Decades of preclinical studies indicate that dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the midbrain modulate animal behavior and cognition (1). The role of dopaminergic VTA neurons in wakefulness, and hence consciousness, emerged more recently from VTA stimulation experiments utilizing pharmacologic (2, 3), electrophysiologic (4), optogenetic (5, 6), and chemogenetic (7) methods, as well as behavioral experiments in dopamine knockout mice (8). Yet, confirmation of VTA modulation of human consciousness has until now been elusive—inferred from pharmacologic studies of dopaminergic therapies (9) and positron emission studies of dopamine receptor dynamics (10), but unconfirmed due to a lack of suitable techniques for measuring VTA function in humans. This absence of a translational link between animal and human VTA function has hindered the construction of a comprehensive subcortical–cortical connectivity model of human consciousness and impeded the development of new therapies to promote recovery of consciousness in patients with severe brain injuries (11).

中文翻译：

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通过默认模式网络连接对人类意识的多巴胺能调节 [神经科学]

数十年的临床前研究表明，中脑腹侧被盖区 (VTA) 中的多巴胺能神经元可调节动物的行为和认知 ( 1 )。多巴胺能 VTA 神经元在清醒和意识中的作用最近从利用药理学 ( 2 , 3 )、电生理 ( 4 )、光遗传学 ( 5 , 6 ) 和化学遗传学 ( 7 ) 方法的 VTA 刺激实验中出现，以及多巴胺基因敲除小鼠的行为实验 ( 8 )。然而，迄今为止，对人类意识的 VTA 调节的确认一直难以捉摸——从多巴胺能疗法的药理学研究中推断（9) 和多巴胺受体动力学的正电子发射研究 ( 10 )，但由于缺乏测量人体 VTA 功能的合适技术而未经证实。动物和人类 VTA 功能之间缺乏转化联系阻碍了人类意识的综合皮层下-皮层连接模型的构建，并阻碍了促进严重脑损伤患者意识恢复的新疗法的开发 ( 11 )。