PSY 606 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Nucleus Accumbens, Frontal Lobe, Tegmentum
Document Summary
Additional notes for biological theories of substance abuse/dependency reinforcing effects on the brain. Substances such as cocaine, heroin, and alcohol affect biochemical(cid:495)s that have. Drugs affect (cid:494)pleasure pathway(cid:495), which is rich is dopamine sensitive neurons. Area is involved in emotion, memory, and gratification. Studies have shown that direct stimulation of this pathway produces pleasure, and has reinforcing properties Pleasure pathway runs from ventral tegmental area of midbrain, to nucleus accumbens, and ultimately to the frontal cortex. Drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines act directly to increase the availability of dopamine in the pathway, which leads to strong sensations of reward or pleasure. Drugs such as heroin and other opiates act indirectly on the pathway by affecting. Recall that gaba is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. Gaba keeps the neurons in the ventral tegmental area of the brain (part of pleasure pathway) from firing continuously, thus reducing the activity of the dopamine neurons in the region.
