Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

This paper validates a non-appetitive effort-based foraging task in mice as a measure of motivational state, showing sensitivity to dopaminergic modulation and phenotypic models of motivational deficits.

The paper investigates whether 5-HTTLPR genotype differences in white matter microstructure explain risk-seeking behavior for losses, but finds no significant associations.

This study examines sex differences in dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens and dorsolateral striatum of rats, showing effects of social housing and repeated stimulation, with hormone dependence observed in some differences.

The paper shows that myelin plasticity in the ventral tegmental area, regulated by dopaminergic activity, is essential for opioid reward and dopamine release dynamics.

This study shows that mesostriatal dopamine responses change when specific cue-reward contingencies are altered, suggesting dopamine encodes event relationships during learning.

This study compares the effectiveness of discriminative (DS) and conditioned (CS) cues in triggering cocaine seeking after abstinence, finding DSs more effectively drive relapse.

This study identifies how VP GABA and glutamate neurons modulate VTA cell types to drive approach and avoidance behaviors through distinct mechanisms.

The paper shows optogenetic activation of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons in mice causes brain-wide activation, which is reduced under anesthesia.

The paper investigates seasonal variation in D2/3 dopamine receptor availability in the human brain using PET scans and finds a negative correlation between daylength and receptor availability in the striatum.

This study shows that psychosocial stress alters feeding behavior patterns in mice through disruptions in the mesolimbic dopamine system, suggesting these patterns could serve as biomarkers for stress and neuropsychiatric disorders.

The paper investigates how noradrenergic modulation affects stress-induced catecholamine release and decision-making in rats, finding that yohimbine modulates these effects.

This study investigates the role of dopamine D2 receptors in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) in modulating alcohol-related behaviors in male and female mice, finding sex-specific effects on alcohol consumption and pain sensitivity.

This study shows that acute serotonin reduction in rats impairs decision making and social recognition memory, particularly in individuals already prone to poor decision making.

The paper shows that blue light can falsely trigger dopamine release measurements using RdLight1, questioning previous findings on cholinergic interneurons' role in dopamine release.

This study shows that operant training with highly palatable food alters translating mRNA in NAc D2 neurons and that Ncdn downregulation modulates satiety-sensitive feeding behavior.

This study examines how acute and chronic alcohol exposure affects calcium dynamics in the extended amygdala, showing changes in neuronal activity and coherence in a sex-specific manner.

This study identifies transcriptional changes in mouse VTA cell types after fentanyl self-administration using single nuclei RNA sequencing.

This study shows that mPFC noradrenergic transmission is critical for updating stimulus-outcome associations after contingency degradation, while vlOFC is not involved.

The paper introduces the Switchmaze, an open-design device to measure motivational switching in mice, showing its utility in studying neural mechanisms of behavior.

This study identifies Rheb as a molecular substrate in the nucleus accumbens that enables drugs of abuse to hijack reward circuits and suppress natural reward responses.

The paper identifies a novel population of Oprm1-expressing neurons in the NAc marked by Chst9 expression, showing spatial and transcriptional distinctiveness across species.

This study shows that stopping SSRIs like paroxetine leads to increased 5-HT activity in the brain, causing anxiety-like behaviors and changes in neurotransmitter levels.

This study investigates how dopamine D2/D3 antagonism affects mental state inference and self-relevance of social outcomes using a game-theoretic paradigm and computational model.

This study investigates whether aged rats exhibit behavioural deficits relevant to apathy syndrome across multiple domains, finding deficits in cognitive flexibility but not other domains, suggesting aged rats are not a suitable model for age-related apathy.

The paper investigates sex differences in interval timing across humans and rodents, finding no sex differences in timing accuracy or precision but distinct dopaminergic effects in males.

This study investigates how the central amygdala encodes and controls reward consumption in rats, showing that optogenetic stimulation enhances intake of preferred rewards but not less-preferred ones.

This study shows that blocking serotonin signaling in the dorsal hippocampus during initial cocaine abstinence reduces persistent drug seeking.

This study identifies Tmod2 as a regulator of cocaine-induced plasticity and addiction-related behaviors through effects on neuronal excitability and synaptic function.

The paper investigates how delays in punishment affect resistance to punishment in rats, revealing two populations with different vulnerabilities to addiction-like behavior.