Type III neurons’ relationship with type II neurons (GABAergic neurons)

Abstract

Dopamine is the neurotransmitter known as a hormone. As it communicates messages between nerve cells, it plays an essential role in the reward prediction error (RPE), which measures the discrepancy between reality and expectation. In the past experiments conducted by Cohen et al., the researchers developed a system of three types of neurons that play significant roles in motivation and reward. The three neuron types are neuron type I, neuron type II, and neuron type III. Though type I and II neurons are known as Dopaminergic neurons and GABAergic neurons, we still do not know the identity of neuron type III. Therefore, in this proposal, I aim to focus on type III neurons and reveal their identity. I developed two aims, caveats, and contingencies for the research plan in this proposal. In the first aim, I identified the type III neurons by recording the firing rate of all neurons and identifying the transcriptomes of the other two types of neurons. Then, I identified the specific neurotransmitter and promoter to type III neurons. In the second aim, I investigated the function of type III neurons within the VTA by using the CRISPR engineering technique. The result of this proposal might contribute to the field of neuroscience as it reveals more information about type III neurons. By knowing this information, more researchers can conduct further experiments on these three types of neurons.