Fokina Y. Role of cat's dopaminergic neurons in forming the effects of neurofeedback sessions

Using extracellular recording technique for registration of VTA dopaminergic neuron activity and parallel monopolar EEG recording (electrodes were located on the skull bones over frontal, occipital, right and left temporal regions of the cortex) in awake cats it is revealed that the frequency of VTA dopamine neuron activity had a significant positive correlation with spectral power density (SPD) of alpha- and beta- EEG rhythms; besides it is shown that during acoustic neurofeedback sessions directed to ratio increase of SPD of alpha-rhythm to SPD of theta-rhythm in the occipital area, and during the sessions directed to ratio increase of SPD of beta-rhythm to SPD of theta-rhythm in the frontal area, the animals learned to change their SPD of the rhythms in accordance with a volume of a sound feedback signal. This is accompanied by significant changes in SPD of the trained EEG rhythms. Along with this the activity of the investigated VTA dopamine neurons significantly increased.