10-28 L1 Brain reward cicuitry

Question 1

Appetitive phase

Answer 1

• activation of motor behavior
• sympathetic nervous system

Question 2

Consummatory phase

Answer 2

• involves rest, sedation
• activatino of parasympathetic nervous system

Question 3

VTA

(Ventral Tegmental Area)

Answer 3

• Excitatory input to dopamine neurons in the VTA can modulate reward and motor behavior
• Dopamine cellular activity labels enviornmental stimuli with appetitive value

Question 4

NA

Nucleus Accumbens

Answer 4

Pleasure center

• Integration site for cortical (prefrontal cortex and subcortical (VTA, amygdala) input
• Critical interface between limbic and motor systems thus linking motivation and action

Question 5

Ventral pallidum

Answer 5

• role in regulating motor behavior
• Common output pathway for drug reward is form nucleus accumbens to motor areas via the ventral pallidum

Question 6

Hypothalamus

Answer 6

Appetitive phase

• Appetitive phase of motivated behavior
• Signals motivational value of a reward in relation to internal drive states

Question 7

Amygdala

Answer 7

• Receives highly processed auditory, visual, somatosensory and viscerosensory information
• Evaluates the social and emotional significance of a wide range of stimuli (linked to survival and reproduction)
• Role in teh individual’s orientation to memory of emotionally salient stimuli

Question 8

DM Thalamus

Dorsomedial thalamus

Answer 8

• Engages prefrontalcortex for appropriate behavioral response to a novel
• Or conditioned rewarding stimulus resulitng in normal, complete motivated behavior

Question 9

Acamprosate

Answer 9

• A structural analogue of the amino acid taurine
• Reduces the excitatory actions of glutamate at the NMDA receptor

Question 10

Alcohol mediates some of its pharmacologic effects by what 2 actions?

Answer 10

• Enhancing the actions of the inhibitory GABA receptor complex.
• Decreasing the actions of the excitatory NMDA receptor.