Search results for "Tegmen"
showing 10 items of 76 documents
Gene Transcription Alterations Associated with Decrease of Ethanol Intake Induced by Naltrexone in the Brain of Wistar Rats
2006
Preclinical and clinical studies suggest that the administration of the opioid antagonist naltrexone decreases the intake of ethanol. However, the neuroplastic adaptations in the brain associated to reduction of ethanol consumption remains to be elucidated. The aim of the study was to identify gene transcription alterations underlying the attenuation of voluntary ethanol intake by administration of naltrexone in rats. Increasing doses of naltrexone (0.7 mg/kg, 4 days and 1.4 mg/kg/day, 4 days) to rats with acquired high preferring ethanol consumption (>3.5 g of ethanol/kg/day) decreased voluntary ethanol intake (50%). Voluntary ethanol consumption altered mu-opioid receptor function in the …
Infrequent co-existence of nitric oxide synthase and parvalbumin, calbindin and calretinin immunoreactivity in rat pontine neurons.
1995
Neurons in the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDTg), ventrolateral dorsal tegmental nucleus (LDTgV), pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg), lateral and medial parabrachial nuclei (LPB and MPB) were immunoreactive to brain nitric oxide synthase (NOS) or isoform I. Double-labeling experiments showed that very few NOS-containing neurons in the pons were immunoreactive to any of the three calcium-binding proteins: calbindin-D 28K (CB-IR), parvalbumin (PV-IR) and calretinin (CR-IR). These findings extend our previous observation in the neocortex and suggest that a population of central NOS-containing neurons can be neurochemically characterized as CB/CR/PV deficient.
Opposite effects of γ1- and γ2-melanocyte stimulating hormone on regulation of the dopaminergic mesolimbic system in rats
2004
By use of the brain microdialysis technique we show that administration of gamma(1)-melanocyte stimulating hormone (gamma(1)-MSH) into the ventral tegmental area of anaesthetized rats causes an increase in the release of extracellular dopamine and its metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid in the nucleus accumbens, while gamma(2)-MSH causes the opposite effect. Moreover, gamma(2)-MSH pre-treatment considerably reduced the gamma(1)-MSH-induced effects. Our findings suggest an opposing action of two gamma-MSH-activated pathways on the mesolimbic dopaminergic system, which could be important in the maintenance of a balanced psychoactivation state.
Insulin acts at different CNS sites to decrease acute sucrose intake and sucrose self-administration in rats.
2008
Findings from our laboratory and others have demonstrated that the hormone insulin has chronic effects within the CNS to regulate energy homeostasis and to decrease brain reward function. In this study, we compared the acute action of insulin to decrease intake of a palatable food in two different behavioral tasks—progressive ratios sucrose self-administration and mu opioid-stimulated sucrose feeding—when administered into several insulin-receptive sites of the CNS. We tested insulin efficacy within the medial hypothalamic arcuate (ARC) and paraventricular (PVN) nuclei, the nucleus accumbens, and the ventral tegmental area. Administration of insulin at a dose that has no chronic effect on …
Episodic Social Stress-Escalated Cocaine Self-Administration: Role of Phasic and Tonic Corticotropin Releasing Factor in the Anterior and Posterior V…
2016
Intermittent social defeat stress escalates later cocaine self-administration. Reward and stress both activate ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons, increasing downstream extracellular dopamine concentration in the medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens. The stress neuropeptide corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) and its receptors (CRF-R1, CRF-R2) are located in the VTA and influence dopaminergic activity. These experiments explore how CRF release and the activation of its receptors within the VTA both during and after stress influence later cocaine self-administration in rats.In vivomicrodialysis of CRF in the VTA demonstrated that CRF is phasically released in the poster…
Effect Of Inflammatory Pain On Alcohol-Induced Dopamine Release In The Nucleus Accumbens: Behavioural Implications In Rat Models
2019
AbstractRecent studies have drawn the attention to the link between Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and the presence of pain. Indeed, the correct management of pain in patients with a previous history of AUD has been reported to decrease the risk of relapse in alcohol drinking, suggesting that in this prone population, pain may increase the vulnerability to relapse. Previous data in male rats revealed that inflammatory pain desensitizes mu opioid receptors (MORs) in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and increases intake of high doses of heroine. Due to the relevant role of MORs in alcohol effects, we hypothesize that pain may also alter alcohol reinforcing properties and therefore affect alcohol …
A Critical Period for Prefrontal Network Configurations Underlying Psychiatric Disorders and Addiction
2020
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been classically defined as the brain region responsible for higher cognitive functions, including the decision-making process. Ample information has been gathered during the last 40 years in an attempt to understand how it works. We now know extensively about the connectivity of this region and its relationship with neuromodulatory ascending projection areas, such as the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) or the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Both areas are well-known regulators of the reward-based decision-making process and hence likely to be involved in processes like evidence integration, impulsivity or addiction biology, but also in helping us to predict…
Nucleus incertus—An emerging modulatory role in arousal, stress and memory
2011
A major challenge in systems neuroscience is to determine the underlying neural circuitry and associated neurotransmitters and receptors involved in psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression. A focus of many of these studies has been specific brainstem nuclei that modulate levels of arousal via their ascending monoaminergic projections (e.g. the serotonergic dorsal raphe, noradrenergic locus ceruleus and cholinergic laterodorsal tegmental nucleus). After years of relative neglect, the subject of recent studies in this context has been the GABAergic nucleus incertus,1 which is located in the midline periventricular central gray in the ‘prepontine’ hindbrain, with broad projection…
Sexual pheromones and the evolution of the reward system of the brain: the chemosensory function of the amygdala.
2008
The amygdala of all tetrapod vertebrates receives direct projections from the main and accessory olfactory bulbs, and the strong similarities in the organization of these projections suggest that they have undergone a very conservative evolution. However, current ideas about the function of the amygdala do not pay sufficient attention to its chemosensory role, but only view it as the core of the emotional brain. In this study, we propose that both roles of the amygdala are intimately linked since the amygdala is actually involved in mediating emotional responses to chemical signals. The amygdala is the only structure in the brain receiving pheromonal information directly from the accessory …
Serotonin–dopamine interaction: electrophysiological evidence
2008
In this review, the most relevant data regarding serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT)/dopamine (DA) interaction in the brain, as studied by both in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological methods, are reported and discussed. The bulk of neuroanatomical data available clearly indicate that DA-containing neurons in the brain receive a prominent innervation from 5-HT originating in the raphe nuclei of the brainstem. Furthermore, this modulation seems to be reciprocal; DA neurons innervate the raphe nuclei and exert a tonic excitatory effect on them. Compelling electrophysiological data show that 5-HT can exert complex effects on the electrical activity of midbrain DA neurons mediated by the va…