Topic: striatal dopamine release

The pathway descending from the superior colliculus (SC) to the dopaminergic (DA) neurons within the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) is involved in controlling an animal’s orienting movements based on sensory integration. Most studies to date have focused only on the dominant, ipsilateral branch of this pathway, although there are both monosynaptic and polysynaptic contralateral connections descending from the SC to the ventral midbrain. Therefore, we set out to characterise the responses of DA neurons in the VTA/SNc to lateralized retinal stimulation and