@article {2480, title = {Dopamine signaling regulates predator-driven changes in egg laying behavior.}, journal = {Elife}, volume = {12}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 Jul 11}, abstract = {

Prey respond to predators by altering their behavior to optimize their own fitness and survival. Specifically, prey are known to avoid predator-occupied territories to reduce their risk of harm or injury to themselves and their progeny. We probe the interactions between and its naturally cohabiting predator to reveal the pathways driving changes in prey behavior. While prefers to lay its eggs on a bacteria food lawn, the presence of a predator inside a lawn induces to lay more eggs away from that lawn. We confirm that this change in egg laying is in response to bites from predators, rather than to predatory secretions. Moreover, predator-exposed prey continue to lay their eggs away from the dense lawn even after the predator is removed, indicating a form of learning. Next, we find that mutants in dopamine synthesis significantly reduce egg laying behavior off the lawn in both predator-free and predator-inhabited lawns, which we can rescue by transgenic complementation or supplementation with exogenous dopamine. Moreover, we find that dopamine is likely released from multiple dopaminergic neurons and requires combinations of both D1- (DOP-1) and D2-like (DOP-2 and DOP-3) dopamine receptors to alter predator-induced egg laying behavior, whereas other combinations modify baseline levels of egg laying behavior. Together, we show that dopamine signaling can alter both predator-free and predator-induced foraging strategies, suggesting a role for this pathway in defensive behaviors.

}, keywords = {Animals, Caenorhabditis elegans, Dopamine, Eggs, Receptors, Dopamine, Signal Transduction}, issn = {2050-084X}, doi = {10.7554/eLife.83957}, author = {Pribadi, Amy and Rieger, Michael A and Rosales, Kaila and Reddy, Kirthi C and Chalasani, Sreekanth H} } @article {1468, title = {Neurotransmitter Switching Regulated by miRNAs Controls Changes in Social Preference.}, journal = {Neuron}, volume = {95}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Sep 13}, pages = {1319-1333.e5}, abstract = {

Changes in social preference of amphibian larvae result from sustained exposure to kinship odorants. To understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms of this neuroplasticity, we investigated the effects of olfactory system activation on neurotransmitter (NT) expression in accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) interneurons during development. We show that protracted exposure to kin or non-kin odorants\ changes the number of dopamine (DA)- or gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA)-expressing neurons, with\ corresponding changes in attraction/aversion behavior. Changing the relative number of dopaminergic and GABAergic AOB interneurons or locally introducing DA or GABA receptor antagonists alters kinship preference. We then isolate AOB microRNAs (miRs) differentially regulated across these conditions. Inhibition of miR-375 and miR-200b reveals that they target Pax6 and Bcl11b to regulate the dopaminergic and GABAergic phenotypes. The results illuminate the role of NT switching governing experience-dependent social preference. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

}, keywords = {Animals, Choice Behavior, Dopamine, Dopamine Antagonists, GABA Antagonists, gamma-Aminobutyric Acid, Interneurons, MicroRNAs, Neurons, Neurotransmitter Agents, Olfactory Bulb, PAX6 Transcription Factor, Pheromones, Siblings, Social Behavior, Transcription Factors, Xenopus laevis, Xenopus Proteins}, issn = {1097-4199}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuron.2017.08.023}, author = {Dulcis, Davide and Lippi, Giordano and Stark, Christiana J and Do, Long H and Berg, Darwin K and Spitzer, Nicholas C} } @article {139, title = {Neurotransmitter switching in the adult brain regulates behavior.}, journal = {Science}, volume = {340}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Apr 26}, pages = {449-53}, abstract = {

Neurotransmitters have been thought to be fixed throughout life, but whether sensory stimuli alter behaviorally relevant transmitter expression in the mature brain is unknown. We found that populations of interneurons in the adult rat hypothalamus switched between dopamine and somatostatin expression in response to exposure to short- and long-day photoperiods. Changes in postsynaptic dopamine receptor expression matched changes in presynaptic dopamine, whereas somatostatin receptor expression remained constant. Pharmacological blockade or ablation of these dopaminergic neurons led to anxious and depressed behavior, phenocopying performance after exposure to the long-day photoperiod. Induction of newly dopaminergic neurons through exposure to the short-day photoperiod rescued the behavioral consequences of lesions. Natural stimulation of other sensory modalities may cause changes in transmitter expression that regulate different behaviors.

