ArticleBiological psychiatry2023
Mu Opioid Receptor-Expressing Neurons in the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus Are Involved in Reward Processing and Affective Behaviors.
Article in Biological psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Role of Serotonergic System in Parkinson's Disease-Related Pain.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Review
- Dorsal raphe nucleus enkephalin peptide modulates behavioral preference.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Targeting Mu Opioid Receptor Neurons of the Habenula to Limit Naloxone Aversion.Biological psychiatry · 2026Article
- Brain-wide mapping reveals temporal and sexually dimorphic opioid actions.Communications biology · 2026Article
- 5-HT2C receptors in the glutamatergic neurons of dorsal raphe nucleus orchestrate the comorbidity of pain and anxiety in mice.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- A GABAergic pathway from dorsal raphe nucleus to paraventricular thalamic nucleus modulates incision-related pain behaviour in mice.Brain communications · 2026Article
- Evaluating the reinforcing properties of oxycodone and oxymorphone using intravenous drug self-administration in male rats.Neuropharmacology · 2025Article
- The neural circuits and signalling pathways of opioid use disorder.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2025Review
- A wireless optogenetic stimulation system for long-term function evaluation of mice forelimb with sub-nerve resolution.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Role of astrocytic mu-opioid receptors of the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray in modulating anxiety-like responses.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2025Article
- The role of dorsal raphe nucleus neuropeptides in reward and aversion.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2025Review
- Alterations in Circular RNAs circOprm1 and circSerpini in the Striatum are Associated with Changes in Spatial Working Memory Performance after Morphine Dependence and Withdrawal in Rats.Neurochemical research · 2024Article
- Model of negative affect induced by withdrawal from acute and chronic morphine administration in male mice.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Mu Opioid Receptor-Positive Neurons in the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus Are Impaired by Morphine Abstinence.Biological psychiatry · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMu opioid receptors (MORs) are key for reward processing, mostly studied in dopaminergic pathways. MORs are also expressed in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), which is central for the modulation of reward and mood, but MOR function in the DRN remains underexplored. Here, we investigated whether MOR-expressing neurons of the DRN (DRN-MOR neurons) participate in reward and emotional responses.
methodsWe characterized DRN-MOR neurons anatomically using immunohistochemistry and functionally using fiber photometry in responses to morphine and rewarding/aversive stimuli. We tested the effect of opioid uncaging on the DRN on place conditioning. We examined the effect of DRN-MOR neuron optostimulation on positive reinforcement and mood-related behaviors. We mapped their projections and selected DRN-MOR neurons projecting to the lateral hypothalamus for a similar optogenetic experimentation.
resultsDRN-MOR neurons form a heterogeneous neuronal population essentially composed of GABAergic (gamma-aminobutyric acidergic) and glutamatergic neurons. Calcium activity of DRN-MOR neurons was inhibited by rewarding stimuli and morphine. Local photo-uncaging of oxymorphone in the DRN produced conditioned place preference. DRN-MOR neuron optostimulation triggered real-time place preference and was self-administered, promoted social preference, and reduced anxiety and passive coping. Finally, specific optostimulation of DRN-MOR neurons projecting to the lateral hypothalamus recapitulated the reinforcing effects of total DRN-MOR neuron stimulation.
conclusionsOur data show that DRN-MOR neurons respond to rewarding stimuli and that their optoactivation has reinforcing effects and promotes positive emotional responses, an activity which is partially mediated by their projections to the lateral hypothalamus. Our study also suggests a complex regulation of DRN activity by MOR opioids, involving mixed inhibition/activation mechanisms that fine-tune DRN function.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.