ArticleNeuron2020
Synergy of Distinct Dopamine Projection Populations in Behavioral Reinforcement.
Article in Neuron, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 92 papers.
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Who cites it
92 citing papers in PubMed.
- Liraglutide restores impaired associative learning in individuals with obesity.Nature metabolism · 2023Trial
- POINTseq: Cell-type-specific barcoding reveals single-cell projection architecture of the mouse dopaminergic system.Neuron · 2026Article
- A population of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra is required for food-anticipatory activity.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Differential contributions of striatal dopaminergic pathways to visuomotor conditional learning.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
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- Nmur1 and Cckar fail to support functional genetic access in adult dopamine neurons and challenge GPCR atlas assignments.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Dopamine in the ventral and tail of striatum supports global and local evaluation in reward-threat conflict.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Aging-related vulnerability in dopamine-glutamate neurons weakens entorhinal dopamine signaling and underlies novelty discrimination deficits.Research square · 2026Article
- Cell type-specific barcoding reveals the single-neuron projectional architecture of the mouse midbrain dopaminergic system.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Genetic Identification of Dopamine Neurons Required for Circadian Food Anticipatory Activity in Mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Projection-defined ventral tegmental area neurons exhibit fentanyl-induced molecular and functional adaptations that differentially support drug-context associations.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Dynamic changes in chloride homeostasis coordinate midbrain inhibitory network activity during reward learning.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Kappa Opioid Receptors Control a Stress-Sensitive Brain Circuit and Drive Cocaine Seeking.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
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- Dopamine dynamics underlying maternal motivation and reward.Neuroscience research · 2025Review
- Article
- Genetically encoded sensors illuminateIBRO neuroscience reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Encodes the Trace Period during Appetitive Pavlovian Conditioning.eNeuro · 2025Article
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) regulate reward association and motivation. It remains unclear whether there are distinct dopamine populations to mediate these functions. Using mouse genetics, we isolated two populations of dopamine-producing VTA neurons with divergent projections to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core and shell. Inhibition of VTA-core-projecting neurons disrupted Pavlovian reward learning, and activation of these cells promoted the acquisition of an instrumental response. VTA-shell-projecting neurons did not regulate Pavlovian reward learning and could not facilitate acquisition of an instrumental response, but their activation could drive robust responding in a previously learned instrumental task. Both populations are activated simultaneously by cues, actions, and rewards, and this co-activation is required for robust reinforcement of behavior. Thus, there are functionally distinct dopamine populations in the VTA for promoting motivation and reward association, which operate on the same timescale to optimize behavioral reinforcement.
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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.