Ventral tegmental area

Limbic dopaminergic system, a part of brain reward circuit, is the main target of morphine-like drugs and all drugs of abuse (Wise and Bozarth 1984). Brain reward and motivation circuit begins from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) at the top of brainstem that sends its dopaminergic projections to the various regions of brain including nucleus accumbens (NAc), amygdala (Ghalandari-Shamami, Hassanpour-Ezatti et al. 2011), hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (mesocorticolimbic system). On the other hand

Alcohol Dependence as a Product of the Reward System To demonstrate an understanding of alcohol dependence, the reward system, a proponent of addiction, is briefly discussed in the news article. Although the article outlines the basic mechanisms underlying the reward pathway, it fails to encompass the complexities associated with neural reward, consequently highlighting the fallacies that exist within the article. Alcohol addiction possesses the capacity to induce changes in the reward and motivational

The Limbic system compromises of detailed structures which control and regulate major affective activities such as fright, anxiety, and happiness. Further functions of the limbic system are motor functions, sensory systems, hormones and memory which all contribute to the control of affective states. These factors are controlled and regulated by different structures of the limbic system and work inter-relatedly. The central components of the limbic system compromise of the limbic cortex, hippocampus

The combination of compulsive use of opioids, regardless of consequences, and physical dependence is the clinical description of drug addiction. Heroin use in urban areas has significantly increased between 2002 and 2012. In 2002, there were 214,000 people diagnosed as opioid dependent, according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition (DSM-IV). By 2012, the diagnosis had increased to 467

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that disrupts the essential ability to perceive what is real and not real (Varcarolis, 2010). This type of disease may be considered as a multitude of conditions but with mutual features and interrelating etiologies. It has been found through research that a person with schizophrenia has a different brain chemistry, neurotransmitter activity, and structure than a healthy human being. There is no single proven cause of schizophrenia, however there are several

Love does not have one fixed definition. The definition of romantic love differs from person to person. People fall in love on the bases of the environment they grew up and values they have learned as a child. People often look for a person that they can trust which might be due to having similar values. Probably, this is part of the human nature because if a couple has similar values, they might have a higher probability of staying together longer and they can have a healthier relationship with

feedback. More specifically, they tested to see if dopamine encodes error in performance evaluation tasks, such as singing (Gadagkar et al. 2016). In previous studies, they found that these birds learn to sing through error-related negativity in ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons (Gadagkar et al., 2016). Methods To test their hypothesis, they first recorded VTA neurons of zebra finches while listening to distorted or undistorted songs (Gadagkar et al., 2016). They divided this experiment into two distorted

Ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the mesolimbic DA system is one of the brain regions with the highest expression of melanocortin-3 receptor (MC3R) and intra-VTA administration of α-MSH increases DA turnover in the VTA targets and increases DA-dependent behaviors4-8

Positive Psychology Cannot Make Us Happier The question of whether individuals can create their own happiness without the aid of external influences has been raised and researched. However, the answer to the question is unclear. Positive psychology is a branch of psychology that supports the theory that an individual’s happiness is under their personal control, independent of any external influences or validation. Consequently, researchers have uncovered evidence that provides mixed results regarding

receptor (CB1R), which is expressed ubiquitously throughout the brain. Within the brain reward circuit, activation of CB1Rs regulates the strength and plasticity of glutamate and GABA synapses. Specifically, dopaminergic projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) plays a critical role in reward