Neurochemical signatures of an affective state in rats

This dataset collects data from three published works considering affect and mechanics of the reward system in rats. In each of them, an affective state was induced in the group of animals, and the concentrations of selected neurochemicals were measured in certain important brain structures. The method of inducing affect was different, though: amphetamine ("Non-parametric analysis of neurochemical effects and Arc expression in amphetamine-induced 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalization" / 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.05.042), morphine anticipation ("Inter-individual differences in serotonin and glutamate co-transmission reflect differentiation in context-induced conditioned 50-kHz USVs response after morphine withdrawal" / 10.1007/s00429-018-1683-4) and social contact ("Social deprivation substantially changes multi-structural neurotransmitter signature of social interaction: Glutamate concentration in amygdala and VTA as a key factor in social encounter-induced 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalization" / 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.06.010) were used, respectively. For each rat, tissue samples of 6 brain structures were extracted: medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), nucleus accumbens (NAcc), striatum (Cpu), hippocampus (Hipp), amygdala and ventral tegmental area (VTA). In each sample, levels of 15 compounds were measured: norepinephrine (NA), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), dopamine (DA), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), homovanillic acid (HVA), serotonin (5-HT), 3-methoxytyramine (3-MT), taurine, glutamine (Gln), glycine (Gly), aspartic acid (Asp), glutamic acid (Glu), alanine (Ala) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).