Myelin plasticity in the ventral tegmental area is required for opioid reward

Belgin Yalçın, Matthew B. Pomrenze, Karen Malacon, Richard Drexler, Abigail E. Rogers, Kiarash Shamardani, Isabelle J. Chau, Kathryn R. Taylor, Lijun Ni, Daniel Contreras-Esquivel, Robert C. Malenka and Michelle Monje ()
Additional contact information
Belgin Yalçın: Stanford University
Matthew B. Pomrenze: Stanford University
Karen Malacon: Stanford University
Richard Drexler: Stanford University
Abigail E. Rogers: Stanford University
Kiarash Shamardani: Stanford University
Isabelle J. Chau: Stanford University
Kathryn R. Taylor: Stanford University
Lijun Ni: Stanford University
Daniel Contreras-Esquivel: Stanford University
Robert C. Malenka: Stanford University
Michelle Monje: Stanford University

Nature, 2024, vol. 630, issue 8017, 677-685

Abstract: Abstract All drugs of abuse induce long-lasting changes in synaptic transmission and neural circuit function that underlie substance-use disorders1,2. Another recently appreciated mechanism of neural circuit plasticity is mediated through activity-regulated changes in myelin that can tune circuit function and influence cognitive behaviour3–7. Here we explore the role of myelin plasticity in dopaminergic circuitry and reward learning. We demonstrate that dopaminergic neuronal activity-regulated myelin plasticity is a key modulator of dopaminergic circuit function and opioid reward. Oligodendroglial lineage cells respond to dopaminergic neuronal activity evoked by optogenetic stimulation of dopaminergic neurons, optogenetic inhibition of GABAergic neurons, or administration of morphine. These oligodendroglial changes are evident selectively within the ventral tegmental area but not along the axonal projections in the medial forebrain bundle nor within the target nucleus accumbens. Genetic blockade of oligodendrogenesis dampens dopamine release dynamics in nucleus accumbens and impairs behavioural conditioning to morphine. Taken together, these findings underscore a critical role for oligodendrogenesis in reward learning and identify dopaminergic neuronal activity-regulated myelin plasticity as an important circuit modification that is required for opioid reward.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07525-7 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:630:y:2024:i:8017:d:10.1038_s41586-024-07525-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07525-7

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().