Mobilization of endocannabinoids by midbrain dopamine neurons is required for the encoding of reward prediction

Brain levels of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) shape motivated behavior and nucleus accumbens (NAc) dopamine release. However, it is not clear whether mobilization of 2-AG specifically from midbrain dopamine neurons is necessary for dopaminergic responses to external stimuli predicting forthcoming reward. Here, we use a viral-genetic strategy to prevent the expression of the 2-AG-synthesizing enzyme diacylglycerol lipase α (DGLα) from ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine cells in adult mice. We find that DGLα deletion from VTA dopamine neurons prevents depolarization-induced suppression of excitation (DSE), a form of 2-AG-mediated synaptic plasticity, in dopamine neurons. DGLα deletion also decreases effortful, cue-driven reward-seeking but has no effect on non-cued or low-effort operant tasks and other behaviors. Moreover, dopamine recording in the NAc reveals that deletion of DGLα impairs the transfer of accumbal dopamine signaling from a reward to its earliest predictors. These results demonstrate that 2-AG mobilization from VTA dopamine neurons is a necessary step for the generation of dopamine-based predictive associations that are required to direct and energize reward-oriented behavior.