Severe dopaminergic neuron loss in rhesus monkey brain impairs morphine-induced conditioned place preference

It is well known that dopamine (DA) is critical for reward, but the precise role of DA in reward remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to determine what percentage of dopaminergic neurons in the primate brain is required for the expression of conditioned reward by measuring the performance of...

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Published inFrontiers in behavioral neuroscience Vol. 9; p. 273
Main Authors Yan, Ting, Rizak, Joshua Dominic, Wang, Jianhong, Yang, Shangchuan, Ma, Yuanye, Hu, Xintian
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Research Foundation 12.10.2015
Frontiers Media S.A
Subjects
Basal ganglia
Brain research
Central nervous system diseases
Dopamine
Dopamine receptors
Kinases
Laboratories
Monkeys & apes
Morphine
Movement disorders
Narcotics
Neurons
Neuroscience
Place Preference
Place preference conditioning
Reinforcement
Reward
Rhesus Monkey
Rodents
Surgery
Zoology
China
reward
rhesus monkey
place preference
dopamine
morphine
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Summary:It is well known that dopamine (DA) is critical for reward, but the precise role of DA in reward remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to determine what percentage of dopaminergic neurons in the primate brain is required for the expression of conditioned reward by measuring the performance of DA-deficient rhesus monkeys in a morphine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. Animals with mild Parkinsonian symptoms successfully developed and retained a morphine preference that was equivalent to control monkeys. However, these monkeys could not maintain the preference as well as controls when they retained severe Parkinsonian symptoms. On the other hand, monkeys initially in a severe Parkinsonian state developed a preference for morphine, but this preference was weaker than that of the controls. Histological results showed that the loss of dopaminergic neurons in monkeys that had severe Parkinsonian symptoms was about 80% in comparison to the control monkeys. All these data suggest that a severely impaired DA system alters rewarding-seeking behavior in non-human primates.
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Edited by: John D. Salamone, University of Connecticut, USA
Reviewed by: Gregg Stanwood, Florida State University, USA; Matthew Wanat, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
ISSN:1662-5153
1662-5153
DOI:10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00273