D2 dopamine modulation of corticoaccumbens synaptic responses changes during adolescence

Dopaminergic afferents from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) modulate information processing in the nucleus accumbens (NA), a brain region critical for motivation and reward mechanisms. In NA medium spiny neurons (MSNs) from young rats, D2 agonists have been shown to decrease the amplitude of cortic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European journal of neuroscience 2008-03, Vol.27 (6), p.1364-1372
Main Authors: Benoit-Marand, Marianne, O'Donnell, Patricio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Animals
Cerebral Cortex - cytology
Cerebral Cortex - drug effects
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Dopamine - physiology
Dopamine Agonists - pharmacology
electrophysiology
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials - drug effects
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials - physiology
GABA
gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - physiology
glutamate
interneuron
Male
Neural Pathways - cytology
Neural Pathways - drug effects
Neural Pathways - physiology
Nucleus Accumbens - cytology
Nucleus Accumbens - drug effects
Nucleus Accumbens - physiology
rat
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Receptors, Dopamine D2 - agonists
Receptors, Dopamine D2 - physiology
striatum
Synapses - drug effects
Synapses - physiology
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Summary:Dopaminergic afferents from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) modulate information processing in the nucleus accumbens (NA), a brain region critical for motivation and reward mechanisms. In NA medium spiny neurons (MSNs) from young rats, D2 agonists have been shown to decrease the amplitude of corticoaccumbens synaptic responses. As several dopamine‐related functions change during adolescence, we assessed the D2 modulation of cortical inputs with whole‐cell recordings in slices obtained from adult and preadolescent rats. The D2 agonist quinpirole (5 µm) decreased synaptic response of NA MSNs to electrical cortical stimulation in slices from preadolescent rats. In slices from adult rats, however, quinpirole increased both the amplitude of evoked synaptic responses and the frequency of spontaneous synaptic events. These effects were blocked by the GABA‐A antagonist picrotoxin (50 µm), revealing a D2‐mediated decrease These results suggest that D2 receptors modulate NA neurons differently in young and adult rats, due to the emergence of a D2‐facilitated GABA component in corticoaccumbens responses during adolescence.
ISSN:0953-816X
1460-9568
DOI:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2008.06107.x