The Rostromedial Tegmental Nucleus (RMTg), a GABAergic Afferent to Midbrain Dopamine Neurons, Encodes Aversive Stimuli and Inhibits Motor Responses

Separate studies have implicated the lateral habenula (LHb) or amygdala-related regions in processing aversive stimuli, but their relationships to each other and to appetitive motivational systems are poorly understood. We show that neurons in the recently identified GABAergic rostromedial tegmental...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Mass.), 2009-03, Vol.61 (5), p.786-800
Main Authors: Jhou, Thomas C., Fields, Howard L., Baxter, Mark G., Saper, Clifford B., Holland, Peter C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action Potentials - physiology
Afferent Pathways - physiology
Amygdala
Animals
Appetitive Behavior - physiology
Avoidance Learning - physiology
Behavior
Brain
Conditioning, Classical - physiology
Cues
Dopamine
Dopamine - metabolism
Electroshock - adverse effects
gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - metabolism
Glutamate Decarboxylase - metabolism
Male
Maze Learning - physiology
Mesencephalon - cytology
Motor Activity - physiology
Neurons
Neurons - physiology
Odors
Oncogene Proteins v-fos - metabolism
Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus - cytology
Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus - injuries
Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus - physiology
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Rodents
SYSNEURO
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Summary:Separate studies have implicated the lateral habenula (LHb) or amygdala-related regions in processing aversive stimuli, but their relationships to each other and to appetitive motivational systems are poorly understood. We show that neurons in the recently identified GABAergic rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg), which receive a major LHb input, project heavily to midbrain dopamine neurons, and show phasic activations and/or Fos induction after aversive stimuli (footshocks, shock-predictive cues, food deprivation, or reward omission) and inhibitions after rewards or reward-predictive stimuli. RMTg lesions markedly reduce passive fear behaviors (freezing, open-arm avoidance) dependent on the extended amygdala, periaqueductal gray, or septum, all regions that project directly to the RMTg. In contrast, RMTg lesions spare or enhance active fear responses (treading, escape) in these same paradigms. These findings suggest that aversive inputs from widespread brain regions and stimulus modalities converge onto the RMTg, which opposes reward and motor-activating functions of midbrain dopamine neurons.
ISSN:0896-6273
1097-4199
DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2009.02.001