Modifications of dopamine system components in operant conditioning learning in rats

RAPANELLI M; FRICK, LR; ZANUTTO, BS

Huerta Grande, Cordoba, Argentina

Taller; IIRCN: XXV Reunion Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias (SAN) y XII Taller Argentino de Neurociencias (TAN).; 2010

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias y Taller Argentino de Neurociencias

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is considered the master controller of reward-dependent tasks. The VTA projects dopaminergic axons to the medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) and the hippocampus (Hipp). Here we studied modifications in the VTA-mPFC-Hipp circuit during learning of an operant conditioning task, in which animals must press a lever to obtain food. Experimental groups were: animals learning the task (IT, 50-65% of responses) and animals that completely learned the task (Tr, 100% of responses). Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) levels were assayed in the VTA. TH expression was increased only in IT animals (p