Ring of Power: A Band of Peptidergic Midbrain Neurons that Binds Motivation
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Quantifying Spontaneous Ca2+ Fluxes and their Downstream Effects in Primary Mouse Midbrain Neurons
Published on: September 9, 2020
Anne L Collins1, Amy R Wolff1, Benjamin T Saunders2
1Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Abstract:
A recent Cell paper identifies a novel population of neurons within the ventral tegmental area producing the endogenous opioid nociceptin that regulates dopamine neuron firing and acts uniquely to gate motivation in reward seeking. These results highlight neuropeptidergic signaling as a critical component of functional heterogeneity in the midbrain.
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