The heterogeneity of ventral tegmental area neurons: Projection functions in a mood-related context

J. J. Walsh; M. H. Han

doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.06.006

The heterogeneity of ventral tegmental area neurons: Projection functions in a mood-related context

J. J. Walsh, M. H. Han

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

83 Scopus citations

Abstract

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the brain's reward circuitry is composed of a heterogeneous population of dopamine, GABA, and glutamate neurons that play important roles in mediating mood-related functions including depression. These neurons project to different brain regions, including the nucleus accumbens (NAc), the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and the amygdala. The functional understanding of these projection pathways has been improved since the extensive use of advanced techniques such as viral-mediated gene transfer, cell-type-specific neurophysiology and circuit-probing optogenetics. In this article, we will discuss the recent progress in understanding these VTA projection-specific functions, focusing on mood-related disorders.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	101-108
Number of pages	8
Journal	Neuroscience
Volume	282
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.06.006
State	Published - 12 Dec 2014

Keywords

Animal models
Depression
Mood disorders
Neural circuits
Projection functions
Ventral tegmental area

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10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.06.006

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title = "The heterogeneity of ventral tegmental area neurons: Projection functions in a mood-related context",

abstract = "The ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the brain's reward circuitry is composed of a heterogeneous population of dopamine, GABA, and glutamate neurons that play important roles in mediating mood-related functions including depression. These neurons project to different brain regions, including the nucleus accumbens (NAc), the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and the amygdala. The functional understanding of these projection pathways has been improved since the extensive use of advanced techniques such as viral-mediated gene transfer, cell-type-specific neurophysiology and circuit-probing optogenetics. In this article, we will discuss the recent progress in understanding these VTA projection-specific functions, focusing on mood-related disorders.",

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The heterogeneity of ventral tegmental area neurons: Projection functions in a mood-related context

Abstract

Keywords

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