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We show that the majority of LDT-NAc inputs are cholinergic, but there is also GABAergic and glutamatergic innervation; activation of LDT induces a predominantly excitatory response in the NAc. Non-selective optogenetic activation of LDT-NAc projections in rats enhances motivational drive and shifts preference to an otherwise equal reward; whereas inhibition of these projections induces the opposite. Activation of these projections also induces robust place preference. In mice, specific activation of LDT-NAc cholinergic inputs (but not glutamatergic or GABAergic) is sufficient to shift preference, increase motivation, and drive positive reinforcement in different behavioral paradigms. These results provide evidence that LDT-NAc projections play an important role in motivated behaviors and positive reinforcement, and that distinct neuronal populations differentially contribute for these behaviors.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-019-11557-3","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,9,12]],"date-time":"2019-09-12T10:02:34Z","timestamp":1568282554000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":48,"title":["Role of laterodorsal tegmentum projections to nucleus accumbens in reward-related behaviors"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1737-2268","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"B\u00e1rbara","family":"Coimbra","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Carina","family":"Soares-Cunha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Nivaldo A P","family":"Vasconcelos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ana Ver\u00f3nica","family":"Domingues","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"S\u00f3nia","family":"Borges","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8755-5126","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nuno","family":"Sousa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1968-7968","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana Jo\u00e3o","family":"Rodrigues","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,9,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"11557_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1126","DOI":"10.1111\/ejn.12855","volume":"41","author":"H Kamii","year":"2015","unstructured":"Kamii, H. et al. 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