KINE 4660 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Dopaminergic Pathways, Dopamine Transporter, Mesolimbic Pathway
13 Dec 2017
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All drugs have specific actions but they all activate the mesocorticolimbic pathway. Common reward pathway (reuptake) called the dopamine transporter (dat) Inhibition- we can"t forever be engaging in pleasure because we will be ignoring threat. Nucleus accumbens (sub cortical: part of basal ganglia and striatum, vta sends signal here, pleasure/reward centre. Amygdala (sub cortical: fear and emotions, stimulus-reward learning, takes a stimulus and through experience we learn the valence (value) of that. Substances or activities of abuse also increase da in brain reward pathways: by blocking dat- synapse is flooded with dopamine, by enhancing da release from neuron. Brain on cocaine: cocaine is a direct activator of the pleasure pathway, synapse gets flooded with da and we experience a high. Inhibits reuptake but takes it back into the cell and stimulates the release of even more dopamine. Inhibits moa (the enzyme that breaks down da: net result is greatly increased synaptic da.
