Dopaminergic regulation of hippocampal plasticity, learning, and memory

Theodoros Tsetsenis; John I Broussard; John A Dani

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1092420

Dopaminergic regulation of hippocampal plasticity, learning, and memory

Front Behav Neurosci. 2023 Jan 27:16:1092420. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1092420. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Theodoros Tsetsenis¹, John I Broussard², John A Dani¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuroscience, Mahoney Institute for Neurosciences, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
² Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, UT Health Houston McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX, United States.

Abstract

The hippocampus is responsible for encoding behavioral episodes into short-term and long-term memory. The circuits that mediate these processes are subject to neuromodulation, which involves regulation of synaptic plasticity and local neuronal excitability. In this review, we present evidence to demonstrate the influence of dopaminergic neuromodulation on hippocampus-dependent memory, and we address the controversy surrounding the source of dopamine innervation. First, we summarize historical and recent retrograde and anterograde anatomical tracing studies of direct dopaminergic projections from the ventral tegmental area and discuss dopamine release from the adrenergic locus coeruleus. Then, we present evidence of dopaminergic modulation of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. Plasticity mechanisms are examined in brain slices and in recordings from in vivo neuronal populations in freely moving rodents. Finally, we review pharmacological, genetic, and circuitry research that demonstrates the importance of dopamine release for learning and memory tasks while dissociating anatomically distinct populations of direct dopaminergic inputs.

Keywords: CA1; STDP; locus coeruleus; neuroanatomy; ventral tegmental area.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by NIH (NS021229, AA026267, and DA053296), an award from the Chernowitz Medical Research Foundation (JD), and a grant from the Mission Connect TIRR foundation (JB).