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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · May 3

Anyone else attending the Catecholamines GRS/GRC in August? Can't wait to share some new data!

Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Want to thank all who helped bring this project to light! @anniely.bsky.social , @ampolter.bsky.social , @neuronroot.bsky.social and all those who aren't on Bluesky

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Altogether, we conclude that the signaling patterns and behavioral functions of VTA dopamine neurons depend on whether they co-transmit glutamate or release dopamine alone. Distinct glu and DA subpops—and individual NTs in co-transmitting neurons—contribute differentially to motivated behaviors 21/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Finally, Zachary Kilpatrick expanded a classic neural circuit model of temporal-difference learning to account for glu-DA neurons, as well as the individual contributions of glutamate and dopamine from glu-DA and DA-only neurons. The model recapitulated some of our key behavioral results. 20/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

…But blocking glutamate release did not cause gross motor deficits which might explain the differences, nor impair escape responses to a simulated predator. We concluded that blocking glutamate release impairs reward- and exploration-related vigor without affecting aversion-related vigor. 19/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Blocking glutamate release did not impact the acquisition of reward learning or fear learning/extinction. But it slowed reward retrieval latency and enhanced reward extinction, and suppressed exploratory behavior in an open field… 18/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Knocking down TH (to block DA synthesis) didn’t impact acquisition of reward learning. But mice had deficits when learning about less-rewarding (reward CS-, reward extinction) or aversive (shock CS+) associations. 17/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

We zoomed in on glu-DA co-transmitting neurons and identified distinct functional roles for glu release and DA release in motivated behaviors. Using recombinase-dependent shRNA vectors, we blocked molecules necessary for DA synthesis (in glu neurons) or vesicular glu release (in DA neurons) 16/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Anatomically, we also observed (as others have before) that glu-DA neurons heavily innervate NAcc medial shell, with some innervation in medial core. DA-only neurons heavily innervate NAcc core with some innervation in ventral and lateral shell. 15/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

We used ChRmine & GRABDA to measure opto-elicited NAcc DA release from VTA glu-DA or DA-only terminals. Axonal stim in both subpops increased DA release. Glu-DA axons were more sensitive to longer pulse trains in phasic magnitude. DA-only were more sensitive to longer trains in tonic duration 14/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

In sum, glu-DA neurons were activated in both rewarding and aversive contexts, but DA-only neurons had bidirectional activity in reward vs aversion. Examining all DA neurons together obscures the dissociable activity of subpops. Glu-only neurons are distinct from previously studied VTA subpops. 13/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Importantly, in the nonselective population of all dopamine neurons together, we saw intermediate results between glu-DA and DA-only subpops. This is best exemplified in RPE signaling as well as shock and shock-predictive cue signaling (see previous posts). 12/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Differences in signaling dynamics were starker in an aversive context. Glu-DA and glu-only neurons were activated to shock and the shock-predictive cue—glu-DA neurons strongly so. When measuring the minimum GCaMP value, we saw that DA-only neurons were suppressed at shock and cue. 11/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Considering both RPE signaling and behavior-dependent signaling during the non-predictive cue, it appears that DA-only neurons suppress their activity when the animal recognizes that reward is not forthcoming. This was not observed in glu-DA or glu-only neurons. 10/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Interestingly, DA-only neurons responded to the neutral cue (CS-) depending on the mouse’s behavior. When the mouse correctly avoided the port, activity decreased at the cue. But when the mouse incorrectly entered the port, activity decreased at the time reward “would” have come on a CS+ trial. 9/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

When an expected reward was omitted (reward prediction error), sustained activity of glu-DA neurons prevented a suppression below baseline, while transient activity of DA-only and glu-only allowed RPE signaling. This is the first RPE signaling identified in a VTA glutamate subpopulation. 8/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

In Pavlovian reward, all subpops were activated at reward and reward-predictive cue. But glu-DA neurons exhibited sustained activation between cue and reward peaks, while DA-only and glu-only exhibited transient activation in which activity dropped toward baseline between cue and reward peaks. 7/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

In vivo, we found that these subpops are dissociable in GCaMP signaling dynamics related to rewarding and aversive cues and outcomes: 6/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

The incredible @ampolter.bsky.social and Kailyn Price demonstrated that these subpops are electrophysiologically distinct. Some highlights: a subset of glutamate-only neurons exhibited Ih and D2 sensitivity; glutamate-dopamine neurons largely lacked Ih. 5/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Additionally, we used a subtractive genetic strategy to target (for the first time) neurons that do not release dopamine and do not release GABA, which in the VTA selects for neurons that release glutamate alone. Our cellular targeting strategy is summarized here. 4/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Using INTRSECTional genetics, we isolated VTA populations that co-transmit dopamine and glutamate or release dopamine alone (without glutamate). We compared this to current standard, which is to examine all dopamine neurons together regardless of co-transmission. See next for a visual summary. 3/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

Despite well-known molecular heterogeneity in VTA dopamine neurons (esp. glutamate co-transmission), hypotheses of VTA dopamine function presume a homogenous influence on behavior. We examined the functional consequences of heterogeneity in VTA dopamine and glutamate subpopulations 2/n

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 27

New preprint! We untangle glutamatergic and dopaminergic subpopulations in the ventral tegmental area. Long thread incoming, buckle up friends. 1/n

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Untangling dopamine and glutamate in the ventral tegmental area

Ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons are of great interest for their central roles in motivation, learning, and psychiatric disorders. While hypotheses of VTA dopamine neuron function posit a...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Emily Prevost

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · Feb 19

Must watch speech by neuroscientist Kailyn Price at a HHS rally protesting funding cuts to science.

"Cutting indirect costs is like telling a football team to work with only the players.

No lights for the field, no physical therapists for the players, no water for the showers."

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Emily Prevost @emilyprevost.bsky.social · Feb 7

Honored to receive first place poster award at #wcbr2025! Thanks to all who stopped by. The poster (and my panel) explored divergent signaling dynamics in VTA dopamine subpopulations, as well as functional roles for glutamate and dopamine in co-transmitting VTA neurons. Stay tuned for more!

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