Nucleus Accumbens Archives

Dopamine-mediated formation of a memory module in the nucleus accumbens for goal-directed navigation

Kanghoon Jung et al.
Nature Neuroscience | September 27, 2024
Spatial memories guide navigation efficiently toward desired destinations. However, the neuronal and circuit mechanisms underlying the encoding of goal locations and its translation into goal-directed navigation remain...

A cocaine-activated ensemble exerts increased control over behavior while decreasing in size

Kimberly C. Thibeault et al.
Biological Psychiatry | June 18, 2024
Background Substance use disorder (SUD) is characterized by long-lasting changes in reward-related brain regions, such as the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Previous work has shown that cocaine exposure induces plasticity in...

Cholinergic Interneurons in the Accumbal Shell Region Regulate Binge Alcohol Self-Administration in Mice: An In Vivo Calcium Imaging Study

Rishi Sharma et al.
Brain Sciences | May 10, 2024
Recently, we and others have shown that manipulating the activity of cholinergic interneurons (CIN) present in the NAc can modulate binge alcohol consumption. The present study is designed to examine the relationship...

Cholinergic interneurons in the shell region of the nucleus accumbens regulate binge alcohol consumption: A chemogenetic and genetic lesion study

Rishi Sharma et al.
Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research | March 29, 2024
Background Binge drinking, characterized by heavy episodic alcohol consumption, poses significant health hazards and increases the likelihood of developing an alcohol use disorder (AUD). Given the growing prevalence of...

Dynamic representation of appetitive and aversive stimuli in nucleus accumbens shell D1- and D2-medium spiny neurons

Ana Verónica Domingues et al.
bioRxiv | February 23, 2024
The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a key brain region for motivated behaviors, yet how distinct neuronal populations encode appetitive or aversive stimuli remains undetermined. Using microendoscopic calcium imaging, we...

Error-related signaling in nucleus accumbens D2 receptor-expressing neurons guides inhibition-based choice behavior in mice

Tadaaki Nishioka et al.
Nature Communications | April 21, 2023
Learned associations between environmental cues and the outcomes they predict (cue-outcome associations) play a major role in behavioral control, guiding not only which responses we should perform, but also which we...

Dopamine error signal to actively cope with lack of expected rewards

SEIYA ISHINO et al.
Science Advances | March 10, 2023
Rewards are often elusive and uncertain, requiring persistent effort to obtain. But how do we continue pursuing uncertain rewards, even when our expectations are not met? It is crucial to develop the ability to actively...

Lateral NAc Shell D1 and D2 Neuronal Ensembles Concurrently Predict Licking Behavior and Categorize Sucrose Concentrations in a Context-dependent Manner

Alam Coss et al.
Neuroscience | June 15, 2022
The palatability and concentration of sweet foods promote hedonic feeding beyond homeostatic need. Understanding how neurons respond to sweet taste is thus of great importance. The dorsomedial nucleus accumbens shell...

Choice-selective sequences dominate in cortical relative to thalamic inputs to NAc to support reinforcement learning

Nathan F. Parker et al.
Cell Reports | May 17, 2022
How are actions linked with subsequent outcomes to guide choices? The nucleus accumbens, which is implicated in this process, receives glutamatergic inputs from the prelimbic cortex and midline regions of the thalamus....

Accumbens D2-MSN hyperactivity drives antipsychotic-induced behavioral supersensitivity

Anna Kruyer et al.
Molecular Psychiatry | August 4, 2021
Antipsychotic-induced dopamine supersensitivity, or behavioral supersensitivity, is a problematic consequence of long-term antipsychotic treatment characterized by the emergence of motor abnormalities, refractory...

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Publication Category: Nucleus Accumbens