Publications [#185972] of Herbert E Covington, III

Journal Articles

1. Lobo, Mary Kay and Covington, Herbert E. and Chaudhury, Dipesh and Friedman, Allyson K. and Sun, HaoSheng and Damez-Werno, Diane and Dietz, David M. and Zaman, Samir and Koo, Ja Wook and Kennedy, Pamela J. and Mouzon, Ezekiell and Mogri, Murtaza and Neve, Rachael L. and Deisseroth, Karl and Han, Ming-Hu and Nestler, Eric J. (2010). Cell type-specific loss of BDNF signaling mimics optogenetic control of cocaine reward.. Science (New York, N.Y.), 330(6002), 385--390. [20947769], [doi]
   (last updated on 2011/12/30)

   Abstract:
   The nucleus accumbens is a key mediator of cocaine reward, but the distinct roles of the two subpopulations of nucleus accumbens projection neurons, those expressing dopamine D1 versus D2 receptors, are poorly understood. We show that deletion of TrkB, the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) receptor, selectively from D1+ or D2+ neurons oppositely affects cocaine reward. Because loss of TrkB in D2+ neurons increases their neuronal excitability, we next used optogenetic tools to control selectively the firing rate of D1+ and D2+ nucleus accumbens neurons and studied consequent effects on cocaine reward. Activation of D2+ neurons, mimicking the loss of TrkB, suppresses cocaine reward, with opposite effects induced by activation of D1+ neurons. These results provide insight into the molecular control of D1+ and D2+ neuronal activity as well as the circuit-level contribution of these cell types to cocaine reward.