Disruptions in attention, salience and increased distractibility are implicated in multiple psychiatric conditions. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a potential site for converging information about external stimuli and internal states to be integrated and guide adaptive behaviours. Given the dual role of dopamine signals in both driving ongoing behaviours (e.g., feeding) and monitoring salient environmental stimuli, understanding the interaction between these functions is crucial. Here, we investigate VTA neuronal activity during distraction from ongoing feeding. We developed a task to assess distraction exploiting self‐paced licking in rats. Rats trained to lick for saccharin were given a distraction test, in which three consecutive licks within 1 s triggered a random distractor (e.g. light and tone stimulus). On each trial they were quantified as distracted or not based on the length of their pauses in licking behaviour. We expressed GCaMP6s in VTA neurons and used fibre photometry to record calcium fluctuations during this task as a proxy for neuronal activity. Distractor stimuli caused rats to interrupt their consumption of saccharin, a behavioural effect which quickly habituated with repeat testing. VTA neural activity showed consistent increases to distractor presentations and, furthermore, these responses were greater on distracted trials compared to non‐distracted trials. Interestingly, neural responses show a slower habituation than behaviour with consistent VTA responses seen to distractors even after they are no longer distracting. These data highlight the complex role of the VTA in maintaining ongoing appetitive and consummatory behaviours while also monitoring the environment for salient stimuli.

中文翻译：

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在持续消耗糖精期间，分散刺激引起大鼠腹侧被盖区反应

注意力、显着性和注意力分散的中断与多种精神疾病有关。腹侧被盖区 (VTA) 是一个潜在的场所，可以将有关外部刺激和内部状态的信息融合在一起并指导适应性行为。鉴于多巴胺信号在驱动正在进行的行为（例如，进食）和监测显着环境刺激方面的双重作用，了解这些功能之间的相互作用至关重要。在这里，我们调查了从持续喂养中分心期间的 VTA 神经元活动。我们开发了一项任务来评估利用大鼠自定进度舔的分心。训练舔食糖精的大鼠进行了注意力分散测试，其中在 1 秒内连续舔 3 次会触发随机干扰物（例如光和音调刺激）。在每次试验中，根据他们在舔食行为中的停顿时间，将他们量化为分心与否。我们在 VTA 神经元中表达 GCaMP6，并使用纤维光度法记录此任务期间的钙波动，作为神经元活动的代表。分心刺激导致大鼠中断糖精的消耗，这种行为效应很快就习惯了重复测试。VTA 神经活动显示干扰物呈现持续增加，此外，与非分心试验相比，分心试验的这些反应更大。有趣的是，神经反应显示出比行为更慢的习惯，即使在他们不再分心之后，对分心者看到的一致 VTA 反应也是如此。