Fig. 7: Food self-administration and reinstatement of food-seeking behavior after photostimulation of VTAglutamate-only or VTAGABA-only neurons. | Nature Communications

Fig. 7: Food self-administration and reinstatement of food-seeking behavior after photostimulation of VTAglutamate-only or VTAGABA-only neurons.

From: VTA monosynaptic connections by local glutamate and GABA neurons and their distinct roles in behavior

Fig. 7

A Timeline for food self-administration and reinstatement conditions (created with BioRender. Barbano, F. (2025) https://BioRender.com/7ec597z). B–D VTA injection of Con/Foff viral vectors in vglut2-Cre/vgat-Flp mice and VTA photostimulation (B) delayed lever pressing for food reward in Glu-only-ChR2-eYFP mice (n = 10) when compared with Glu-only-eYFP mice (C n = 11, group × day × lever: F(14,266) = 2.20; p = 0.008). Photostimulation of VTAglutamate-only neurons for 5 min prior to the reinstatement test did not modify lever presses in Glu-only-ChR2-eYFP or Glu-only-eYFP mice (D, group × day × lever: F(1,19) = 0.11; p = 0.75), but lever presses in the presence of photostimulation during the reinstatement test were reduced in Glu-only-ChR2-eYFP mice when compared to Glu-only-eYFP mice (group × day × lever: F(1,19) = 9.86; p = 0.005). Reinstatement of food-seeking behavior in Glu-only-ChR2-eYFP mice was restored in the absence of VTA photostimulation (D group × day × lever: F(1,19) = 0.48; p = 0.50). E–G VTA injection of Coff/Fon viral vectors in vglut2-Cre/vgat-Flp mice and VTA photostimulation (E) decreased total lever presses for food reward in GABA-only-ChR2-eYFP mice (n = 11) when compared with GABA-only-eYFP mice (F n = 10, group × day × lever: F(14,266) = 8.62; p < 0.00001). Photostimulation of VTAGABA-only neurons 5 min prior (group × day × lever: F(1,19) = 2.95; p = 0.10) or during the reinstatement test did not modify lever presses in GABA-only-ChR2-eYFP mice, while GABA-only-eYFP mice increased their lever pressing during the reinstatement test (G, group × day × lever: F(1,19) = 16.90; p = 0.0006). Reinstatement of food-seeking behavior in GABA-only-ChR2-eYFP mice was not restored in the absence of VTA photostimulation (G, group × day × lever: F(1,19) = 4.28; p = 0.05). Light-blue rectangles indicate VTA photostimulation. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Three-way ANOVA with Tukey HSD post hoc test. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, against ChR2-eYFP mice; ++p < 0.01, +++p < 0.001, against extinction values. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

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