Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Machine Learning-Driven fMRI Analysis for Objective Craving Prediction

This paper uses machine learning on fMRI data to predict craving intensity in methamphetamine users, achieving significant results with PCA and linear regression.

Flexible value coding in the mesolimbic dopamine system depending on internal water and sodium balance

The paper shows that dopamine neurons in the mesolimbic pathway encode the value of water and salt in a state-dependent manner, influencing behavior and simulated by a reinforcement learning model.

Nandrolone alters the behavioral response to cocaine as well as striatal and cortical dopamine receptors of prepubertal male rats.

This study shows that nandrolone exposure before puberty in male rats reduces anxiety, alters cocaine-induced locomotor sensitization, and changes dopamine receptor expression in striatal and cortical regions.

Dopamine receptor sensitivity and Pavlovian conditioned approach

This study links dopamine receptor sensitivity to cue-reactivity and cocaine sensitivity in rats, showing high D2 responders exhibit more sign-tracking and cocaine-induced ultrasonic vocalizations.

Convergent and divergent neural and behavioral responses to chronic cocaine use in macaques

This study tracks neural and behavioral changes in macaques during chronic cocaine use, recovery, and re-exposure, revealing convergent and divergent effects across subjects.

Morphine regulates astrocyte transcriptional dynamics in the ventral tegmental area by stimulation of glucocorticoid signaling

This study identifies morphine-induced transcriptional changes in VTA glial cells and dopamine neurons, revealing glucocorticoid-mediated regulation of Fkbp5 in astrocytes.

DUSP5 Downregulation in Nucleus Accumbens Core Correlates with Synaptic Plasticity and Cue-Induced Cocaine Reinstatement

This study investigates the role of DUSP5 in cocaine-induced synaptic plasticity and cue-induced cocaine reinstatement using a rat model and single-cell RNA sequencing data.

A hardwired neural circuit for temporal difference learning

The paper demonstrates that TD learning computations are hardwired into a dopamine circuit by showing optogenetic stimulation of NAc D1 neurons drives dopamine neuron spiking according to TD error.

Aging reduces motivation through decreased Bdnf expression in the ventral tegmental area

This study shows that aging reduces motivation in mice by decreasing Bdnf expression in the ventral tegmental area, and that this effect can be replicated by Bdnf knockdown in young mice.

Behavioral variation across multiple phases of intravenous cocaine self-administration among genetically diverse mouse populations

The paper examines behavioral variation in cocaine self-administration across multiple phases in genetically diverse mouse populations, identifying strain and sex differences and extreme strains for drug intake traits.

Kappa opioid receptors control a stress-sensitive brain circuit and drive cocaine seeking

This study identifies the role of kappa opioid receptors in stress-induced cocaine seeking by showing their effect on GABAergic synapses in the ventral tegmental area.

Conditioned orienting predicts preference for, and affective response to, amphetamine after multiple exposures in male rats.

Disentangling the effects of Corticotrophin Releasing Factor and GABA release from the ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis on ethanol self-administration in mice

This study investigates the separate roles of CRF and GABA release from BNSTCRF neurons in ethanol self-administration in mice, finding CRF deletion reduces ethanol intake while GABA suppression affects motivation differently in males and females.

Neurotransmitter Genes in the Nucleus Accumbens that Are Involved in the Development of Behavioral Pathology After Positive Fighting Experiences and Their Deprivation. A Conceptual Paradigm for Neurogenomic Data Analysis

The paper identifies differentially expressed genes in the nucleus accumbens of aggressive male mice after fighting deprivation, linking them to behavioral pathology and aggression relapse.

Dopaminergic responses to identity prediction errors depend differently on the orbitofrontal cortex and hippocampus

This study shows that dopamine neuron prediction error signaling for reward value and identity depends differently on the hippocampus and orbitofrontal cortex in rats.

Mesolimbic dopamine ramps reflect environmental timescales

This study shows that mesolimbic dopamine ramps occur only when inter-trial intervals are short relative to trial periods during conditioning.

Tirzepatide attenuates dopamine reward signaling and suppresses alcohol drinking and relapse-like behaviors in rodents

This study shows tirzepatide reduces alcohol consumption and relapse-like behaviors in rodents by affecting reward systems and metabolic parameters.

Contextual effects and the components of reward sensitivity: Sucrose consumption, discrimination and incentive contrast

This study examines how reward sensitivity components like intake, discrimination, and incentive contrast vary across contexts, finding context-dependent changes in sucrose consumption and reward processing in rats.

Decreased social, drug, and food reward sensitivity in adolescent mice

This study shows that adolescent mice show reduced reward sensitivity for social and food rewards but not cocaine, compared to adults, suggesting developmental changes in reward processing.

Hyperexcitability of female serotonin neurons underlies sex-specific anxiety responses

This study identifies a hyperexcitable serotonergic pathway from the median raphe region to the ventral hippocampus that drives sex-specific anxiety responses in mice.

Different Sensitivity to Ethanol and Sucrose in DAT and SERT Knockout Rats

This study compares reward sensitivity to ethanol and sucrose in DAT and SERT knockout rats, finding DAT deletions broadly impair both rewards while SERT deletions selectively affect sucrose.

Tonic dopamine and biases in value learning linked through a biologically inspired reinforcement learning model

This study links tonic dopamine levels to biased value learning through a reinforcement learning model incorporating dopamine receptor dynamics, showing its relevance to psychiatric disorders.

Fiber photometry analysis for spontaneous dopamine signals: The z-scored data are not the data

The paper compares three methods for analyzing spontaneous dopamine signals and finds that z-scoring is unreliable, while manual and prominence methods are more accurate.

A unified derivative-like dopaminergic computation across valences

This study shows that mesolimbic dopamine activity encodes a unified temporal derivative form of value function across both reward and aversion in mice.

Dynamic, behavior-dependent interactions between dorsal striatal dopamine and glutamate release predict cognitive flexibility and punishment resistant cocaine use

The paper examines dopamine and glutamate dynamics in rat striatum during cognitive tasks, linking them to strategy switching and cocaine use patterns.

Mesocorticolimbic reinforcement learning of reward representation and value provides an integrated mechanistic account for schizophrenia

The paper constructs a neural circuit model of mesocorticolimbic dopamine signaling to explain schizophrenia's symptoms through disrupted reward learning and value representation.

Prefrontal dopamine activity is critical for rapid threat avoidance learning

This study shows that dopamine signaling in the VTA-mPFC circuit is essential for rapid threat avoidance learning, with transient dopamine activity encoding aversive outcomes and predictive cues.

Competing valence-related roles of dopamine in the tail of the striatum

This study shows that dopamine dynamics in the tail of the striatum are crucial for adapting to aversive stimuli and indirectly support appetitive learning.

A review of operant ethanol self-administration using the sipper model: Methodological advances and a novel standardized analysis tool

This paper reviews the sipper model for ethanol self-administration in rodents, highlighting methodological advances and introducing a new tool for analyzing licking data.

Separable Dorsal Raphe Dopamine Projections Mimic the Facets of a Loneliness-like State

The paper identifies distinct roles of three DRN dopamine neuron projections in social behavior and affective states through optogenetic and electrophysiological experiments.