Work

Faculty Opinions recommendation of Cerebellar modulation of the reward circuitry and social behavior.

Year: 2019

Type: peer-review

Abstract: The cerebellum has been implicated in a number of non-motor mental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schizophrenia, and addiction.However, how it contributes to these disorders is not understood.We found that, in mice, the cerebellum sends direct excitatory projections to the ventral tegmental area (VTA), one of the brain regions that processes and encodes reward.Optogenetic activation of the cerebello-VTA projections was rewarding to mice and, in a three chamber social task, these projections were more active when the animal explored the social chamber.Intriguingly, activity in the cerebello-VTA pathway was required for the mice to show social preference in this task.Our data delineate a major, previously unappreciated, role for the cerebellum in controlling the reward circuitry and social behavior.

Source: Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature

DOI: 10.3410/f.734873110.793560131

Author: Roy Wise

Institutions: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse

Language: English

Topic: Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Center for Research Resources

Awards: Cerebellar Function in Health and Disease, An in vivo recording and Photostimulation System

OpenAlex ID: W4255891312

Cites: 64

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Related to: 10