ArticleNature communications2022
NAc-VTA circuit underlies emotional stress-induced anxiety-like behavior in the three-chamber vicarious social defeat stress mouse model.
Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 134 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations of anxiety and depression with restless leg syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of KCNQ potassium channel modulation on ventral tegmental area activity and connectivity in individuals with depression and anhedonia.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Maternal Stress During Pregnancy Induces Higher Anxiety-Like Behavior in Male Mice Offspring Under Acute Stress by Upregulating CRF/CRFR1 and Driving Time-Specific Activation of the MHb-IPN Circuit.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Article
- Unveiling the enigma of anxiety disorders and depression: from pathogenesis to treatment.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- Targeting the KCNC3-Dependent Anterior Insular-Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex Glutamatergic Circuit Attenuates Post-Traumatic Anxiety.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Activity of VMS-projecting mPFC neurons encodes individual vulnerability to chronic restraint stress in male mice.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- Article
- Targeting dopamine transporter for treating social transmission of depression-like behaviors in male mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- NgR-Dependent plasticity in a dCA3Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Remimazolam Ameliorates Autistic-Like Behaviors via Suppression of Ferroptosis in VTA Dopaminergic Neurons in a Mouse Model of ASD.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- GABAergic Neuron Activation in the RMTg-VTA Pathway Modulates Dopaminergic Neuron Excitability and Social Stress Susceptibility in Male Mice.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Divergent BLA engram circuits orchestrate social preference dynamics in bystander male mice with self-experienced stress.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Glutamatergic dysfunction of astrocytes in paraventricular nucleus of thalamus contributes to adult anxiety susceptibility in adolescent ethanol exposed mice.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Altered acetylcholine modulations and corticoaccumbal pathway in P11-linked social dysfunction.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Pupillometry and brain-wide c-Fos mapping uncover multimodal mirror emotional contagion related networks of mice.iScience · 2026Article
- Stress ensemble in the BNST mediates comorbid anxiety and sleep disruption.Science advances · 2026Article
- Advances in chemogenetics: a review of DREADDs and its application in psychiatric disorders.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- OPRM1 gene polymorphism linked to anxiety in cancer-related pain patients: an observational study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The neurons in NAc core receiving ACC excitatory afferents contribute to chronic postoperative pain.iScience · 2025Article
- Down-regulation of gastrin-releasing peptide in medial orbitofrontal cortex to nucleus accumbens projections contributes to allodynia and negative affect.Science advances · 2025Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Emotional stress is considered a severe pathogenetic factor of psychiatric disorders. However, the circuit mechanisms remain largely unclear. Using a three-chamber vicarious social defeat stress (3C-VSDS) model in mice, we here show that chronic emotional stress (CES) induces anxiety-like behavior and transient social interaction changes. Dopaminergic neurons of ventral tegmental area (VTA) are required to control this behavioral deficit. VTA dopaminergic neuron hyperactivity induced by CES is involved in the anxiety-like behavior in the innate anxiogenic environment. Chemogenetic activation of VTA dopaminergic neurons directly triggers anxiety-like behavior, while chemogenetic inhibition of these neurons promotes resilience to the CES-induced anxiety-like behavior. Moreover, VTA dopaminergic neurons receiving nucleus accumbens (NAc) projections are activated in CES mice. Bidirectional modulation of the NAc-VTA circuit mimics or reverses the CES-induced anxiety-like behavior. In conclusion, we propose that a NAc-VTA circuit critically establishes and regulates the CES-induced anxiety-like behavior. This study not only characterizes a preclinical model that is representative of the nuanced aspect of CES, but also provides insight to the circuit-level neuronal processes that underlie empathy-like behavior.
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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.