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A photographic image showing Cholinergic interneuron networks (green) embedded within dense matrix of dopamine axon arbours and varicosities in mouse striatum (red).
Cholinergic interneurons embedded within dopamine axon matrix: Cholinergic interneuron networks (green) embedded within dense matrix of dopamine axon arbours and varicosities in mouse striatum (red).

The brain’s ability to regulate dopamine release is critical for motivation, movement, and reinforcement learning, and becomes disrupted in disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and addiction disorders. A balance between striatal dopamine and acetylcholine has long been considered important, but there has been much debate about how or whether acetylcholine supports or hinders dopamine output.

In a recent study published in Nature Neuroscience, work led by Dr Yanfeng Zhang, a former postdoctoral researcher in the Cragg lab now a lecturer at the University of Exeter, and Professor Stephanie Cragg, revealed that cholinergic interneurons in the striatum operate a dynamic, ongoing scaling depression of striatal dopamine release. A background of activation of striatal nicotinic receptors transiently limits how dopamine axons can be reactivated in response to subsequent incoming stimuli.

 

Read the full story on the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics website.