Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Tonic activity in lateral habenula neurons promotes disengagement from reward-seeking behavior

View ORCID ProfileBrianna J. Sleezer, View ORCID ProfileRyan J. Post, David A. Bulkin, View ORCID ProfileR. Becket Ebitz, Vladlena Lee, Kasey Han, View ORCID ProfileMelissa R. Warden
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.15.426914
Brianna J. Sleezer
1Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Brianna J. Sleezer
Ryan J. Post
1Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
2Cornell Neurotech, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Ryan J. Post
David A. Bulkin
1Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
2Cornell Neurotech, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
R. Becket Ebitz
4Department of Neuroscience, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for R. Becket Ebitz
Vladlena Lee
1Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kasey Han
1Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Melissa R. Warden
1Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
2Cornell Neurotech, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Melissa R. Warden
  • For correspondence: mrwarden@cornell.edu
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

SUMMARY

Survival requires both the ability to persistently pursue goals and the ability to determine when it is time to stop, an adaptive balance of perseverance and disengagement. Neural activity in the lateral habenula (LHb) has been linked to aversion and negative valence, but its role in regulating the balance between reward-seeking and disengaged behavioral states remains unclear. Here, we show that LHb neural activity is tonically elevated during minutes-long disengagements from reward-seeking behavior, whether due to repeated reward omission or following sufficient consumption of reward. Further, we show that LHb inhibition extends ongoing reward-seeking behavioral states but does not prompt re-engagement. We find no evidence for similar tonic activity fluctuations in ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons. Our findings implicate the LHb as a key mediator of disengagement from reward-seeking behavior in multiple contexts and argue against the idea that the LHb contributes to decisions solely by signaling aversion.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • ↵5 Lead Contact

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted January 16, 2021.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Tonic activity in lateral habenula neurons promotes disengagement from reward-seeking behavior
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Tonic activity in lateral habenula neurons promotes disengagement from reward-seeking behavior
Brianna J. Sleezer, Ryan J. Post, David A. Bulkin, R. Becket Ebitz, Vladlena Lee, Kasey Han, Melissa R. Warden
bioRxiv 2021.01.15.426914; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.15.426914
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Tonic activity in lateral habenula neurons promotes disengagement from reward-seeking behavior
Brianna J. Sleezer, Ryan J. Post, David A. Bulkin, R. Becket Ebitz, Vladlena Lee, Kasey Han, Melissa R. Warden
bioRxiv 2021.01.15.426914; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.15.426914

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Neuroscience
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3482)
  • Biochemistry (7336)
  • Bioengineering (5305)
  • Bioinformatics (20219)
  • Biophysics (9990)
  • Cancer Biology (7713)
  • Cell Biology (11280)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6426)
  • Ecology (9926)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13294)
  • Genetics (9353)
  • Genomics (12564)
  • Immunology (7686)
  • Microbiology (18979)
  • Molecular Biology (7426)
  • Neuroscience (40935)
  • Paleontology (299)
  • Pathology (1226)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2132)
  • Physiology (3145)
  • Plant Biology (6849)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1272)
  • Synthetic Biology (1893)
  • Systems Biology (5306)
  • Zoology (1086)