Distinct dynamics and intrinsic properties in ventral tegmental area populations mediate reward association and motivation.

Ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons regulate reward-related associative learning and reward-driven motivated behaviors, but how these processes are coordinated by distinct VTA neuronal subpopulations remains unresolved. Here, we compare the contribution of two primarily dopaminergic and largely non-overlapping VTA subpopulations, all VTA dopamine neurons and VTA GABAergic neurons of the mouse midbrain, to these processes. We find that the dopamine subpopulation that projects to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core preferentially encodes reward-predictive cues and prediction errors.

Temporal scaling of dopamine neuron firing and dopamine release by distinct ion channels shape behavior.

Dopamine is broadly implicated in reinforcement learning, but how patterns of dopamine activity are generated is poorly resolved. Here, we demonstrate that two ion channels, Kv4.3 and BKCa1.