Hanging in the balance | Nature Reviews Neuroscience

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Oxytocinergic (OXT) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) project to tonically active dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the vental

tegmental area (VTA) and reticular area of the substantia nigra (SN), both of which regulate reward-based behaviour via projections to the ventral striatum (vStr). Optogenetic stimulation of

OXT PVN neurons increased the firing rate of VTA DA neurons directly, but indirectly decreased the firing rate of SN DA neurons via activation of GABAergic neurons in the lateral SN. This

suggests that OXT projections regulate the overall balance of DA tone in the vStr. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your

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REFERENCES * Xiao, L. et al. Biased oxytocinergic modulation of midbrain dopamine systems. _Neuron_ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.06.003 (2017) Download references Authors * Sian

Lewis View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Lewis, S.

Hanging in the balance. _Nat Rev Neurosci_ 18, 455 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.94 Download citation * Published: 19 July 2017 * Issue Date: August 2017 * DOI:

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