| spellingShingle | Yunxiao eLou Wenzhi eLuo Guangwei eZhang Can eTao Penghui eChen Yi eZhou Ying eXiong Ventral tegmental area activation promotes firing precision and strength through circuit inhibition in the primary auditory cortex Frontiers in Neural Circuits Auditory Cortex inhibition VTA in-vivo intracellular |
| title | Ventral tegmental area activation promotes firing precision and strength through circuit inhibition in the primary auditory cortex |
| title_full | Ventral tegmental area activation promotes firing precision and strength through circuit inhibition in the primary auditory cortex |
| title_fullStr | Ventral tegmental area activation promotes firing precision and strength through circuit inhibition in the primary auditory cortex |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ventral tegmental area activation promotes firing precision and strength through circuit inhibition in the primary auditory cortex |
| title_short | Ventral tegmental area activation promotes firing precision and strength through circuit inhibition in the primary auditory cortex |
| title_sort | ventral tegmental area activation promotes firing precision and strength through circuit inhibition in the primary auditory cortex |
| topic | Auditory Cortex inhibition VTA in-vivo intracellular |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fncir.2014.00025/full |
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