Topic: dopaminergic projections

Working memory (WM) is the brain process for actively maintaining information during a short delay period. Dopamine is known to strongly modulate WM, but its temporal specificity in modulating WM and its related neuronal activity remain elusive. Here we report that dopamine modulates olfactory WM behavior in a bi-directional and timing-dependent manner in head-fixed mice performing a delay-paired association task. In vivo imaging of dopamine levels in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) by a newly developed GPCR-activation-based-dopamine sensor (GRABDA) revealed phasic elevation of mPFC dopami

Juvenile songbirds learn to imitate adult vocalizations. Song acquisition and production is governed by a dedicated neural circuitry that involves two parallel pathways: a cortical pathway required for production and a basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical (BG) pathway necessary for plasticity. The BG pathway induces variability in production during vocal exploration, receives a performance signal via midbrain dopaminergic projections and drives a motor bias that corrects vocal errors. This dopamine-modulated change in vocal output, induced by the BG is gradually consolidated within the cortical path

Moment-to-moment fluctuations in neuromodulatory brainstem arousal systems (e.g., dopamine and noradrenaline systems) can show large effects on learning and memory. Dopaminergic projections to the hippocampus play an important role in the formation of long-term memories. For example, previous studies have employed a reward anticipation manipulation during memory formation, eliciting dopaminergic responses in the midbrain and subsequently enhancing the encoding of memories. Until now, the origin of these dopaminergic projections has been attributed to the ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra