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Updated: Dec 14, 2025
Isolation, Culture and Long-Term Maintenance of Primary Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons From Embryonic Rodent Brains
Published on: February 19, 2015
Maternal deprivation induces persistent adaptations in putative dopamine neurons in rat ventral tegmental area: in
Hossein Masrouri1, Maryam Azadi1, Saeed Semnanian1
1Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract:
Early life aversive experiences can trigger persistent deficits in neuronal signaling within the mesolimbic pathway, most notably in the dopamine (DA) neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The identity of such cellular mechanisms currently appears as an important issue. To address this concern, we investigated whether early life maternal deprivation (MD) would affect the electrical activity of VTA DA neurons, via in vivo extracellular single-unit recording. Male Wistar rats were deprived of their dams for 3 h per day from postnatal days (PND) 1-14. Thereafter, the adult animals (PND 70-80) were tested for the discharge activity of putative VTA DA neurons. The VTA DA neurons displayed a decrease in firing rate and an increase in the variability of baseline discharge activity in deprived animals. MD also caused a decrease in burst firing of VTA DA neurons compared to control subjects. In summary, early life MD induces a hypoactive VTA DA system, which may contribute to lifespan psychopathologies.
