Topic: neuronal subpopulations

Sleep is a critical factor that affects overall health, and humans typically spend one-third of their lives sleeping. Sleep consists of two states: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM (NREM) sleep. The brainstem pontine tegmental area contains neurons that either positively or negatively regulate REM sleep (Vanni-Mercier et al., 1989; Lu et al., 2006; Hayashi et al., 2015; Kashiwagi et al., 2020). Additionally, some neurons in this area regulate urination (Hou et al., 2016; Keller et al., 2018) and fear (Yang et al., 2016). Thus, the pontine tegmental area consists of multiple subpopula

To survive, individuals use past experience to select an appropriate behaviour (for instance, approaching a previously rewarding, or avoid a previously punished, place). Past experience will also influence how each ongoing experience is assigned with a positive or negative value. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopaminergic (DA) neuronal circuitry is extensively studied in reward-motivated behaviours. Their role in punished ones is less known. Some studies showed that an aversive event may lead either to an activation or an inhibition of VTA DA neurons, suggesting a role for DA neurons in the