Dopamine neuron activity encodes the length of upcoming contralateral movement sequences

Highlights • Developed a freely moving task where mice learn individual forelimb sequences • Movement-modulated DANs encode the length of contralateral movement sequences • The activity of reward-modulated DANs is not lateralized • Dopamine depletion impaired contralateral, but not ipsilateral, sequ...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Mendonça, Marcelo, Alves da Silva, Joaquim, Hernández, Ledia F., Castela, Iván, Obeso, José, Costa, Rui M.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad Camilo José Cela (UCJC)
Repositorio:Depósito Digital e-UCJC
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.ucjc.edu:20.500.12020/1539
Acceso en línea:https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960-9822(24)00104-0
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12020/1539
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.067
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Ciencias Biomédicas
Parkinson’s Disease
Dopamine
Substantia Nigra Pars Compacta
Movement
32 Ciencias Médicas
Descripción
Sumario:Highlights • Developed a freely moving task where mice learn individual forelimb sequences • Movement-modulated DANs encode the length of contralateral movement sequences • The activity of reward-modulated DANs is not lateralized • Dopamine depletion impaired contralateral, but not ipsilateral, sequence length Summary Dopaminergic neurons (DANs) in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) have been related to movement speed, and loss of these neurons leads to bradykinesia in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, other aspects of movement vigor are also affected in PD; for example, movement sequences are typically shorter. However, the relationship between the activity of DANs and the length of movement sequences is unknown. We imaged activity of SNc DANs in mice trained in a freely moving operant task, which relies on individual forelimb sequences. We uncovered a similar proportion of SNc DANs increasing their activity before either ipsilateral or contralateral sequences. However, the magnitude of this activity was higher for contralateral actions and was related to contralateral but not ipsilateral sequence length. In contrast, the activity of reward-modulated DANs, largely distinct from those modulated by movement, was not lateralized. Finally, unilateral dopamine depletion impaired contralateral, but not ipsilateral, sequence length. These results indicate that movement-initiation DANs encode more than a general motivation signal and invigorate aspects of contralateral movements.