GABA Neurons of the VTA Drive Conditioned Place Aversion

• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.02.015
• Publication Date: 2012-03-21T23:15:41Z
• Authors: Kelly R. Tan; Cédric Yvon; Marc Turiault; Julie J. Mirzabekov; Jana Doehner; Gwenaël Labouèbe; Karl Deisseroth; Kay M. Tye; Christian Lüscher
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Optics and Photonics; Time Factors; Apomorphine; Action Potentials; Conditioning, Operant/drug effects/physiology; Morphine/pharmacology; Mice; Escape Reaction; GABAergic Neurons; Dopamine Agonists/pharmacology; Electroshock; 0303 health sciences; Action Potentials/drug effects/genetics; Glutamate Decarboxylase; Analgesics, Opioid/pharmacology; info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/616.8; Analgesics, Opioid; Apomorphine/pharmacology; Dopamine Agonists; Bacterial Proteins/genetics/metabolism; Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase/genetics/metabolism; Neuroscience(all); Rhodopsin/genetics/metabolism; Mice, Transgenic; In Vitro Techniques; Glutamate Decarboxylase/genetics; Escape Reaction/drug effects/physiology; Haloperidol/pharmacology; 03 medical and health sciences; Bacterial Proteins; Channelrhodopsins; Animals; Luminescent Proteins/genetics/metabolism; G Protein-Coupled Inwardly-Rectifying Potassium Channels/deficiency/genetics; Electroshock/adverse effects; Ventral Tegmental Area/cytology/drug effects; Analysis of Variance; Dopaminergic Neurons; Dopamine Antagonists/pharmacology; ddc:616.8; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Luminescent Proteins; G Protein-Coupled Inwardly-Rectifying Potassium Channels; Conditioning, Operant; Dopamine Antagonists; Haloperidol; Dopaminergic Neurons/drug effects/physiology; GABAergic Neurons/drug effects/physiology

Salient but aversive stimuli inhibit the majority of dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and cause conditioned place aversion (CPA). The cellular mechanism underlying DA neuron inhibition has not been investigated and the causal link to behavior remains elusive. Here, we show that GABA neurons of the VTA inhibit DA neurons through neurotransmission at GABA(A) receptors. We also observe that GABA neurons increase their firing in response to a footshock and provide evidence that driving GABA neurons with optogenetic effectors is sufficient to affect behavior. Taken together, our data demonstrate that synaptic inhibition of DA neurons drives place aversion.