Fig. 3: Optogenetic stimulation of the VPGABA-VTA pathway induces arousal. | Molecular Psychiatry

Fig. 3: Optogenetic stimulation of the VPGABA-VTA pathway induces arousal.

From: Ventral pallidal GABAergic neurons control wakefulness associated with motivation through the ventral tegmental pathway

Fig. 3

a Sagittal diagram for in vivo optogenetic stimulation of the VPGABA-VTA pathway in Vgat-Cre mice. b Optogenetic stimulation of axonal terminals of VP GABAergic neurons in the VTA induced dense c-Fos expression in TH+ neurons. c Optogenetic activation of the VPGABA-VTA pathway induced an immediate transition from NREM sleep to wakefulness. The EEG amplitude was decreased, with a decreasing delta power and increasing EMG activity, after blue-light stimulation in ChR2 mice, but not in mCherry control mice. d The latency from NREM sleep to wakefulness decreased with increased stimulation frequency. e Sleep stages after VTA blue-light stimulation in ChR2-mCherry mice or mCherry control mice. f Durations of wakefulness, NREM sleep, and REM sleep during 1-h optogenetic stimulation of the VPGABA-VTA pathway during the light period (n = 4. **P < 0.01, using repeated-measures ANOVA, followed by paired t-test).

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