The nucleus accumbens (NAc) plays an important role in regulating multiple behaviors, and its dysfunction has been linked to many neural disorders. However, the molecular, cellular and anatomic heterogeneity underlying its functional diversity remains incompletely understood. In this study, we generated a cell census of the mouse NAc using single-cell RNA sequencing and multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization, revealing a high level of cell heterogeneity in this brain region. Here we show that the transcriptional and spatial diversity of neuron subtypes underlie the NAc’s anatomic and functional heterogeneity. These findings explain how the seemingly simple neuronal composition of the NAc achieves its highly heterogenous structure and diverse functions. Collectively, our study generates a spatially resolved cell taxonomy for understanding the structure and function of the NAc, which demonstrates the importance of combining molecular and spatial information in revealing the fundamental features of the nervous system.

伏隔核（NAc）在调节多种行为中发挥着重要作用，其功能障碍与许多神经疾病有关。然而，其功能多样性背后的分子、细胞和解剖异质性仍然不完全清楚。在这项研究中，我们使用单细胞 RNA 测序和多重抗误差荧光原位杂交对小鼠 NAc 进行了细胞普查，揭示了该大脑区域的高水平细胞异质性。在这里，我们表明神经元亚型的转录和空间多样性是 NAc 解剖和功能异质性的基础。这些发现解释了 NAc 看似简单的神经元组成如何实现其高度异质的结构和多样化的功能。总的来说，我们的研究生成了一个空间分辨的细胞分类法，用于理解 NAc 的结构和功能，这证明了结合分子和空间信息在揭示神经系统基本特征方面的重要性。