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Comment
. 2019 Aug 7;103(3):364-366.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.07.022.

Ring of Power: A Band of Peptidergic Midbrain Neurons that Binds Motivation

Anne L Collins  1 , Amy R Wolff  1 , Benjamin T Saunders  2
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Comment

Ring of Power: A Band of Peptidergic Midbrain Neurons that Binds Motivation

Anne L Collins et al. Neuron. .
Free article

Abstract

A recent Cell paper identifies a novel population of neurons within the ventral tegmental area producing the endogenous opioid nociceptin that regulates dopamine neuron firing and acts uniquely to gate motivation in reward seeking. These results highlight neuropeptidergic signaling as a critical component of functional heterogeneity in the midbrain.

Keywords: dopamine; fiber photometry; nociceptin; opioids; reward; ventral tegmental area.

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  • A Paranigral VTA Nociceptin Circuit that Constrains Motivation for Reward.
    Parker KE, Pedersen CE, Gomez AM, Spangler SM, Walicki MC, Feng SY, Stewart SL, Otis JM, Al-Hasani R, McCall JG, Sakers K, Bhatti DL, Copits BA, Gereau RW, Jhou T, Kash TJ, Dougherty JD, Stuber GD, Bruchas MR. Parker KE, et al. Cell. 2019 Jul 25;178(3):653-671.e19. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.06.034. Cell. 2019. PMID: 31348890 Free PMC article.

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