TY - JOUR T1 - Circuits that encode and predict alcohol associated preference JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/578401 SP - 578401 AU - Kristin M. Scaplen AU - Mustafa Talay AU - Sarah Salamon AU - Kavin M. Nuñez AU - Amanda G. Waterman AU - Sydney Gang AU - Sophia L. Song AU - Gilad Barnea AU - Karla R. Kaun Y1 - 2019/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/03/15/578401.abstract N2 - Substance use disorders are chronic relapsing disorders often impelled by enduring memories and persistent cravings. Alcohol, as well as other addictive substances, remolds neural circuits important for memory to establish obstinate preference despite aversive consequences. How pertinent circuits are selected and shaped to result in these unchanging, inflexible memories is unclear. Using neurogenetic tools available in Drosophila melanogaster we define how circuits required for alcohol associated preference shift from population level dopaminergic activation to select dopamine neurons that predict behavioral choice. During memory expression, these dopamine neurons directly, and indirectly via the mushroom body (MB), modulate the activity of interconnected glutamatergic and cholinergic output neurons. Transsynaptic tracing of these output neurons revealed at least two regions of convergence: 1) a center of memory consolidation within the MB implicated in arousal, and 2) a structure outside the MB implicated in integration of naïve and learned responses. These findings provide a circuit framework through which dopamine neuron activation shifts from reward delivery to cue onset, and provides insight into the inflexible, maladaptive nature of alcohol associated memories. ER -