Dopamine D2 receptors in discrimination learning and spine enlargement

Dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs) are densely expressed in the striatum and have been linked to neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia^1,2. High-affinity binding of dopamine suggests that D2Rs detect transient reductions in dopamine concentration (the dopamine dip) during punishment learning^3-5. However, the nature and cellular basis of D2R-dependent behaviour are unclear. Here we show that tone reward conditioning induces marked stimulus generalization in a manner that depends on dopamine D1 receptors (D1Rs) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of mice, and that discrimination learning refines the conditioning using a dopamine dip. In NAc slices, a narrow dopamine dip (as short as 0.4 s) was detected by D2Rs to disinhibit adenosine A_2A receptor (A_2AR)-mediated enlargement of dendritic spines in D2R-expressing spiny projection neurons (D2-SPNs). Plasticity-related signalling by Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and A_2ARs in the NAc was required for discrimination learning. By contrast, extinction learning did not involve dopamine dips or D2-SPNs. Treatment with methamphetamine, which dysregulates dopamine signalling, impaired discrimination learning and spine enlargement, and these impairments were reversed by a D2R antagonist. Our data show that D2Rs refine the generalized reward learning mediated by D1Rs.