Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25388237›Full record

ArticleNature communications2014

A glutamatergic reward input from the dorsal raphe to ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons.

Jia Qi, Shiliang Zhang, Hui-Ling Wang, Huikun Wang, Jose de Jesus Aceves Buendia, Alexander F Hoffman, Carl R Lupica, Rebecca P Seal, Marisela Morales

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 104 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
104citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
8.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

104 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 190 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  10. Lateral habenula induces cognitive and affective dysfunctions in mice with neuropathic pain via an indirect pathway to the ventral tegmental area.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
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  14. An Ascending Excitatory Circuit from the Dorsal Raphe for Sensory Modulation of Pain.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024
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  19. Inhibition of dorsal raphe GABAergic neurons blocks hyperalgesia during heroin withdrawal.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023
    Article
  20. Role of serotonin in modulation of decision-making in Parkinson's disease.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2023
    Article

44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Jia QiNational Institute on Drug Abuse, Neuronal Networks Section, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Shiliang ZhangNational Institute on Drug Abuse, Neuronal Networks Section, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Hui-Ling WangNational Institute on Drug Abuse, Neuronal Networks Section, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Huikun WangNational Institute on Drug Abuse, Electrophysiology Research Section, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Jose de Jesus Aceves BuendiaNational Institute on Drug Abuse, Neuronal Networks Section, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Alexander F HoffmanNational Institute on Drug Abuse, Electrophysiology Research Section, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Carl R LupicaNational Institute on Drug Abuse, Electrophysiology Research Section, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Rebecca P SealDepartment of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Marisela MoralesNational Institute on Drug Abuse, Neuronal Networks Section, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
National Institutes of Health · USNational Institute on Drug Abuse · USUniversity of Pittsburgh · US

Funding

Neuronal connectivity within the mesolimbic systemZIADA000511 · NIDA · NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE · PI MORALES, MARISELA · 2009 to 2025
$35.0M
Neuronal connectivity within the mesolimbic systemZ01DA000511 · NIDA · NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE · PI MORALES, MARISELA · 2007 to 2008
$1.0M
Intramural NIH HHS Z01 DA000511
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Electrical stimulation of the dorsal raphe (DR) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) activates the fibres of the same reward pathway but the phenotype of this pathway and the direction of the reward-relevant fibres have not been determined. Here we report rewarding effects following activation of a DR-originating pathway consisting of vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGluT3) containing neurons that form asymmetric synapses onto VTA dopamine neurons that project to nucleus accumbens. Optogenetic VTA activation of this projection elicits AMPA-mediated synaptic excitatory currents in VTA mesoaccumbens dopaminergic neurons and causes dopamine release in nucleus accumbens. Activation also reinforces instrumental behaviour and establishes conditioned place preferences. These findings indicate that the DR-VGluT3 pathway to VTA utilizes glutamate as a neurotransmitter and is a substrate linking the DR-one of the most sensitive reward sites in the brain--to VTA dopaminergic neurons.

Indexed as

RewardAmino Acid Transport Systems, AcidicAnimalsConditioning, ClassicalDopaminergic NeuronsDorsal Raphe NucleusMaleMice, Inbred C57BLNeural PathwaysOptogeneticsRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyVentral Tegmental AreaVesicular Glutamate Transport ProteinsAmino Acid Transport Systems, AcidicSlc17a8 protein, mouseSlc17a8 protein, ratVesicular Glutamate Transport Proteins

Identifiers

PMID25388237
PMCPMC4231541
OpenAlexW2016137206

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.