Effects of ventro-medial mesencephalic tegmentum (VMT) stimulation on the spontaneous activity of nucleus accumbens neurones: influence of the dopamine system.

The effects of VMT-stimulation (100-500 microA, 0.6 ms; 1 Hz) on the spontaneous activity of neurones in the nucleus accumbens were analyzed in ketamine-anaesthetized rats. On spontaneously active cells (firing greater than 0.5 spikes/s), 3 types of responses were observed: either inhibition (36%), excitation (5%) or a composite sequence of excitation followed by inhibition (12%). Moreover, 14% of silent nucleus accumbens neurones were excited by single pulse VMT-stimulation. Finally, 3% of nucleus accumbens neurones recorded were driven antidromically by VMT-stimulation. Destruction of dopamine (DA) projections by 6-hydroxydopamine prevented the inhibitory responses to VMT stimulation in the great majority of cells studied, without affecting the excitatory responses. After systemic administration of haloperidol or sulpiride, the inhibitory responses to VMT stimulation were attenuated markedly, whilst the excitatory responses were, however, maintained. These results suggest that the inhibitory, but not the excitatory, effects of VMT-stimulation on nucleus accumbens neurones may be mediated by an activation of the mesolimbic DA system.