ArticleThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2026
Optogenetic Hedonic Hotspots in the Orbitofrontal Cortex and Insula: Causing Enhancement of Sweetness "Liking".
Article in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Hedonic hotspot in rat olfactory tubercle: map for mu-opioid, orexin, and muscimol enhancement of sucrose 'liking'.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Hedonic hotspot in rat olfactory tubercle: map for mu-opioid, orexin, and muscimol enhancement of sucrose 'liking'.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
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Abstract
Hedonic hotspots are localized brain sites where appropriate stimulations can amplify the hedonic impact of palatable tastes, measured as increases in affective orofacial "liking" reactions to sweetness in rodents. Previously, two cortical hedonic hotspots in the orbitofrontal cortex and insula were identified using opioid or orexin microinjections as neurochemical manipulations. Here we used optogenetic stimulation in male and female rats to independently confirm the sites and boundaries of two cortical hedonic hotspots, as well as their special hedonic enhancement functions. We report that channelrhodopsin stimulations within the two hedonic hotspots of rostral orbitofrontal and caudal insula each doubled the number of hedonic "liking" reactions elicited by sucrose taste. Additionally, we confirmed that an intervening suppressive hedonic coldstrip stretches between them, where stimulation reduced "liking" reactions. In contrast to the localization of hedonic hotspots for "liking" enhancement, motivational "wanting" for reward, measured as laser self-stimulation, was mediated by more widely distributed cortical sites in both hotspots and coldstrip.
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