Future in vivo studies are needed to causally link AKT-GABA changes to social avoidance behavior. Recently, Chaudhury et al. (2013) demonstrated that the CSDS-induced high frequency phasic firing in dopamine neurons of the VTA–NAc check details pathway is sufficient to functionally drive susceptible behavior. Optogenetic induction of phasic, but not tonic, firing in tyrosine hydroxylase positive (TH+) VTA neurons during or after exposure to subthreshold defeat rapidly produced

robust social avoidance and anhedonia behaviors. Induction of phasic firing during the social interaction test following 10 days of CSDS was sufficient to reverse behavior in mice previously identified as resilient, generating social avoidance, and to produce long-lasting changes in excitability, as evidenced by maintenance of depression-like behavior (decreased sucrose preference) 8–12 h post-stimulation. These effects were VTA–NAc pathway specific, as selective optogenetic stimulation of VTA TH+ neurons projecting to

the PFC did not induce social avoidance or anhedonia. Halorhodopsin inhibition of VTA firing reversed depression-like behavior in susceptible mice following CSDS exposure. These experiments demonstrate that stress-induced phasic firing in NAc-projecting VTA dopamine neurons is necessary and sufficient for the development of depression-like behavior. Normal dopamine neuron firing rate, AKT activation and signaling, and Ih current dynamics are allostatically preserved in resilient mice during and after stress exposure, although the mechanisms underlying this allostasis are less understood than those driving Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase susceptibility. A recent study by Friedman selleck et al. (2014) identified an active mechanism

by which normal dopamine neuron firing is maintained in resilient mice. Surprisingly, VTA dopamine neurons of resilient animals do not show a return to a normal Ih current comparable to that of controls following CSDS. Instead, they exhibit an Ih current increase that is much larger than that of susceptible mice. Underlying this phenomenon is a homeostatic enhancement in multiple K+ channel currents—the potentiated Ih current augments neuronal firing to such an extent that K+ channels are activated, returning firing rate to a normal level. Indeed, current injection in dopamine neurons of resilient mice produces a reduction in spike number, whereas current injection produces the opposite effect in susceptible mice. Repeated intra-VTA infusion of lamotrigine, an Ih potentiator, or VTA viral-mediated overexpression of hyperpolarization-activated and cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 2 (HCN2), a channel that regulates Ih current, reversed social avoidance and anhedonic behavior in susceptible mice. Both manipulations increased Ih and K+ currents, and reduced neuronal excitability. Further, repeated optogenetic induction of hyperactivity in VTA dopamine neurons increased K+ currents and reversed social avoidance behavior.