Dopaminergic Modulation of Synaptic Transmission in Cortex and Striatum

• Published in: Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Mass.), 2012-10, Vol.76 (1), p.33-50
• Main Authors: Tritsch, Nicolas X., Sabatini, Bernardo L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Brain; Brain - physiology; Circuits; Cortex (prefrontal); Dopamine; Dopamine - metabolism; Excitability; Gilles de la Tourette syndrome; Humans; Influence; Integration; Kinases; Mental disorders; Movement disorders; Neostriatum; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neuromodulation; Neurons; Neurons - metabolism; Obsessive compulsive disorder; Parkinson's disease; Plasticity (synaptic); Protein transport; Schizophrenia; Studies; Synaptic transmission; Synaptic Transmission - physiology; Transcription
• ISSN: 0896-6273; 1097-4199
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.09.023

Among the many neuromodulators used by the mammalian brain to regulate circuit function and plasticity, dopamine (DA) stands out as one of the most behaviorally powerful. Perturbations of DA signaling are implicated in the pathogenesis or exploited in the treatment of many neuropsychiatric diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), addiction, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, and Tourette’s syndrome. Although the precise mechanisms employed by DA to exert its control over behavior are not fully understood, DA is known to regulate many electrical and biochemical aspects of neuronal function including excitability, synaptic transmission, integration and plasticity, protein trafficking, and gene transcription. In this Review, we discuss the actions of DA on ionic and synaptic signaling in neurons of the prefrontal cortex and striatum, brain areas in which dopaminergic dysfunction is thought to be central to disease. Dopamine (DA) regulates many aspects of neuronal function. In this Review, Tritsch and Sabatini discuss the actions of DA on neuronal signaling in the prefrontal cortex and striatum, brain areas in which dopaminergic dysfunction is thought to be central to disease.