Abstract
The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is best known for its robust dopaminergic projections to forebrain regions and their critical role in regulating reward, motivation, cognition, and aversion. However, the VTA is not only made of dopamine (DA) cells, as approximately 30% of cells in the VTA are GABA neurons. These neurons play a dual role, as VTA GABA neurons provide both local inhibition of VTA DA neurons and long-range inhibition of several distal brain regions. VTA GABA neurons have increasingly been recognized as potent mediators of reward and aversion in their own right, as well as potential targets for the treatment of addiction, depression, and other stress-linked disorders. In this review article, we dissect the circuit architecture, physiology, and behavioral roles of VTA GABA neurons and suggest critical gaps to be addressed.
Highlights
The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a hub of the mesocorticolimbic circuitry that plays a significant role in reward, motivation, cognition, and aversion
A number of studies in recent years have suggested that VTA GABA neurons function as a gate, tonically suppressing VTA DA neurons and releasing this inhibition when they themselves are inhibited by projections from distal brain regions
While there are several studies that show that VTA GABA neurons inhibit firing of VTA DA neurons or release of DA in target areas, the magnitude of this inhibition varies considerably
Summary
The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a hub of the mesocorticolimbic circuitry that plays a significant role in reward, motivation, cognition, and aversion. These projecting neurons likely exist in distinct subclasses, much like neighboring dopaminergic neurons (Lammel et al, 2014), forming parallel circuits that regulate different facets of reward and aversion.
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