Motivational Systems, Drugs, And Addiction Flashcards
What are the two main dopamine systems
Mesolimbic system
Nigrostriatal system
What is the main dopamine projection system
Mesolimbic system
Motivational loop and motor loops
Nigrostriatal
What does the nigrostriatal system consist of
From SN to caudate N and putamen
What nucleus participates in the motivational and motor loops
Caudate
What does the mesolimbic system consist of
From tegmental area to prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens (ventral striatum), amygdala, hippocampus, other limbic regions
What is the mesolimbic system important for
Selective attention (prefrontal), natural reward seeking, and involved in drug addiction
Where is the nucleus accumbens positioned
At anterior end of striatum and in a ventral position
What two structures does the nucleus accumbens continue with
Caudate and putamen
Anterior commisure and the ventral pallidum
Portion of striatum lying ventral to anterior commissure crossing
What loops are the nigrostriatal DA system involved with
Motor loops and cognitive loops
What loops are the mesolimbic DA system involved with
Motivational (emotive) loop
What striatal region is involved in the motivational loop
Ventral striatum
What striatal region is involved in the motor loop
Putamen and caudate
What striatal region is involved with the cognitive loop
Caudate nucleus
What are dopamine neurons activated by
Emotionally positive (and negative) stimuli and cues that indicate these rewards are available
- food/nutrients
- socal: fam/friends/mates
- sexual arousal/activity
- music
- money
Dopamine release in target regions
Nucleus accumbens
-critical for normal behavior and reward seeking
Impairment in dopamine release can lead to reduction in
- eating, other rewarding activities, spontaneous physical activity, normall mediated by dopamine regulation of: accumbens, orbital cortex, amygdala, hypothalamus
- attention and working memory (prefrontal)
What part of the mesolimbic system is strongly activated by various drugs
Ventral tegmentum
Nucleus accumbens
What are the drugs that affect the nucleus accumbens
- amphetamine
- cocaine
- opiates
- THC
- phencyclidine
- ketamine
What drugs affect the ventral tegmental area
- opiates
- ethanol
- barbiturates
- benzodiazepines
- nicotine
How do they test to see what parts of the brain are affected by certain drugs
They directly stimulate a part of the brain and see if rats will press lever for more.
Activation of the mesolimbic dopamine system following drug use
Serves to reinforce the emotive or motivational loop circuits, which reinforces drug seeking and drug use. Drugs usually induce greater activation of the mesolimbic dopamine system than natural rewards
Activation of the mesolimbic dopamine system following drug use, including activation of the amygdala and hippocampus
Also serves to add a strongly positive emotional value to any sensory cues associated with drug use or drug availability
Appetitive learning
Sensory cues that were previously emotionally neutral sensory stimuli gain a strongly positive emotional value. These stimuli alone gain the ability to activate the mesolimbic dopamine system and this stimulus induced is believed to be involved in drug-craving