Ventral tegmental area nuclei

A10 Ventral tegmental area Nucleus accumbens Reward... 

Swartz CM, Breen K, Leone F Serum prolactin levels during extended cocaine abstinence. AmJ Psychiatry 147 777—779, 1990 Sziraki I, Sershen H, Hashim A, et al Receptors in the ventral tegmental area mediating nicotine-induced dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Neurochem Res 27 253-261, 2002... 

The neuroehemical sites for psyehomotor stimulant reward are likely to be the presynaptic dopamine terminals located in the region of the nucleus aeeumbens, frontal cortex, and other forebrain structures that originate in the ventral tegmental area. Note, however, that intraeranial self-administration of eoeaine is elicited from the frontal cortex, but not from the nucleus aeeumbens (Goeders and Smith 1983). Thus, eoneomitant activation of structures other than the nucleus accumbens may be an important part of the circuitry involved in initiation of cocaine intravenous self-administration, as has been hypothesized for the opiates (Smith and Lane 1983 Smith et al. 1982). 

O Virtually all abused substances appear to activate the same brain reward pathway. Key components of the reward pathway are the dopamine (DA) mesocorticolimbic system that projects from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (NA) to the prefrontal cortex, the amygdala, and the olfactory tubercle (Figs. 33-3 and 33-4).5 Animal studies... 

Figure 7.4 Summary of some of the wide array of afferent and efferent connections of midbrain dopaminergic neurons (SN/A9, RRF/A8, and VTA/A10 in center of figure). This emphasizes their potential involvement in coordination of seemingly disparate behaviors inclusive of the sleep-wake state of the organism. Abbreviations BP, blood pressure BST, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis CEA, central nucleus of the amygdala MEA, midbrain extrapyramidal area NTS, nucleus of the solitary tract O2, oxygen tension PPN, pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus RRF, retrorubral field SN, substantia nigra VTA, ventral tegmental area.

Tzschentke T., Schmidt W. (2000). Functional relationship among medial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and ventral tegmental area in locomotion and reward. Crit. Rev. Neurobiol. 14, 131-42. 

The neural structures involved in the promotion of the waking (W) state are located in the (1) brainstem [dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), median raphe nucleus (MRN), locus coeruleus (LC), laterodorsal and pedunculopontine tegmental nuclei (LDT/PPT), and medial-pontine reticular formation (mPRF)] (2) hypothalamus [tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN) and lateral hypothalamus (LH)[ (3) basal forebrain (BFB) (medial septal area, nucleus basalis of Meynert) and (4) midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) (Pace-Schott Hobson, 2002 Jones, 2003). The following neurotransmitters function to promote W (1) acetylcholine (ACh LDT/PPT, BFB) (2) noradrenaline (NA LC) (3) serotonin (5-HT DRN, MRN) (4) histamine (HA TMN) (5) glutamate (GLU mPRF, BFB, thalamus) (6) orexin (OX LH) and (7) dopamine (DA VTA, SNc) (Zoltoski et al, 1999 Monti, 2004). 

Mesencephalon substantia nigra-pars reticulata, interpeduncular nucleus, central gray ventral tegmental area, laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, interpeduncular nucleus... 

Schilstrom, B., Nomikos, G.G., Nisell, M., Hertel, P., Svensson, T.H. A-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonism in the ventral tegmental area diminishes the systemic nicotine-induced dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Neuroscience. 82 781, 1998. 

Laviolette, S.R., Alexson, T.O., van der Kooy, D. Lesions of the tegmental pedunculopontine nucleus block the rewarding effects and reveal the aversive effects of nicotine in the ventral tegmental area. J. Neurosci. 22 8653, 2002. 

Ventral tegmental area (VTA) The location of the dopaminergic cells projecting to the nucleus accumbens. 

Fiorino DF, Coury A, Fibiger HC and Phillips AG (1993). Electrical stimulation of reward sites in the ventral tegmental area increases dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens of the rat. Behavioral Brain Research, 55, 131-141. 

Central loci believed to be involved in morphine dependence are the ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens. ft receptor mRNA and immunoreactivity were also detected in these regions as well as the hippocampus and amygdala, other regions that may be involved in the euphoric effects of fi agonists. 

Consistent with receptor binding studies, k receptor mRNA is expressed in the claustrum and interpeduncular nucleus as well as the ventral tegmental area. High levels of k receptor mRNA levels are expressed in the substantia nigra pars compacta, suggestive that k receptors may be expressed in dopaminergic neurons with a presynaptic location. 

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