# Deciphering the role of VTA dopaminergic signaling in memory consolidation during sleep

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $41,502

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Of all life experiences, salient ones are the likeliest to be remembered. The storage of experiences into long-
term memory is thought to depend on post-learning consolidation processes occurring during sleep. While
much is known on how spatial and sensory information is incorporated into memory, the mechanisms through
which salient aspects of experiences are linked to other components of a memory are still largely unknown. A
central neuronal population implicated in encoding salience is the ventral tegmental area dopamine (VTADA)
neurons. VTADA neurons encode, and are necessary for the formation of, both positive and negative valence
associations, and are anatomically and functionally connected with brain regions implicated in memory
consolidation. Prior research and our preliminary data suggest that VTADA neuronal activity during sleep is
experience-dependent, yet whether the activation of VTADA neurons during sleep has a causal role in memory
consolidation, the specific components of waking experiences that affect VTADA neuronal activity during sleep
and the integration of VTADA neuronal activity with hippocampal-dependent memory consolidation processes
are largely unknown. We hypothesize that activity in VTADA neurons during sleep plays a critical role in linking
salient aspects of experiences to other aspects of a memory trace. We propose to elucidate the determinants,
contents and time-course of experience-dependent activity and reactivation events in VTADA neurons during
sleep (Aim 1) and causally interrogate the function of VTADA neuronal activity during sleep in processes of
memory consolidation (Aim 2). To achieve these aims, we have developed an innovative approach that
combines ensemble-level calcium imaging, electrophysiological recordings, optogenetic manipulations and
various learning tasks in freely behaving and sleeping mice. Our findings will provide fundamental new insight
regarding the integration of information encoded in multiple brain regions into coherent multifaceted memories
during sleep. Moreover, our research could promote the development of new therapeutic approaches for
various psychiatric disorders that are associated with a combination of dysregulated dopamine signaling and
impaired memory. The training plan we have developed, which draws on the skills and expertise of my various
sponsors, as well as the strengths of the research environment at the University of Michigan, will provide me
with comprehensive and rigorous training as I develop into an independent researcher.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10856901
- **Project number:** 5F31MH132287-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Bibi Alika Sulaman
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $41,502
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-05-01 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10856901

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10856901, Deciphering the role of VTA dopaminergic signaling in memory consolidation during sleep (5F31MH132287-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10856901. Licensed CC0.

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