PSB-2000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Striatum, Drug Tolerance, Barbiturate
Document Summary
Reward circuitry and drug addiction: monoamine, related to serotonin, e, ne, produced in several nuclei around the brain and delivered to other nuclei via axonal projections. The mesolimbic dopamine pathway: dopamine is produced in the ventral tegmental area (midbrain, dopamine is delivered to the nucleus accumbens (part of the basal ganglia) In vivo physiology: recorded vta neurons in awake, behaving monkey. Initial hypothesis: dopamine encodes reward: dopamine response shifts from reward to conditioned stimulus. Nucleus accumbens & dopamine: other pleasurable experiences also cause da release in nucleus accumbens. Artificial: gambling, video games, drugs fmri in heterosexual men. Photo of attractive woman increase activity in nacc. What is a drug: an exogenous chemical, not necessary for normal cellular functioning that significantly alters the functions of certain cells of the body when taken in relatively small doses. Lots of anything will do something, so drugs must be effective in small doses.