}, keywords = {Animals, Behavior, Animal, Brain, Cell Count, Dopamine, Dopaminergic Neurons, Hypothalamus, Male, Maze Learning, Photoperiod, Rats, Rats, Long-Evans, Receptors, Dopamine, Receptors, Somatostatin, Seasons, Somatostatin, Stress, Psychological, Synaptic Transmission}, issn = {1095-9203}, doi = {10.1126/science.1234152}, author = {Dulcis, Davide and Jamshidi, Pouya and Leutgeb, Stefan and Spitzer, Nicholas C} } @article {133, title = {Illumination controls differentiation of dopamine neurons regulating behaviour.}, journal = {Nature}, volume = {456}, year = {2008}, month = {2008 Nov 13}, pages = {195-201}, abstract = {

Specification of the appropriate neurotransmitter is a crucial step in neuronal differentiation because it enables signalling among populations of neurons. Experimental manipulations demonstrate that both autonomous and activity-dependent genetic programs contribute to this process during development, but whether natural environmental stimuli specify transmitter expression in a neuronal population is unknown. We investigated neurons of the ventral suprachiasmatic nucleus that regulate neuroendocrine pituitary function in response to light in teleosts, amphibia and primates. Here we show that altering light exposure, which changes the sensory input to the circuit controlling adaptation of skin pigmentation to background, changes the number of neurons expressing dopamine in larvae of the amphibian Xenopus laevis in a circuit-specific and activity-dependent manner. Neurons newly expressing dopamine then regulate changes in camouflage colouration in response to illumination. Thus, physiological activity alters the numbers of behaviourally relevant amine-transmitter-expressing neurons in the brain at postembryonic stages of development. The results may be pertinent to changes in cognitive states that are regulated by biogenic amines.

}, keywords = {Animals, Behavior, Animal, Cell Count, Cell Differentiation, Chelating Agents, Dopamine, Egtazic Acid, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Larva, Light, Lighting, Melanotrophs, Neurons, Neuropeptide Y, Photic Stimulation, Skin Pigmentation, Sodium Channel Blockers, Suprachiasmatic Nucleus, Tetrodotoxin, Xenopus laevis}, issn = {1476-4687}, doi = {10.1038/nature07569}, author = {Dulcis, Davide and Spitzer, Nicholas C} } @article {147, title = {Dopaminergic modulation of arousal in Drosophila.}, journal = {Curr Biol}, volume = {15}, year = {2005}, month = {2005 Jul 12}, pages = {1165-75}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Arousal levels in the brain set thresholds for behavior, from simple to complex. The mechanistic underpinnings of the various phenomena comprising arousal, however, are still poorly understood. Drosophila behaviors have been studied that span different levels of arousal, from sleep to visual perception to psychostimulant responses.

RESULTS: We have investigated neurobiological mechanisms of arousal in the Drosophila brain by a combined behavioral, genetic, pharmacological, and electrophysiological approach. Administration of methamphetamine (METH) suppresses sleep and promotes active wakefulness, whereas an inhibitor of dopamine synthesis promotes sleep. METH affects courtship behavior by increasing sexual arousal while decreasing successful sexual performance. Electrophysiological recordings from the medial protocerebrum of wild-type flies showed that METH ingestion has rapid and detrimental effects on a brain response associated with perception of visual stimuli. Recordings in genetically manipulated animals show that dopaminergic transmission is required for these responses and that visual-processing deficits caused by attenuated dopaminergic transmission can be rescued by METH.

CONCLUSIONS: We show that changes in dopamine levels differentially affect arousal for behaviors of varying complexity. Complex behaviors, such as visual perception, degenerate when dopamine levels are either too high or too low, in accordance with the inverted-U hypothesis of dopamine action in the mammalian brain. Simpler behaviors, such as sleep and locomotion, show graded responses that follow changes in dopamine level.

}, keywords = {Animals, Animals, Genetically Modified, Arousal, Brain, Dopa Decarboxylase, Dopamine, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Drosophila, Drosophila Proteins, Dynamins, Electrophysiology, Methamphetamine, Mutation, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Sleep, Visual Perception}, issn = {0960-9822}, doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2005.05.025}, author = {Andretic, Rozi and van Swinderen, Bruno and Greenspan, Ralph J} }