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Dopaminergic pathways (dopamine pathways, dopaminergic projections) in the human brain are involved in both physiological and behavioral processes including movement, cognition, executive functions, reward, motivation, and neuroendocrine control. [1] Each pathway is a set of projection neurons, consisting of individual dopaminergic neurons.
The basal ganglia receive many afferent glutamatergic inputs, with predominantly GABAergic efferent fibers, modulatory cholinergic pathways, significant dopamine in the pathways originating in the ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra, as well as various neuropeptides.
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. [2]
The substantia nigra (SN) is a basal ganglia structure located in the midbrain that plays an important role in reward and movement. Substantia nigra is Latin for "black substance", reflecting the fact that parts of the substantia nigra appear darker than neighboring areas due to high levels of neuromelanin in dopaminergic neurons. [1]
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 output neurons of the nucleus accumbens send axonal projections to the basal ganglia and the ventral analog of the globus pallidus, known as the ventral pallidum (VP). ). The VP, in turn, projects to the medial dorsal nucleus of the dorsal thalamus, which projects to the prefrontal cortex as well as back to the ventral and to dorsal stri
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.
Anatomical overview of the main circuits of the basal ganglia. Subthalamic nucleus is shown in red. Picture shows 2 coronal slices that have been superimposed to include the involved basal ganglia structures. + and - signs at the point of the arrows indicate respectively whether the pathway is excitatory or inhibitory in effect.