ArticleThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2011
Opioid-sensitive GABA inputs from rostromedial tegmental nucleus synapse onto midbrain dopamine neurons.
Article in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 110 papers.
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Who cites it
110 citing papers in PubMed, 188 citations in OpenAlex.
- Abnormal brain activity during a reward and loss task in opiate-dependent patients receiving methadone maintenance therapy.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2014Trial
- Can the incentive-sensitization theory of addiction incorporate addiction to opioid drugs?Psychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Local control of dopamine release in nucleus accumbens gates opioid withdrawal aversion.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- When Inhibition Fails: Adolescent Nicotine Disrupts Opioid Control of Ventral Tegmental Area GABA Neurons.Biological psychiatry · 2026Article
- Review
- Methadone and morphine have equivalent analgesic but not reward potency in female mice.Addiction neuroscience · 2025Article
- Frozen in Addiction: A New Wave of Drug-Induced Movement Disorders?Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2025Article
- Recruitment of specific dopamine neuron sub-circuits by opioids.Addiction neuroscience · 2025Article
- The neural circuits and signalling pathways of opioid use disorder.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2025Review
- Crosstalk Between Glycinergic and N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor-Mediated Glutamatergic Transmission in Behaviours Associated with Opioid Use Disorder.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Morphine regulates astrocyte transcriptional dynamics in the ventral tegmental area by stimulation of glucocorticoid signaling.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Presynaptic Mu Opioid Receptors Suppress the Functional Connectivity of Ventral Tegmental Area Dopaminergic Neurons with Aversion-Related Brain Regions.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Mapping Morphine's Antinociceptive Impact on the Ventral Tegmental Area During Nociceptive Stimulation: A Novel Microimaging Approach in a Neuropathic Pain Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- An endogenous GLP-1 circuit engages VTA GABA neurons to regulate mesolimbic dopamine neurons and attenuate cocaine seeking.Science advances · 2025Article
- Elevating levels of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol blunts opioid reward but not analgesia.Science advances · 2024Article
- Functional Adaptation in the Brain Habenulo-Mesencephalic Pathway During Cannabinoid Withdrawal.Cells · 2024Article
- Resolution of tonic concentrations of highly similar neurotransmitters using voltammetry and deep learning.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Article
- Nucleus accumbens sub-regions experience distinct dopamine release responses following acute and chronic morphine exposure.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Impact of Unitary Synaptic Inhibition on Spike Timing in Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine Neurons.eNeuro · 2024Article
- Unveiling the link between chronic pain and misuse of opioids and cannabis.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2024Review
50 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Opioids increase dopamine release in the brain through inhibition of GABA-A IPSCs onto dopamine cells. Immunolabeling indicates that GABA neurons in the rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg), also known as the tail of the ventral tegmental area, send a dense projection to midbrain dopamine neurons stain for μ-opioid receptors. There is however, little functional evidence that these neurons play a role in the opioid-dependent increase in dopamine neuron activity. The present study used retrograde tracers injected into the ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra (VTA/SN) to identify RMTg neurons that project to the VTA/SN. Whole-cell current-clamp and cell-attached recordings from labeled RMTg neurons were performed in sagittal slices from rat. The rhythmic spontaneous firing rate of RMTg neurons was decreased and the membrane potential was hyperpolarized in response to application of μ-opioid agonist DAMGO. Agonists that act at κ- and δ-opioid receptors (U69593 and DPDPE) failed to hyperpolarize RMTg neurons. Whole-cell recordings made in dopamine neurons revealed rhythmic, large amplitude spontaneous IPSCs that had a similar frequency, pattern and opioid sensitivity to the firing of RMTg neurons. In addition, electrical and channelrhodopsin-2 stimulation within the RMTg evoked GABA-A IPSCs in dopamine neurons that were inhibited by μ-opioid agonists DAMGO, but not κ- and δ-opioid agonists. Thus, this study demonstrates functional connection from the RMTg to the VTA/SN mediated by a dense, opioid-sensitive GABA innervation, and that the RMTg is a key structure in the μ-opioid receptor-dependent regulation of dopamine neurons.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.