Article Circuit Architecture of VTA Dopamine Neurons Revealed by Systematic Input-Output Mapping Graphical Abstract Authors Kevin T. Beier, Elizabeth E. Steinberg, Katherine E. DeLoach, ..., Eric J. Kremer, Robert C. Malenka, Liqun Luo Correspondence
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[email protected] (L.L.) In Brief A combination of state-of-the-art viral- genetic tools shows that dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA-DA) employ biased-input/discrete- output circuit architecture, allowing the construction of an input-output map for further investigation of the neural circuits underlying the different functions of these neurons in psychological processes and brain diseases. Highlights d VTA dopamine (DA) and GABA neurons receive similar inputs from diverse sources d VTA-DA neurons projecting to different output sites receive biased input d VTA-DA neurons projecting to lateral and medial NAc innervate non-overlapping targets d A top-down anterior cortex/VTA-DA/lateral NAc circuit is reinforcing Beier et al., 2015, Cell 162, 622–634 July 30, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2015.07.015 Article Circuit Architecture of VTA Dopamine Neurons Revealed by Systematic Input-Output Mapping Kevin T. Beier,1,2 Elizabeth E. Steinberg,2 Katherine E. DeLoach,1 Stanley Xie,1 Kazunari Miyamichi,1,5 Lindsay Schwarz,1 Xiaojing J. Gao,1,6 Eric J. Kremer,3,4 Robert C. Malenka,2,* and Liqun Luo1,* 1Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA 2Nancy Pritzker Laboratory,