1. Neural reward circuits for various drugs (cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, nicotine, and ethanol) in a sagittal section of rat brain. A limbic–extrapyramidal motor interface is apparent. Dashed lines indicate limbic glutamatergic afferent inputs to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Purple lines represent efferent signals from the NAc believed to be involved in drug reward. Bold blue lines indicate projections of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, which are believed to be critical substrates for drug reward. This dopamine system originates in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and projects to the NAc, olfactory tubercle, ventral striatal domains of the caudate–putamen (C–P), and amygdala (AMG), among other regions. Red dashed lines represent major glutamatergic inputs to the NAc. Brown lines indicate opioid peptide–containing neurons, which comprise systems that may be involved in opiate, ethanol, and possibly nicotine reward; these systems include local enkephalinergic circuits (short segments) and the hypothalamic β-endorphin circuit (long segment). Gold areas indicate the approximate distribution of GABAA receptor complexes that may mediate sedative/hypnotic (ethanol) reward. Green solid structures indicate nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which are located on dopaminergic, opioid peptidergic, and glutamatergic neurons. AC, anterior commissure; ARC, arcuate nucleus; Cer, cerebellum; DMT, dorsomedial thalamus; FC, frontal cortex; Hippo, hippocampus; IF, inferior colliculus; LC, locus coeruleus; LH, lateral hypothalamus; OT, olfactory tract; PAG, periaqueductal gray; RPn, raphe pontis nucleus; SC, superior colliculus; SNr, substantia nigra pars reticulata; VP, ventral pallidum. (Adapted with permission from Koob GF. Drugs of abuse: anatomy, pharmacology and function of reward pathways, Trends Pharmacol Sci May;13(5): )
Source: Reinforcement and Addictive Disorders, Molecular Neuropharmacology: A Foundation for Clinical Neuroscience, 3e
Citation: Nestler EJ, Hyman SE, Holtzman DM, Malenka RC. Molecular Neuropharmacology: A Foundation for Clinical Neuroscience, 3e; 2015 Available at: Accessed: October 24, 2017
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