Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32191871›Full record

ArticleNeuron2020

Periaqueductal Gray and Rostromedial Tegmental Inhibitory Afferents to VTA Have Distinct Synaptic Plasticity and Opiate Sensitivity.

Robyn St Laurent, Valentina Martinez Damonte, Ayumi C Tsuda, Julie A Kauer

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuron, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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

34 citing papers in PubMed, 51 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. 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 · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Convergent state-control of endogenous opioid analgesia.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Ethanol blocks a novel form of iLTD, but not iLTP of inhibitory inputs to VTA GABA neurons.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Review
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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Robyn St LaurentDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94035, USA.
Valentina Martinez DamonteDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94035, USA.
Ayumi C TsudaDepartment of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biotechnology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
Julie A KauerDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94035, USA. Electronic address: jkauer@stanford.edu.
Stanford University · USBrown University · US

Funding

Interdisciplinary Predoctoral Neuroscience Training Program in the Neuroscience Graduate Program.T32MH020068 · NIMH · BROWN UNIVERSITY · PI LIPSCOMBE, DIANE, SHEINBERG, DAVID L · 1999 to 2025
$7.6M
Inhibitory Synaptic Transmission, Stress and Drugs of AbuseR01DA011289 · NIDA · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI KAUER, JULIE A. · 1997 to 2023
$6.8M
Novel Opioid-Sensitive Inhibitory Long-Term PotentiationF31DA045419 · NIDA · BROWN UNIVERSITY · PI ST. LAURENT, ROBYN M. · 2018 to 2019
$68k
NIDA NIH HHS F31 DA045419NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA011289NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH020068
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a major target of addictive drugs and receives multiple GABAergic projections originating outside the VTA. We describe differences in synaptic plasticity and behavior when optogenetically driving two opiate-sensitive GABAergic inputs to the VTA, the rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg), and the periaqueductal gray (PAG). Activation of GABAergic RMTg terminals in the VTA in vivo is aversive, and low-frequency stimulation induces long-term depression in vitro. Low-frequency stimulation of PAG afferents in vitro unexpectedly causes long-term potentiation. Opioid receptor activation profoundly depresses PAG and RMTg inhibitory synapses but prevents synaptic plasticity only at PAG synapses. Activation of the GABAergic PAG terminals in the VTA promotes immobility, and optogenetically-driven immobility is blocked by morphine. Our data reveal the PAG as a source of highly opioid-sensitive GABAergic afferents and support the idea that different GABAergic pathways to the VTA control distinct behaviors.

Indexed as

Analgesics, OpioidAnimalsFemaleGABAergic NeuronsMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLMorphineNeuronal PlasticityNeurons, AfferentPeriaqueductal GrayTegmentum MesencephaliVentral Tegmental AreaAnalgesics, OpioidMorphineaversionbehaviordopamineelectrophysiologyGABAmorphineopiatesPAGplasticityRMTg

Identifiers

PMID32191871
PMCPMC7244388
OpenAlexW3011605907

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.