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Mesolimbic Reward System
The mesolimbic pathway, sometimes referred to as the reward pathway, is a dopaminergic pathway in the brain. 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 release of dopamine from the mesolimbic pathway into the nucleus accumbens regulates incentive salience (e.g. motivation and desire for rewarding stimuli) and facilitates reinforcement and reward-related motor function learning; it may also play a role in the subjective perception of pleasure. The dysregulation of the mesolimbic pathway and its output neurons in the nucleus accumbens plays a significant role in the development and maintenance of an addiction. Anatomy The mesolimbic pathway is a collection of dopaminergic (i.e., dopamine-releasing) neurons that project from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the ventral striatum, which includes the nucleus accumbens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dopaminergic Pathway
Dopaminergic pathways (dopamine pathways, dopaminergic projections) in the human brain are involved in both physiological and behavioral processes including motion, movement, cognition, executive functions, Reward system, reward, motivation, and Neuroendocrine cell, neuroendocrine control. Each pathway is a set of projection neuron, projection neurons, consisting of individual dopaminergic neurons. There are more than 10 dopaminergic cell groups and pathways. The four major dopaminergic pathways are the mesolimbic pathway, the mesocortical pathway, the nigrostriatal pathway, and the tuberoinfundibular pathway. The mesolimbic pathway and the mesocortical pathway form the mesocorticolimbic system. Two other dopaminergic pathways to be considered are the hypothalamospinal tract and the incertohypothalamic pathway. Parkinson's disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), substance use disorders (addiction), and restless legs syndrome (RLS) can be attributed to dysfuncti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medial Forebrain Bundle
The medial forebrain bundle (MFB) is a neural pathway containing fibers from the basal olfactory regions, the periamygdaloid region and the septal nuclei, as well as fibers from brainstem regions, including the ventral tegmental area and nigrostriatal pathway. Anatomy The MFB passes through the lateral hypothalamus and the basal forebrain in a rostral-caudal direction. The MFB has its main projections to these regions of Brodmann areas (BA) 8, 9, 10, 11, 11m. The superior frontal region of MFB projects to BA 8, 9, 10; the rostral middle frontal projects to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 9, 10); lateral orbitofrontal of MFB shows its projections to nucleus accumbens septi (NAC) and ventral striatum as subcortical reward associated structures. 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. The MFB i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hippocampus
The hippocampus (: hippocampi; via Latin from Ancient Greek, Greek , 'seahorse'), also hippocampus proper, is a major component of the brain of humans and many other vertebrates. In the human brain the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus, and the subiculum are components of the hippocampal formation located in the limbic system. The hippocampus plays important roles in the Memory consolidation, consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and in spatial memory that enables Navigation#Navigation in spatial cognition, navigation. In humans, and other primates the hippocampus is located in the archicortex, one of the three regions of allocortex, in each cerebral hemisphere, hemisphere with direct neural projections to, and reciprocal indirect projections from the neocortex. The hippocampus, as the medial pallium, is a structure found in all vertebrates. In Alzheimer's disease (and other forms of dementia), the hippocampus is one of the first regions of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nucleus Accumbens Core
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. The nucleus accumbens and the olfactory tubercle collectively form the ventral striatum. The ventral striatum and dorsal striatum collectively form the striatum, which is the main component of the basal ganglia. The dopaminergic neurons of the mesolimbic pathway project onto the GABAergic medium spiny neurons of the nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercle. Each cerebral hemisphere has its own nucleus accumbens, which can be divided into two structures: the nucleus accumbens core and the nucleus accumbens shell. These substructures have different morphology and functions. Different NAcc subregions (core vs shell) and neuron subpopulations within each region ( D1-type vs D2-type medium spiny neurons) are responsible for differe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biochemical Pharmacology (journal)
''Biochemical Pharmacology'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal published by Elsevier. It covers research on the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of drugs and non-therapeutic xenobiotics. The editor-in-chief is Jacques Piette, University of Liege. , accessed on February 11th, 2013 Abstracting and indexing The journal is abstracted and indexed in: According to the '''', the journal received a 2019impact factor
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Medium Spiny Neuron
