Data from: Transient inhibition and long-term facilitation of locomotion by phasic optogenetic activation of serotonin neurons

Serotonin (5-HT) is associated with mood and motivation but the function of endogenous 5-HT remains controversial. Here, we studied the impact of phasic optogenetic activation of 5-HT neurons in mice over time scales from seconds to weeks. We found that activating dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) 5-HT neurons induced a strong suppression of spontaneous locomotor behavior in the open field with rapid kinetics (onset ≤1 s). Inhibition of locomotion was independent of measures of anxiety or motor impairment and could be overcome by strong motivational drive. Repetitive place-contingent pairing of activation caused neither place preference nor aversion. However, repeated 15 min daily stimulation caused a persistent increase in spontaneous locomotion to emerge over three weeks. These results show that 5-HT transients have strong and opposing short and long-term effects on motor behavior that appear to arise from effects on the underlying factors that motivate actions.5-羟色胺（Serotonin，5-HT）与情绪及动机调控密切相关，但内源性5-羟色胺的生理功能仍存在争议。本研究在秒级至周级的时间尺度下，探究了小鼠5-羟色胺能神经元的阶段性光遗传激活效应。实验发现，激活中缝背核（dorsal raphe nucleus, DRN）的5-羟色胺能神经元，可快速起效（起效时间≤1秒）地显著抑制旷场实验中的自发运动行为。该运动抑制效应与焦虑相关指标或运动功能损伤无关联，且可被强烈的动机驱动力所抵消。重复性的激活-位置关联配对范式既未诱导出位置偏好，也未产生位置厌恶。然而，每日15分钟的重复刺激会在三周内逐渐引发自发运动的持续性增强。本研究结果表明，5-羟色胺瞬态信号对运动行为具有显著且方向相反的短期与长期调控效应，该效应似乎源于对驱动行为的潜在核心调控因素的调节作用。