BIOL 115 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Nucleus Accumbens, Locus Coeruleus, Basal Ganglia
Document Summary
Because they"re categorized together, there is a lot of overlap in function. All synthesized from tyrosine, which you get from your diet. Dopamine norepinephrine, so if you affect dopamine you"ll affect nor because it"s the next in the pathway. From substantia nigra (nucleus in brainstem, has dopamine cell bodies) and project to very critical areas in basal ganglia. From ventral tegmental (in the tegmentum, mid-brain, small nucleus), projects to lots of parts of the nucleus but makes key stop in nucleus accumbens (in the middle first stop on the way to cortex) Area implicated in reward (nucleus accumbens), highly activated in addiction. When people are taking drugs that they enjoy, anything that is enjoyment will be active in the nucleus accumbens area nicotine, heroin, cocaine . Vta pathway is always active in that enjoyment state, at an extreme it becomes euphoria. Normally helps you maintain focused attention hint to tell you to keep going, you"re almost there! positive reinforcement.
