Table 2.

Projection areas of VTA neurons represented in NEX-Cre and Calb2-Cre mice compared with DAT-Cre and Vglut2-Cre mice

Area	Cre-driver
	DAT	Vglut2	Calb2	NEX
Anterior olfactory area	+	+	+	+
Medial prefrontal cortex (infralimbic, prelimbic, and anterior cingulate cortices)	+	+	+	+
(Medial) orbital cortex	+	+	+	+
Nucleus accumbens shell	+	+	(+)	+
Nucleus accumbens core	+	-	-	+
Dorsomedial Striatum	+	-	-	-
Olfactory tubercle	+	+	+	+
Cingulate cortex	+	+	+	+
Septum/septal nuclei	+	+	-	+
Diagonal band of Broca	+	+	+	+
Ventral pallidum	+	+	+	+
Bed nuclei of the stria terminalis	+	+	+	+
Preoptic area	+	+	+	+
Lateral habenula	+	+	-	-
Medial habenula	-	-	+	+
Hippocampus	-	-	-	+
Dentate gyrus	-	-	-	+
Amygdala	+	+	+	+
Hypothalamic area	+	+	-	+

Summary of projection areas for VTA neurons virally injected with optogenetic constructs (DIO-ChR2-eYFP) in DAT-Cre, Vglut2-Cre, Calb2-Cre, and NEX-Cre mice, respectively, and detected as YFP-positive fibers. + indicates presence of YFP-positive fibers; - indicates absence of YFP-positive fibers; (+) indicates low presence of fibers.