Medium spiny neurons (MSNs), also known as spiny projection neurons (SPNs), are a special type of inhibitory GABAergic neuron representing approximately 90% of neurons within the human striatum, a basal ganglia structure. Medium spiny neurons have two primary phenotypes (characteristic types): D1-type MSNs of the direct pathway and D2-type MSNs of the indirect pathway. Most striatal MSNs contain only D1-type or D2-type dopamine receptors, but a subpopulation of MSNs exhibit both phenotypes. Direct pathway MSNs excite their ultimate basal ganglia output structure (such as the thalamus) and promote associated behaviors; these neurons express D1-type dopamine receptors, adenosine A1 receptors, dynorphin peptides, and substance P peptides. Indirect pathway MSNs inhibit their output structure and in turn inhibit associated behaviors; these neurons express D2-type dopamine receptors, adenosine A2A receptors (A2A), heterotetramers, and enkephalin. Both types express glut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prefrontal Cortex
In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. It is the association cortex in the frontal lobe. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, BA13, BA14, BA24, BA25, BA32, BA44, BA45, BA46, and BA47. This brain region is involved in a wide range of higher-order cognitive functions, including speech formation (Broca's area), gaze ( frontal eye fields), working memory ( dorsolateral prefrontal cortex), and risk processing (e.g. ventromedial prefrontal cortex). The basic activity of this brain region is considered to be orchestration of thoughts and actions in accordance with internal goals. Many authors have indicated an integral link between a person's will to live, personality, and the functions of the prefrontal cortex. This brain region has been implicated in executive functions, such as planning, decision making, working memory, personality expression, moderating ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laterodorsal Tegmental Nucleus
The laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (or lateroposterior tegmental nucleus) is a nucleus situated in the brainstem, spanning the midbrain tegmentum and the pontine tegmentum. Its location is one-third of the way from the pedunculopontine nucleus to the thalamus, inferior to the pineal gland. Function The laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT) sends cholinergic (acetylcholine) projections to many subcortical and cortical structures, including the thalamus, hypothalamus, substantia nigra (dopamine neurons), ventral tegmental area (dopamine neurons), cortex (with bidirectional connections with the prefrontal cortex). The laterodorsal tegmental nucleus may be involved in modulating sustained attention or in mediating alerting responses, and also in the generation of REM sleep (along with the pedunculopontine nucleus The pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) or pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPT or PPTg) is a collection of neurons located in the upper pons in the brainstem. It is involved i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pedunculopontine Nucleus
The pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) or pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPT or PPTg) is a collection of neurons located in the upper pons in the brainstem. It is involved in voluntary movements, arousal, and provides sensory feedback to the cerebral cortex and one of the main components of the ascending reticular activating system. It is a potential target for deep brain stimulation treatment for Parkinson's disease. It was first described in 1909 by Louis Jacobsohn-Lask, a German neuroanatomist. Structure and projections The pedunculopontine nucleus lies below the red nucleus, caudal to the substantia nigra and adjacent to the superior cerebellar peduncle. It has two divisions of subnuclei; the pars compacta, containing mainly cholinergic neurons, and the pars dissipata, containing mainly glutamatergic neurons and some non-cholinergic neurons. Its neurons project axons to a wide range of areas in the brain, particularly parts of the basal ganglia such as the subthalamic nuc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cholinergic Neurons
A cholinergic neuron is a nerve cell which mainly uses the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) to send its messages. Many neurological systems are cholinergic. Cholinergic neurons provide the primary source of acetylcholine to the cerebral cortex, and promote cortical activation during both wakefulness and rapid eye movement sleep. The cholinergic system of neurons has been a main focus of research in aging and neural degradation, specifically as it relates to Alzheimer's disease. The dysfunction and loss of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons and their cortical projections are among the earliest pathological events in Alzheimer's disease. Anatomy Most research involving cholinergic neurons involves the basal forebrain cholinergic neurons. However, cholinergic neurons only represent about 5% of the total basal forebrain cell population. Most of these neurons originate in different areas of the basal forebrain and have extensive projections into almost all layers of the cortex. B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neuron
A neuron (American English), neurone (British English), or nerve cell, is an membrane potential#Cell excitability, excitable cell (biology), cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network (biology), neural network in the nervous system. They are located in the nervous system and help to receive and conduct impulses. Neurons communicate with other cells via synapses, which are specialized connections that commonly use minute amounts of chemical neurotransmitters to pass the electric signal from the presynaptic neuron to the target cell through the synaptic gap. Neurons are the main components of nervous tissue in all Animalia, animals except sponges and placozoans. Plants and fungi do not have nerve cells. Molecular evidence suggests that the ability to generate electric signals first appeared in evolution some 700 to 800 million years ago, during the Tonian period. Predecessors of neurons were the peptidergic secretory cells. They eventually ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
