Early life aversive experiences can trigger persistent deficits in neuronal signaling within the mesolimbic pathway, most notably in the dopamine (DA) neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The identity of such cellular mechanisms currently appears as an important issue. To address this concern, we investigated whether early life maternal deprivation (MD) would affect the electrical activity of VTA DA neurons, via in vivo extracellular single-unit recording. Male Wistar rats were deprived of their dams for 3 h per day from postnatal days (PND) 1–14. Thereafter, the adult animals (PND 70–80) were tested for the discharge activity of putative VTA DA neurons. The VTA DA neurons displayed a decrease in firing rate and an increase in the variability of baseline discharge activity in deprived animals. MD also caused a decrease in burst firing of VTA DA neurons compared to control subjects. In summary, early life MD induces a hypoactive VTA DA system, which may contribute to lifespan psychopathologies.

早期生活中的厌恶经历会引发中脑边缘通路内神经元信号传导的持续缺陷，尤其是腹侧被盖区 (VTA) 的多巴胺 (DA) 神经元。目前，此类细胞机制的身份似乎是一个重要问题。为了解决这个问题，我们通过体内细胞外单单元记录研究了生命早期母性剥夺（MD）是否会影响 VTA DA 神经元的电活动。雄性 Wistar 大鼠从出生后第 1-14 天（PND）起每天被剥夺 3 小时的时间。此后，对成年动物（PND 70-80）进行假定的 VTA DA 神经元的放电活动测试。在剥夺动物中，VTA DA神经元表现出放电率降低和基线放电活动变异性增加。与对照组相比，MD 还导致 VTA DA 神经元的突发放电减少。总之，生命早期的MD会导致VTA DA系统活性低下，这可能会导致终生精神病理学。