Functional role of ventral tegmental area in motor learning and an attempt to improve motor skill performance by electrical activation of this brain region

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12780
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Brain biometrics
• Research Institution: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Takashima Ichiro 国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所, 情報・人間工学領域, 研究グループ長 (90357351)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 腹側被蓋野 / 一次運動野 / 膜電位イメージング / 運動学習 / 脳電気刺激

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The motor cortex receives dopaminergic projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the midbrain. In the present study, we attempted to reveal the functional role of this projection in motor skill learning. Using voltage-sensitive dye imaging, it was uncovered that VTA modulated primary motor cortex excitability in a time-dependent manner with a window of several tens of milliseconds. The possibility was also suggested that VTA directly or indirectly affects the neural processing in the higher-order motor areas. Moreover, rats given electrical stimulation to VTA exhibited better motor performance in the ladder rung walking task, suggesting that the projection from VTA to motor cortices could mediate and facilitate the learning of motor skills.

Free Research Field

脳機能イメージング、ニューロモジュレーション