ArticleJournal of neurophysiology2016
Functional evidence for a direct excitatory projection from the lateral habenula to the ventral tegmental area in the rat.
Article in Journal of neurophysiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 88 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Habenula's role in major depressive disorder: recent insights from preclinical and human studies.Translational psychiatry · 2026Review
- Functional Impairments in Learning and Signal Propagation Following Prenatal Kynurenine Treatment in Mice.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Article
- Does lateral habenula mediate effects of gestational stress on rat maternal behavior?Brain behavior and immunity integrative · 2025Article
- Role of Neural Circuits in Cognitive Impairment.Neurochemical research · 2024Review
- Whole-brain connections of glutamatergic neurons in the mouse lateral habenula in both sexes.Biology of sex differences · 2024Article
- Dynamics of Lateral Habenula-Ventral Tegmental Area Microcircuit on Pain-Related Cognitive Dysfunctions.Neurology international · 2023Review
- Quantitative and qualitative sex difference in habenula-induced inhibition of midbrain dopamine neurons in the rat.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2023Article
- Tachykinin receptor 3 in the lateral habenula alleviates pain and anxiety comorbidity in mice.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- Activation of the Lateral Habenula-Ventral Tegmental Area Neural Circuit Contributes to Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction in Mice.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2022Article
- Lateral habenula neurocircuits mediate the maternal disruptive effect of maternal stress: A hypothesis.Zoological research · 2022Review
- Aversive motivation and cognitive control.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Review
- Multi-level variations of lateral habenula in depression: A comprehensive review of current evidence.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Review
- Naloxone precipitated withdrawal increases dopamine release in the dorsal striatum of opioid dependent men.Translational psychiatry · 2021Article
- Stress induces divergent gene expression among lateral habenula efferent pathways.Neurobiology of stress · 2020Article
- Circuits and functions of the lateral habenula in health and in disease.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2020Review
- Early Life Stress- and Drug-Induced Histone Modifications Within the Ventral Tegmental Area.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2020Review
- From controlled to compulsive drug-taking: The role of the habenula in addiction.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2019Review
- Article
- Habenular and striatal activity during performance feedback are differentially linked with state-like and trait-like aspects of tobacco use disorder.Science advances · 2019Article
- Dysregulation of the Lateral Habenula in Major Depressive Disorder.Frontiers in synaptic neuroscience · 2018Review
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The lateral habenula, a phylogenetically conserved epithalamic structure, is activated by aversive stimuli and reward omission. Excitatory efferents from the lateral habenula predominately inhibit midbrain dopamine neuronal firing through a disynaptic, feedforward inhibitory mechanism involving the rostromedial tegmental nucleus. However, the lateral habenula also directly targets dopamine neurons within the ventral tegmental area, suggesting that opposing actions may result from increased lateral habenula activity. In the present study, we tested the effect of habenular efferent stimulation on dopamine and nondopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area of Sprague-Dawley rats using a parasagittal brain slice preparation. Single pulse stimulation of the fasciculus retroflexus excited 48% of dopamine neurons and 51% of nondopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area of rat pups. These proportions were not altered by excision of the rostromedial tegmental nucleus and were evident in both cortical- and striatal-projecting dopamine neurons. Glutamate receptor antagonists blocked this excitation, and fasciculus retroflexus stimulation elicited evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials with a nearly constant onset latency, indicative of a monosynaptic, glutamatergic connection. Comparison of responses in rat pups and young adults showed no significant difference in the proportion of neurons excited by fasciculus retroflexus stimulation. Our data indicate that the well-known, indirect inhibitory effect of lateral habenula activation on midbrain dopamine neurons is complemented by a significant, direct excitatory effect. This pathway may contribute to the role of midbrain dopamine neurons in processing aversive stimuli and salience.
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