TY - JOUR T1 - Transcriptome profiling of the ventral pallidum reveals a role for pallido-thalamic neurons in cocaine reward JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2021.10.20.465105 SP - 2021.10.20.465105 AU - Michel Engeln AU - Megan E. Fox AU - Ramesh Chandra AU - Eric Y. Choi AU - Hyungwoo Nam AU - Houman Qadir AU - Shavin S. Thomas AU - Victoria M. Rhodes AU - Makeda D. Turner AU - Rae J. Herman AU - Cali A. Calarco AU - Mary Kay Lobo Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/10/21/2021.10.20.465105.abstract N2 - Psychostimulant exposure alters the activity of ventral pallidum (VP) projection-neurons. However, the molecular underpinnings of these circuit dysfunctions are unclear. Using RNA-sequencing followed by circuit-specific gene expression assays, we revealed a key role for the VP to mediodorsal thalamus (VP-MDT) projection neurons in cocaine-related behaviors in mice. Our analyses demonstrated that the transcription factor Nr4a1 bidirectionally modulated dendritic spine dynamics in VP-MDT neurons and positively regulated pathological drug use.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -