Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Aug 30.
Published in final edited form as: Behav Brain Res. 2017 Jun 27;333:161–170. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.06.045

Figure 2. Optogenetic excitation of LDTg inputs to the VTA reinforces lever-pressing in rats.

Figure 2

A. ChR2 (n = 19; blue lines), but not eYFP (n = 6; red lines), rats acquired intracranial self-stimulation to excite LDTg inputs to the VTA. ChR2 rats pressed the reinforced lever (filled circles) significantly more than the non-reinforced lever (open circles) in each of the 2nd through 12th training sessions (*** p <0.001). eYFP rats pressed either lever at very low numbers. Each press on the reinforced lever resulted in a 1.5 s train of 10ms light pulses at 20Hz. B. Bilateral VTA placements of optic fiber tips in ChR2 (n = 19; blue circles) and eYFP (n = 6; red circles) rats. These rats were subsequently used in the NAcc microdialysis and DA receptor antagonist studies.