Ventral striatum

Dopaminergic mechanisms within the ventral striatum (i.e., nucleus accumbens) subserve the ability of amphetamine and methylphenidate in low to moderate doses to increase locomotor activity. In contrast, very low dosages in animals seem to cause hypoactivity presumably by stimulation of autoreceptors, a finding that would be compatible with the clinical impression that methylphenidate might be usefiil in some patients with mania. 

Dagher, A., Bleicher, C., Aston, J.A.D., Gunn, R.N., Clarke, P.B.S., Cumming, P. Reduced dopamine D1 receptor binding in the ventral striatum of cigarette smokers. Synapse. 42 48, 2001. 

Chen, PC., Chen, J.C. Enhanced Cdk5 activity and p35 translocation in the ventral striatum of acute and chronic methamphetamine-treated rats. Neuropsychopharmacology. 30 538, 2005. 

Apicella, P., Ljungberg, T. Scamati, E., Schultz, W. (1991). Responses to Reward in Monkey Doral and Ventral Striatum. Experimental Brain Research, 85, 491-500. 

Meil WM, Roll JM, Grimm JW, Lynch AM, See RE. 1995. Tolerance-like attenuation to contingent and noncontingent cocaine-induced elevation of extracellular dopamine in the ventral striatum following 7 days of withdrawal from chronic treatment. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 118(3) 338-346. 

Sorg BA, Kalivas PW. 1991. Effects of cocaine and footshock stress on extracellular dopamine levels in the ventral striatum. Brain Res 559(1) 29-36. 

Smoking-related images elicited greater activation in ventral striatum and nucleus accumbens in smokers than nonsmokers. Among smokers, smoking-related cues produced bilateral activation in the ACC, OFC, SFG, and occipital cortex. 

Smoking-related cues elicited bilateral activation in the amygdala, ventral striatum, thalamus, hippocampus, insula, and OFC, Perfusion in DLPFC and PCC was positively correlated with craving. 

David SP, Munafo MR, Johansen-Berg H, Smith SM, Rogers RD, Matthews PM, et al (2005) Ventral striatum/nucleus accumbens activation to smoking-related pictorial cues in smokers and nonsmokers a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Biol Psychiatry 58(6) 488 94... 

Dagher et al. (2001) 11 Smokers 18 nonsmokers "C-SCH 23390 PET 1 BP in smokers (indicating D1 receptor density) in ventral striatum... 

Responses in the dopamine system are more complex (see chapter by Balfour, this volume). Repeated nicotine injections resulted in enhanced extracellular DA levels in the NAc (Benwell and Balfour 1992, 1997), but not in the striatum (Benwell and Balfour 1997). Analysis of the precise placement of dialysis probes has revealed differential responses to drugs of abuse, including nicotine, between the NAc core (ventral striatum) and shell (Di Chiara 2002 Balfour 2004 Wonnacott et al. 2005 see chapter by Balfour, this volume). Moreover, the sensitised neurotransmitter responses observed in the hippocampus and NAc were markedly attenuated if rats received a constant infusion of a low level of nicotine (Benwell and Balfour 1997). Thus, transient peaks of nicotine appear capable of sensitising some brain pathways with respect to catecholamine release, but the responses may be mitigated by lower sustained plasma concentrations, possibly due to desensitisation. The extent that presynaptic nAChRs contribute to this process in vivo is unclear presynaptic a7 nAChRs on glutamatergic afferents to the VTA merit attention as potential mediators of sensitisation (see Sect. 2.2.2). 

Zahm DS, Brog JS (1992) On the significance of subterritories in the accumbens part of the rat ventral striatum. Neuroscience 50 751-767... 

Marks Ml, Stitzel lA, et al (1985) Time course study of the effects of chronic nicotine infusion on drug response and brain receptors. 1 Pharmacol Exp Ther 235(3) 619-628 Marshall DL, Redfem PH, et al (1997) Presynaptic nicotinic modulation of dopamine release in the three ascending pathways studied by in vivo microdialysis comparison of naive and chronic nicotine-treated rats. 1 Neurochem 68(4) 1511-1519 Martinez D, Gil R, et al (2005) Alcohol dependence is associated with blunted dopamine transmission in the ventral striatum. Biol Psychiatry 58(10) 779-786 McClernon El, Kozink RV, Rose IE (2007) Individual differences in nicotine dependence, withdrawal symptoms, and sex predict transient fMRl-BOLD responses to smoking cues. Neuropsychopharmacology 33(9) 2148-2147... 

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