ArticleeLife2025
Ventral tegmental area interneurons revisited: GABA and glutamate projection neurons make local synapses.
Article in eLife, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways differentially support fentanyl-context associations.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) Acutely Exposed to Mouse Ventral Tegmental Area IJournal of neurochemistry · 2026Article
- When Inhibition Fails: Adolescent Nicotine Disrupts Opioid Control of Ventral Tegmental Area GABA Neurons.Biological psychiatry · 2026Article
- Stress resilience is associated with transcriptional remodeling in the VTA.Cell reports · 2026Article
- VTA-forebrain connectivity moderates adaptive behavior.Brain structure & function · 2026Review
- The Role of the Ventral Tegmental Area in Reward and Addiction: A Comprehensive Review.Neurosciences (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) · 2026Review
- 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
- Recruitment of specific dopamine neuron sub-circuits by opioids.Addiction neuroscience · 2025Article
- Ventral tegmental area GABA neurons integrate positive and negative valence.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Stress resilience is associated with transcriptional remodeling in the VTA.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Crosstalk Between Glycinergic and N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor-Mediated Glutamatergic Transmission in Behaviours Associated with Opioid Use Disorder.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Morphine regulates astrocyte transcriptional dynamics in the ventral tegmental area by stimulation of glucocorticoid signaling.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Ventral tegmental area GABA neurons integrate positive and negative valence.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Ventral tegmental area interneurons revisited: GABA and glutamate projection neurons make local synapses.eLife · 2025Article
- Molecular heterogeneity and development of the ventral tegmental area.Current opinion in behavioral sciences · 2025Article
- Molecular mechanisms of neuroprotective effect of rutin.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
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7 authors.
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Abstract
The ventral tegmental area (VTA) contains projection neurons that release the neurotransmitters dopamine, GABA, and/or glutamate from distal synapses. VTA also contains GABA neurons that synapse locally on to dopamine neurons, synapses widely credited to a population of so-called VTA interneurons. Interneurons in cortex, striatum, and elsewhere have well-defined morphological features, physiological properties, and molecular markers, but such features have not been clearly described in VTA. Indeed, there is scant evidence that local and distal synapses originate from separate populations of VTA GABA neurons. In this study, we tested whether several markers expressed in non-dopamine VTA neurons are selective markers of interneurons, defined as neurons that synapse locally but not distally. Challenging previous assumptions, we found that VTA neurons genetically defined by expression of parvalbumin, somatostatin, neurotensin, or Mu-opioid receptor project to known VTA targets including nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, lateral habenula, and prefrontal cortex. Moreover, we provide evidence that VTA GABA and glutamate projection neurons make functional inhibitory or excitatory synapses locally within VTA. These findings suggest that local collaterals of VTA projection neurons could mediate functions prior attributed to VTA interneurons. This study underscores the need for a refined understanding of VTA connectivity to explain how heterogeneous VTA circuits mediate diverse functions related to reward, motivation, or addiction.
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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.