Topic: mu opioid receptors

Withdrawal from opioids is associated with a highly aversive affective state, and avoidance of this state is a main reason people with opioid use disorder continue to use or relapse to opioids. Activity in the ventral pallidum (VP) is necessary for opioid relapse after withdrawal. Recent studies from our group and others have shown that glutamatergic VP neurons (VPGlu) constitute a unique subpopulation of VP neurons, and that VPGlu activity constrains reward seeking, particularly in decision-making tasks where negative consequences are associated with choosing a reward. However, how self-admin

Reinforcement learning requires phasic dopamine (DA) release in the forebrain. Canonical hypothesis explaining reinforcing effects of opioids points to a critical role of the activation of the mu opioid receptors (MOR) in the in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). These receptors are thought to be expressed on the local GABAergic interneurons, and their activation leads to GABAergic neurons inhibition, which in turn disinhibit dopaminergic cells. Such disinhibition increases dopamine (DA) release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). However the mode of DA release (tonic vs phasic) is not well differe