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[The influence of L-glutamate and carbachol on burst firing of dopaminergic neurons in ventral tegmental area.] [Article in Chinese]

WANG Shan-Shan, WEI Chun-Ling, Liu Zhi-Qiang, REN Wei^*

College of Life Science, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710062, China

Abstract

Burst firing of dopaminergic neurons in ventral tegmental area (VTA) induces a large transient increase in synaptic dopamine (DA) release and thus is considered the reward-related signal. But the mechanisms of burst generation of dopaminergic neuron still remain unclear. This experiment investigated the burst firing of VTA dopaminergic neurons in rat midbrain slices perfused with carbachol and L-glutamate individually or simultaneously to understand the neurotransmitter mechanism underlying burst generation. The results showed that bath application of carbachol (10 μmol/L) and pulse application of L-glutamate (3 mmol/L) both induced burst firing in dopaminergic neuron. Co-application of carbachol and L-glutamate induced burst firing in VTA dopaminergic cells which couldn’t be induced to burst by the two chemicals separately. The result indicates that carbachol and L-glutamate co-regulate burst firing of dopaminergic neuron.

Key words: mesolimbic dopamine system; burst firing; L-glutamate; carbachol; synergistic action

Received: 2010-11-05　　Accepted: 2010-12-27

Corresponding author: 任维　　E-mail: renwei1964@vip.sina.com

Citing This Article：

WANG Shan-Shan, WEI Chun-Ling, Liu Zhi-Qiang, REN Wei. [The influence of L-glutamate and carbachol on burst firing of dopaminergic neurons in ventral tegmental area.] [Article in Chinese]. Acta Physiol Sin 2011; 63 (1): 25-30 (in Chinese with English abstract).