D₁-NMDA receptor interactions in the rat nucleus accumbens change during adolescence

Many aspects of the dopamine (DA) system mature during adolescence. For example, the DA modulation of glutamate responses in the rat prefrontal cortex (PFC) acquires adult characteristics during late adolescence. In the striatum, D₁ receptors modulate NMDA responses, but whether this behaviorally important interaction matures during adolescence is not known. Here, we tested whether the D₁ agonist SKF38393 affects NMDA actions on nucleus accumbens medium spiny neuron (MSN) excitability in slices from juvenile and young adult rats. NMDA dose-dependently increased excitability in both age groups, and the D₁ agonist produced a marginal increase of MSN excitability. In juvenile slices, the most common interaction was a downregulation of NMDA effects on excitability by the D₁ agonist, whereas in most adult MSN, the D₁ agonist increased NMDA effects on MSN excitability. These results suggest that D₁-NMDA receptor interactions in the nucleus accumbens change during adolescence, a change that may result in different processing of reward functions during this critical developmental stage.