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The striatum (pl.: striata) or corpus striatum [5] is a cluster of interconnected nuclei that make up the largest structure of the subcortical basal ganglia. [6] The striatum is a critical component of the motor and reward systems; receives glutamatergic and dopaminergic inputs from different sources; and serves as the primary input to the rest of the basal ganglia.
The ventral tegmental area (VTA) (tegmentum is Latin for covering), also known as the ventral tegmental area of Tsai, [1] or simply ventral tegmentum, is a group of neurons located close to the midline on the floor of the midbrain. The VTA is the origin of the dopaminergic cell bodies of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system and other dopamine ...
The dorsal striatum is generally considered to be involved in sensorimotor activities. The ventral striatum receives glutamatergic inputs from the limbic areas as well as dopaminergic inputs from the VTA, via the mesolimbic pathway. The ventral striatum is believed to play a role in reward and other limbic functions. [20]
The mesolimbic pathway, sometimes referred to as the reward pathway, is a dopaminergic pathway in the brain. [ 1 ] The pathway connects the ventral tegmental area in the midbrain to the ventral striatum of the basal ganglia in the forebrain. The ventral striatum includes the nucleus accumbens and the olfactory tubercle.
The substantia nigra is located in the ventral midbrain of each hemisphere. It has two distinct parts, the pars compacta (SNc) and the pars reticulata (SNr). The pars compacta contains dopaminergic neurons from the A9 cell group that forms the nigrostriatal pathway that, by supplying dopamine to the striatum, relays information to the basal ganglia.
Basal forebrain. Part of the human brain, the basal forebrain structures are located in the forebrain to the front of and below the striatum. They include the ventral basal ganglia (including nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum), nucleus basalis, diagonal band of Broca, substantia innominata, and the medial septal nucleus. These structures ...
The mesolimbic pathway transmits dopamine from the ventral tegmental area (VTA), which is located in the midbrain, to the ventral striatum, which includes both the nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercle. [5] [6] The "meso" prefix in the word "mesolimbic" refers to the midbrain, or "middle brain", since "meso" means "middle" in Greek.
The striatum is organized on a rostro-caudal axis, with the rostral putamen and caudate serving associative and cognitive functions and the caudal areas serving sensorimotor function. [6] Sometimes when the striatum is the expressed target the loop is referred to as the cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical loop .