Biology subjects

Pinto, D. F. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Pinto, D. F. C..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Opponent regulation of striatal output pathways by dopamine and serotonin

Classic theories propose opponent functions for striatal dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5HT), with DA promoting approach and 5HT promoting patience or avoidance. How these neuromodulators regulate downstream circuits to achieve such antagonistic effects remains mysterious. Here, we mapped striatal 5HT receptor expression and recorded from genetically-identified striatal neurons to demonstrate that DA and 5HT selectively activate distinct populations of striatal neurons to exert opponent control over striatal output.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

5-HT2C receptors in the nucleus accumbens constrain the rewarding effects of MDMA

MDMA is a promising adjunct to psychotherapy and has well-known abuse liability, although less than other amphetamine analogs. While the reinforcing dopamine (DA)-releasing properties of MDMA are on par with methamphetamine (METH), MDMA is a far more potent serotonin (5-HT) releaser, via the 5-HT transporter (SERT). MDMA-mediated 5-HT release in a major reward center, the nucleus accumbens (NAc), drives prosocial behaviors via 5-HT1BR activation. We hypothesized that this prosocial mechanism contributes to the reduced reinforcing properties of MDMA compared to METH and used a platform of assays to predict the balance of prosocial and abuse-linked effects of (R)-MDMA, a novel entactogen in clinical development. NAc DA release, measured by GRAB-DA photometry in vivo, increased in proportion to MDMA (7.5 and 15 mg/kg, i.p.) and METH (2 mg/kg i.p.)-conditioned place preference (CPP). Using conditional knockouts (cKOs) for DAT and SERT, microdialysis, and photometry, we found that MDMA-released 5-HT limited MDMA-released DA through actions in the NAc, rather than at ventral tegmental area DAergic cell bodies. SERT cKO reduced the MDMA dose required for CPP three-fold. This enhanced MDMA-CPP and increased DA release were replicated by intra-NAc infusion of either a 5-HT reuptake inhibitor (escitalopram) to prevent MDMA interaction with SERT, or a 5-HT2CR antagonist (SB242084), but not by the 5-HT1BR antagonist NAS-181. These data support separate mechanisms for the low abuse potential versus prosocial effect of MDMA. Using this platform of assays, (R)-MDMA is predicted to have prosocial effects and low abuse potential.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Striatal integration of inverse dopamine and serotonin signals gates learning

The neuromodulators dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5HT) are powerful regulators of associative learning1-9. Similarities in the activity and connectivity of these neuromodulatory systems have inspired competing models of how DA and 5HT interact to drive the formation of new associations10-13. However, these hypotheses have yet to be tested directly because it has not been possible to precisely interrogate and manipulate multiple neuromodulatory systems in a single subject. Here, we establish a double transgenic mouse model enabling simultaneous genetic access to the brains DA and 5HT systems. Anterograde axon tracing revealed the nucleus accumbens (NAc) to be a putative hotspot for the integration of convergent DA and 5HT signals. Simultaneous recordings of DA and 5HT input activity in the NAc posterior medial shell revealed that DA axons are excited by rewards while 5HT axons are inhibited. Optogenetically blunting DA and 5HT reward responses simultaneously blocked learning about a reward-predictive cue. Optogenetically reproducing both DA and 5HT responses to reward, but not either one alone, was sufficient to drive the acquisition of new associations. Altogether, these results demonstrate that striatal integration of inverse DA and 5HT signals is a crucial mechanism gating associative learning.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Striatal dopamine integrates cost, benefit and motivation

Dopamine (DA) release in the ventral and dorsal striatum has been linked to reward processing and motivation, but there are longstanding controversies about whether DA release in these key target structures primarily reflects costs or benefits, and how these signals vary with motivation. Here we apply behavioral economic principles to generate demand curves for rewards while directly measuring DA release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and dorsolateral striatum (DLS) via a genetically-encoded sensor. By independently varying costs and benefits, we reveal that DA release in both structures incorporates reward magnitude and sunk cost. Surprisingly, motivation was inversely correlated with reward-evoked DA release; the higher the motivation for rewards the lower the reward-evoked DA release. These relationships between DA release, cost and motivation remained identical when we used optogenetic activation of striatal DA inputs as a reward. Our results reconcile previous disparate findings by demonstrating that during operant tasks, striatal DA release simultaneously encodes cost, benefit and motivation but in distinct manners over different time scales.

neuroscience↗