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The nucleus accumbens and the ventral tegmental area are the primary sites where addictive drugs act. The following are commonly considered to be addictive: cocaine, alcohol, opioids, nicotine, cannabinoids, and amphetamine and its analogs. These drugs alter the neuromodulatory influence of dopamine on the processing of reinforcement signals by ...
It contains both ascending and descending fibers. The mesolimbic pathway, which is a collection of dopaminergic neurons that projects from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens, is a component pathway of the MFB. [2] The MFB is one of the two major pathways connecting the limbic forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain.
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 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 nucleus accumbens (NAc or NAcc; also known as the accumbens nucleus, or formerly as the nucleus accumbens septi, Latin for ' nucleus adjacent to the septum ') is a region in the basal forebrain rostral to the preoptic area of the hypothalamus. [1] The nucleus accumbens and the olfactory tubercle collectively form the ventral striatum.
The nucleus accumbens is located in the ventral striatum and integrates information from cortical and limbic brain structures to mediate behaviors the reinforce reward. [16] It is a major target for the dopaminergic projections from the VTA, a group of neurons located close to the midline on the floor of the midbrain .
Additionally, the mesolimbic pathway projects from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens of the ventral striatum. [38] Another well-known afferent is the nigrostriatal connection arising from the neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta. While cortical axons synapse mainly on spine heads of spiny neurons, nigral axons synapse ...
For instance, when the dopamine neurons are lost from the substantia nigra, the condition of extreme muscle rigidity occurs as in the Parkinson's disease. The second region is the ventral tegmental area (VTA; or simply ventral tegmentum) which is at the hub of the mesolimbic pathway. Specifically, the VTA is the origin of dopaminergic cell ...