Ventral striatum dopamine release encodes unique properties of visual stimuli in mice

Author:

Gonzalez L Sofia123,Fisher Austen A12,D'Souza Shane P456ORCID,Cotella Evelin M12,Lang Richard A456,Robinson J Elliott12ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Rasopathy Program, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

2. Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

3. Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

4. The Visual Systems Group, Abrahamson Pediatric Eye Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

5. Science of Light Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

6. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Abstract

The mesolimbic dopamine system is an evolutionarily conserved set of brain circuits that play a role in attention, appetitive behavior, and reward processing. In this circuitry, ascending dopaminergic projections from the ventral midbrain innervate targets throughout the limbic forebrain, such as the ventral striatum/nucleus accumbens (NAc). Dopaminergic signaling in the NAc has been widely studied for its role in behavioral reinforcement, reward prediction error encoding, and motivational salience. Less well characterized is the role of dopaminergic neurotransmission in the response to surprising or alerting sensory events. To address this, we used the genetically encoded dopamine sensor dLight1 and fiber photometry to explore the ability of striatal dopamine release to encode the properties of salient sensory stimuli in mice, such as threatening looming discs. Here, we report that lateral NAc (LNAc) dopamine release encodes the rate and magnitude of environmental luminance changes rather than the visual stimulus threat level. This encoding is highly sensitive, as LNAc dopamine could be evoked by light intensities that were imperceptible to human experimenters. We also found that light-evoked dopamine responses are wavelength-dependent at low irradiances, independent of the circadian cycle, robust to previous exposure history, and involve multiple phototransduction pathways. Thus, we have further elaborated the mesolimbic dopamine system’s ability to encode visual information in mice, which is likely relevant to a wide body of scientists employing light sources or optical methods in behavioral research involving rodents.

Funder

Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative

Gilbert Family Foundation

Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation

National Institutes of Health

Publisher

eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

Subject

General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine,General Neuroscience

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