ArticleThe international journal of neuropsychopharmacology2024
Dissociable Roles of the mPFC-to-VTA Pathway in the Control of Impulsive Action and Risk-Related Decision-Making in Roman High- and Low-Avoidance Rats.
Article in The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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4 citing papers in PubMed.
- VTA-forebrain connectivity moderates adaptive behavior.Brain structure & function · 2026Review
- Premature release of action sequences in adolescent male rats.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- Medial prefrontal cortex circuit dynamics involved in stage-specific addiction.Brain structure & function · 2025Review
- Transcriptomic Profile Analysis of Brain Tissue in the Absence of Functional TRPM8 Calcium Channel.Biomedicines · 2024Article
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Abstract
backgroundImpulsive action and risk-related decision-making (RDM) are associated with various psychiatric disorders, including drug abuse. Both behavioral traits have also been linked to reduced frontocortical activity and alterations in dopamine function in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). However, despite direct projections from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to the VTA, the specific role of the mPFC-to-VTA pathway in controlling impulsive action and RDM remains unexplored.
methodsWe used positron emission tomography with [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose to evaluate brain metabolic activity in Roman high- (RHA) and low-avoidance (RLA) rats, which exhibit innate differences in impulsive action and RDM. Notably, we used a viral-based double dissociation chemogenetic strategy to isolate, for the first time to our knowledge, the role of the mPFC-to-VTA pathway in controlling these behaviors. We selectively activated the mPFC-to-VTA pathway in RHA rats and inhibited it in RLA rats, assessing the effects on impulsive action and RDM in the rat gambling task.
resultsOur results showed that RHA rats displayed higher impulsive action, less optimal decision-making, and lower cortical activity than RLA rats at baseline. Chemogenetic activation of the mPFC-to-VTA pathway reduced impulsive action in RHA rats, whereas chemogenetic inhibition had the opposite effect in RLA rats. However, these manipulations did not affect RDM. Thus, by specifically targeting the mPFC-to-VTA pathway in a phenotype-dependent way, we reverted innate patterns of impulsive action but not RDM.
conclusionOur findings suggest a dissociable role of the mPFC-to-VTA pathway in impulsive action and RDM, highlighting its potential as a target for investigating impulsivity-related disorders.
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