State-specific gating of salient cues by midbrain dopaminergic input to basal amygdala.

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Basal amygdala (BA) neurons guide associative learning via acquisition of responses to stimuli that predict salient appetitive or aversive outcomes. We examined the learning- and state-dependent dynamics of BA neurons and ventral tegmental area dopamine axons that innervate BA (VTADA➜BA) using two-photon imaging and photometry in behaving mice. BA neurons did not respond to arbitrary visual stimuli, but acquired responses to stimuli that predicted either rewards or punishments. Most VTADA➜BA axons were activated by both rewards and punishments, and acquired responses to cues predicting these outcomes during learning. Responses to cues predicting food rewards in VTADA➜BA axons and BA neurons in hungry mice were strongly attenuated following satiation, while responses to cues predicting unavoidable punishments persisted or increased. Therefore, VTADA➜BA axons may provide a reinforcement signal of motivational salience that invigorates adaptive behaviors by promoting learned responses to appetitive or aversive cues in distinct, intermingled sets of BA excitatory neurons.