ArticleNature neuroscience2016
VTA dopaminergic neurons regulate ethologically relevant sleep-wake behaviors.
Article in Nature neuroscience, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 315 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
315 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effect of sleep loss on pain-New conceptual and mechanistic avenues.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
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- Corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis control wakefulness in physiological and stressful conditions in mice.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
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- Catecholamine modulation of frontal cortical ignition during wakefulness, sleep and anesthesia.National science review · 2026Article
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- A Distinct Subpopulation of Extended Amygdala Neurons Drives Food Intake.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Cell-type targeted CRISPR/Cas9 Clock knockdown in mouse VTA dopamine neurons alter sleep, behavior, and cellular excitability.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
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- Sleep regulates drug seeking and relapse - a perspective.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Role of Preoptic Area γ-Aminobutyric Acid-mediated Neurons in Distinctly Regulating Sleep and Rousability during Dexmedetomidine Sedation in Mice.Anesthesiology · 2026Article
- Anesthetic State-Dependent Bidirectional Control of States of Consciousness via Heterogeneous Medial Septum to Ventral Tegmental Area Circuits under Sevoflurane in Mice.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Periodic limb movements in Parkinson's disease: a critical review of pathophysiology and a framework for clinical management.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2026Review
255 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Dopaminergic ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons are critically involved in a variety of behaviors that rely on heightened arousal, but whether they directly and causally control the generation and maintenance of wakefulness is unknown. We recorded calcium activity using fiber photometry in freely behaving mice and found arousal-state-dependent alterations in VTA dopaminergic neurons. We used chemogenetic and optogenetic manipulations together with polysomnographic recordings to demonstrate that VTA dopaminergic neurons are necessary for arousal and that their inhibition suppresses wakefulness, even in the face of ethologically relevant salient stimuli. Nevertheless, before inducing sleep, inhibition of VTA dopaminergic neurons promoted goal-directed and sleep-related nesting behavior. Optogenetic stimulation, in contrast, initiated and maintained wakefulness and suppressed sleep and sleep-related nesting behavior. We further found that different projections of VTA dopaminergic neurons differentially modulate arousal. Collectively, our findings uncover a fundamental role for VTA dopaminergic circuitry in the maintenance of the awake state and ethologically relevant sleep-related behaviors.
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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.