Fig. 3

The results of BOLD response after the chemogenetic activation of VTA dopaminergic neurons in DAT-cre rats (n = 5) with CNO. A Global responses of BOLD signal after chemogenetic activation with FDR correction (p-FDR corrected < 0.05); results indicate that only the VTA shows positive signals; B BOLD signal changes in the virus infected region (VTA) during the chemogenetics activation of VTA dopaminergic neurons; red arrow indicates the injection timepoint of CNO (blue) or saline (red); C global responses of BOLD signal after chemogenetic activation without FDR correction (p < 0.001), the regions of VTA, Cg, Septum and mPFC show positive signals; D–F variations of BOLD signal in the regions of Cg (D), mPFC (E) and Septum (F) after the injection of CNO (red arrow), respectively; G the comparison matrix of the increased BOLD signals in the VTA, Cg, mPFC and Septum. The increase values of BOLD signals in the activated brain regions were calculated and compared pairwise. The colors of dots indicate p-value. Two-tailed t-test; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01