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Related Experiment Video

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A septal-ventral tegmental area circuit drives exploratory behavior.

Petra Mocellin1, Oliver Barnstedt2, Kevin Luxem2

  • 1Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg 39118, Germany; International Max Planck Research School for Brain and Behavior (IMPRS), Bonn 53175, Germany.

Neuron
|January 24, 2024
PubMed
Summary

A newly discovered brain circuit from the medial septum and diagonal band of Broca (MSDB) to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) controls exploratory locomotion. This pathway, using glutamate, drives behaviors like sniffing and rearing in mice.

Keywords:
VTAbehavioral quantificationexplorationglutamatergic neuronslocomotionmedial septum

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Behavioral Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience

Background:

  • Balancing exploration and safety is crucial for animal survival.
  • Subcortical circuits modulate movement based on internal states and external cues.
  • Regulation of locomotion motivation and onset remains incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify the neural circuits regulating exploratory locomotor behavior.
  • To elucidate the role of basal forebrain to midbrain pathways in driving exploration.
  • To understand the neurochemical basis of motivated movement.

Main Methods:

  • Optogenetic activation of the medial septum and diagonal band of Broca (MSDB) to ventral tegmental area (VTA) projection in mice.
  • Self-supervised machine learning for analyzing animal behavior.
  • Electrophysiological recordings to investigate neuronal activity.

Main Results:

  • Activation of the MSDB to VTA glutamatergic pathway significantly increased exploratory actions (sniffing, whisking, rearing).
  • This pathway directly targets both glutamatergic and dopaminergic neurons within the VTA.
  • A specific glutamatergic circuit from the basal forebrain to the midbrain was identified.

Conclusions:

  • A novel glutamatergic circuit connecting the MSDB to the VTA initiates locomotor activity.
  • This circuit plays a key role in the expression of exploration-associated behaviors.
  • Understanding this circuit provides insights into the neural control of motivated behavior.