The ventral pallidum (VP) is a key basal ganglia structure involved in integrating reward-related signals to guide motivated behavior and feeding. VP neuronal activity is strongly tuned to reward-predictive cues and palatable rewards, tracking changes in value and motivational state. Recent studies have established important and opposing roles for GABAergic and glutamatergic VP neurons in reward- and avoidance-related behaviors. However, much less is known about the role of VP cholinergic neurons (VP-CNs), which comprise only ~10% of VP neurons in mice, but maintain extensive connectivity with reward-related circuitry. Here, using cell type-selective in vivo fiber photometry during instrumental reward behavior, we found that VP-CN activity responds to cues, actions, and reward retrieval in a training-independent manner. Phasic VP-CN responses to reward retrieval were reduced by reward dilution, whereas pre-feeding with the reward enhanced these responses. In contrast, non-cholinergic VP neurons exhibited modulation by pre-feeding but not by reward dilution. Together, these findings identify VP-CNs as a distinct and dynamically regulated VP population whose activity is sensitive to both reward palatability and physiological state, extending our current understanding of the VP and its roles in reward processing.
Gannon, A., Setara, R., Maysonet, C., Salazar, R. E., Zuelke, D. R., Bowen, J. E., Gallo, E. F.
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