Bypassing the VTA: Thalamic modulation of striatal dopamine prioritizes safety

Article excerpt

Nature Communications, Published online: 04 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73905-4 Avoiding danger even when competing goals are imminent supports survival, yet the mechanisms orchestrating this behavioral override remain unclear. Macdonald and colleagues1 describe a thalamostriatal microcircuit that modulates terminal dopamine release, bypassing canonical midbrain dopamine circuitry to prioritize safety.