Abstract
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.
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Acknowledgements
This work is financially supported by the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. We would like to thank Dr. Mohammad Reza Raoufi and Dr. Yousef Jamali for their help in data analysis.
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HM, MA, SS, and HA were responsible for the study concept and design. HM performed the experiments. HM, MA, SS, and HA assisted with data analysis and interpretation of findings. HM, MA, and HA drafted the manuscript. All authors critically reviewed content and approved the final version for publication.
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Masrouri, H., Azadi, M., Semnanian, S. et al. Maternal deprivation induces persistent adaptations in putative dopamine neurons in rat ventral tegmental area: in vivo electrophysiological study. Exp Brain Res 238, 2221–2228 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-020-05884-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-020-05884-x