Nature Communications (Mar 2020)

Excitatory VTA to DH projections provide a valence signal to memory circuits

  • Yuan Han,
  • Yi Zhang,
  • Haram Kim,
  • Viktoriya S. Grayson,
  • Vladimir Jovasevic,
  • Wenjie Ren,
  • Maria V. Centeno,
  • Anita L. Guedea,
  • Mariah A. A. Meyer,
  • Yixin Wu,
  • Philipp Gutruf,
  • Dalton J. Surmeier,
  • Can Gao,
  • Marco Martina,
  • Apkar V. Apkarian,
  • John A. Rogers,
  • Jelena Radulovic

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15035-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

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The neuronal pathway that signals the positive or negative value of memories is not well understood. Here, the authors report that an excitatory projection from the ventral tegmental area to the dorsal hippocampus carries the valence information, contributing, especially in females, to the recurrence of fear and to drug seeking behavior.