Search results for "nucleus accumbens"
showing 10 items of 94 documents
Elevated [18F]FDOPA utilization in the periaqueductal gray and medial nucleus accumbens of patients with early Parkinson's disease
2010
Udgivelsesdato: 2010-Feb-15 PET studies with the DOPA decarboxylase substrate 6-[(18)F]fluoro-l-DOPA (FDOPA) reveal the storage of [(18)F]-fluorodopamine within synaptic vesicles, mainly of dopamine fibres. As such, FDOPA PET is a sensitive indicator of the integrity of the nigrostriatal dopamine innervation. Nonetheless, there have been several reports of focal elevations of FDOPA utilization in brain of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), all based on reference tissue methods. To investigate this phenomenon further, we used voxel-wise steady-state kinetic analysis to search for regions of elevated FDOPA utilization (K; ml g(-1) min(-1)) and steady-state trapping (V(d); ml g(-1)) in a …
Loss of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type IV in dopaminoceptive neurons enhances behavioral effects of cocaine.
2008
The persistent nature of addiction has been associated with activity-induced plasticity of neurons within the striatum and nucleus accumbens (NAc). To identify the molecular processes leading to these adaptations, we performed Cre/loxP-mediated genetic ablations of two key regulators of gene expression in response to activity, the Ca 2+ /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV (CaMKIV) and its postulated main target, the cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB). We found that acute cocaine-induced gene expression in the striatum was largely unaffected by the loss of CaMKIV. On the behavioral level, mice lacking CaMKIV in dopaminoceptive neurons displayed increased sensitivity to cocai…
Biochemical evidence that the atypical antipsychotic drugs clozapine and risperidone block 5-HT(2C) receptors in vivo.
2002
Clozapine and risperidone are two atypical antipsychotic drugs which bind, among other receptors, to 5-HT(2C) receptor subtypes. They inhibit the basal inositol phosphate production in mammalian cells expressing rat or human 5-HT(2C) receptors. This biochemical effect is indicative of inverse agonist activity at these receptors. There is evidence that 5-HT(2C) receptors are involved in the control of the activity of central dopaminergic system. Therefore, the effects of clozapine (5 mg/kg ip), risperidone (0.08 mg/kg ip) and of the typical antipsychotic haloperidol (0.1 mg/kg ip) were studied on the extracellular concentration of dopamine (DA) in the nucleus accumbens of chloral hydrate-ane…
Binge-like alcohol exposure in adolescence: behavioural, neuroendocrine and molecular evidence of abnormal neuroplasticity … and return
2021
Binge alcohol consumption among adolescents affects the developing neural networks underpinning reward and stress processing in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). This study explores in rats the long-lasting effects of early intermittent exposure to intoxicating alcohol levels at adolescence, on: (1) the response to natural positive stimuli and inescapable stress
Cannabis and the Mesolimbic System
2016
Abstract Cannabis sativa (hemp) is a flowering annual plant whose phytochemical by-products, hashish and marihuana, are the most widely produced and most frequently used illicit drugs in Europe. Δ 9 -Tetrahydrocannabinol is the primary psychoactive constituent, responsible, in a dose-related manner, for euphoria, cognitive effects, and psychotic symptoms, as well as the addictive potential of smoked cannabis due to its interference with the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. Cannabis as well as endocannabinoids acts mainly at the presynaptic levels in several brain regions, including the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area, where it modulates synaptic activity. Through the modulation …
Acetaldehyde as a drug of abuse: insight into AM281 administration on operant-conflict paradigm in rats
2013
Increasing evidence focuses on acetaldehyde (ACD) as the mediator of the rewarding and motivational properties of ethanol. Indeed, ACD stimulates dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens and it is self-administered under different conditions. Besides the dopaminergic transmission, the endocannabinoid system has been reported to play an important role in ethanol central effects, modulating primary alcohol rewarding effect, drug-seeking and relapse behaviour. Drug motivational properties are highlighted in operant paradigms which include response-contingent punishment, a behavioural equivalent of compulsive drug use despite adverse consequences. The aim of this study was thus to characterize…
Accumbens-caudate-septal circuit as a system for hippocampal regulation: involvement of a GABAergic neurotransmission.
1992
Hippocampal-based epileptiform activity may reach the basal ganglia via the nucleus accumbens. Previous data suggested that caudate nucleus is able to influence hippocampal epilepsy, probably sending a projection to the septum. In order to test the hypothesis of a retrograde activation of accumbens-caudate pathway in hippocampal regulation, we electrically stimulated both caudate nucleus and nucleus accumbens and studied modifications of hippocampal EEG in the feline focal epilepsy model. We also performed bilateral electrolytic lesion of nucleus accumbens and repeated caudate stimulation. Results showed that nucleus accumbens stimulation was ineffective in modifying hippocampal epilepsy; o…
Sucrose self-administration and CNS activation in the rat
2011
We have previously reported that administration of insulin into the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus decreases motivation for sucrose, assessed by a self-administration task, in rats. Because the pattern of central nervous system (CNS) activation in association with sucrose self-administration has not been evaluated, in the present study, we measured expression of c-Fos as an index of neuronal activation. We trained rats to bar-press for sucrose, according to a fixed-ratio (FR) or progressive-ratio (PR) schedule and mapped expression of c-Fos immunoreactivity in the CNS, compared with c-Fos expression in handled controls. We observed a unique expression of c-Fos in the medial hypothalam…
From the Golgi-Cajal mapping to the transmitter-based characterization of the neuronal networks leading to two modes of brain communication: Wiring a…
2007
After Golgi-Cajal mapped neural circuits, the discovery and mapping of the central monoamine neurons opened up for a new understanding of interneuronal communication by indicating that another form of communication exists. For instance, it was found that dopamine may be released as a prolactin inhibitory factor from the median eminence, indicating an alternative mode of dopamine communication in the brain. Subsequently, the analysis of the locus coeruleus noradrenaline neurons demonstrated a novel type of lower brainstem neuron that monosynaptically and globally innervated the entire CNS. Furthermore, the ascending raphe serotonin neuron systems were found to globally innervate the forebrai…
A feature of caudate control of focal hippocampal epilepsy: evidence for an anterograde pathway
1991
Previous experimental evidences showed that the caudate nucleus has a modulatory effect on hippocampal epilepsy. The caudate's regulating action might reach the hippocampus either via the septal region or, retrogradely, via the accumbens nucleus. In order to obtain new data about the pathway involved in caudate hippocampal influence the spreading of abnormal activity towards the nucleus accumbens was studied. Furthermore the effects of caudate stimulation in animals with electrolytic lesions of the nucleus accumbens were analyzed. It was observed that abnormal penicillin-induced activity spreaded from the hippocampus to the nucleus accumbens in about 30 minutes. In animals with and without …