Abstract
The regulation of prolactin secretion is reliant on the activity of the hypothalamic tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic (TIDA) neurons. More specifically, a high dopamine output from these neurons maintains the low prolactin levels seen during non-lactating conditions, while their shift to low dopamine allows the high prolactin levels required for lactation. Their high dopaminergic output is previously proposed to stem from a high coordination of their firing patterns. However, the intercellular coordination of TIDA neurons during non-lactating and lactating conditions, has yet to be characterised. Here we used ex vivo Ca2+ imaging to achieve population-wide simultaneous monitoring of TIDA neuron activity of non-lactating and lactating rats. We hypothesised the level of coordination within the TIDA neuron population would be higher in non-lactating compared to lactating females.