Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 28, Issue 19, Pages 5088-5098Publisher
SOC NEUROSCIENCE
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0253-08.2008
Keywords
anterior cingulate cortex; discriminative stimulus; nucleus accumbens core; prelimbic cortex; reward-seeking behavior; ventral striatum
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Funding
- NIDA NIH HHS [R01 DA019473, R01 DA019473-04, DA019473, R01 DA019473-01A1, R01 DA019473-02, R01 DA019473-03] Funding Source: Medline
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Cue-elicited phasic changes in firing of nucleus accumbens (NAc) neurons can facilitate reward-seeking behavior. Here, we test the hypothesis that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which sends a dense glutamatergic projection to the NAc core, contributes to NAc neuronal firing responses to reward-predictive cues. Rats trained to perform an operant response to a cue for sucrose were implanted with recording electrodes in the core of the NAc and microinjection cannulas in the dorsal mPFC (dmPFC). The cue-evoked firing of NAc neurons was reduced by bilateral injection of GABA(A) and GABA(B) agonists into the dmPFC concomitant with loss of behavioral responding to the cue. In addition, unilateral dmPFC inactivation reduced ipsilateral cue excitations and contralateral cue inhibitions. These findings indicate that cue-evoked excitations and inhibitions of NAc core neurons depend on dmPFC projections to the NAc and that these phasic changes contribute to the behavioral response to reward-predictive cues.
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