Prefrontal Cortex to Accumbens Projections in Sleep Regulation of Reward

• DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0347-16.2016
• Publication Date: 2016-07-27T21:32:52Z
• Authors: Zheng Liu; Yao Wang; Li Cai; Yizhi Li; Bo Chen; Yan Dong; Yanhua H. Huang
• Keywords: Brain stimulation reward; Sleep

Sleep profoundly affects the emotional and motivational state. In humans animals, loss of sleep often results in enhanced motivation for reward, which has direct implications health risks as well potential benefits. Current study aims at understanding mechanisms underlying deprivation (SDe)-induced enhancement reward seeking. We found that after acute SDe, mice had an increase sucrose seeking consumption but not food intake, suggesting a selective reward. nucleus accumbens (NAc), key brain region regulating responses, we observed decrease ratio overall excitatory over inhibitory synaptic inputs onto NAc principle neurons SDe. The shift was partly mediated by reduced glutamatergic transmission presynaptic origin. Further analysis revealed there reduction glutamate release probability medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)-to-NAc synapses, those from hippocampus, thalamus, or basal lateral amygdala. To reverse this SDe-induced alteration, expressed stabilized step function opsin (SSFO) mPFC; optogenetic stimulation SSFO mPFC-to-NAc projection terminals persistently action potential-dependent release. Intra-NAc selectively restored normal SDe without affecting intake. These highlight circuit-based target to regulate reward-motivated behaviors. <b>SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT</b> loss, costly challenge modern society, profound physiological psychological consequences, including altered processing brain. current deprivation-induced identify (mPFC)-to-nucleus (NAc) is weakened following deprivation, whose restoration normalizes sleep-deprived mice. suggest possibility normalizing abnormal targeting specific neural projections, they demonstrate