Medial forebrain bundle

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Brain: Medial forebrain bundle
[[Image:|250px|center|]]
[[Image:|250px|center|]]
Latin	fasciculus medialis telencephali
Gray's	subject #
Part of
Components
Artery
Vein
BrainInfo/UW	hier-416
MeSH	[1]

The Medial forebrain bundle (MFB) is a bundle of the axon that carries information between the ventral tegmentum and the nucleus accumbens. This complex arrangment of nerve fibres arises from the basal olfactory regions of the brain as well as the periamygdaloid region and the septal nuclei and connects with the lateral preoptic area and other regions of the hypothalmus.

[edit] Role in brian stimulation reward

It is commonly accepted that the MFB is involved in the integration of reward and pleasure.

Electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle is believed to cause sensations of pleasure. This hypothesis is based upon intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) studies. Animals will work for MFB ICSS, and humans report that MFB ICSS is intensely pleasurable. This is most likely because the medial forebrain bundle carries information ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens (nAcc or Acb). The nAcc is a recognized reward center, and activation of the pathway from the VTA to the nAcc is believed to be rewarding.

[edit] See also

• Amygdaloid body
• Fornix
• Hippocampus

[edit] External links

• Overview at thebrain.mcgill.ca

This box: view • talk • edit Brain: diencephalon
Epithalamus	Pineal body • Habenula (Habenular nuclei)
Hypothalamus	anterior: Anterior hypothalamic nucleus • Paraventricular nucleus • Preoptic area • Supraoptic nucleus • Suprachiasmatic nucleus intermediate/middle/tuberal/pituitary: infundibulum • median eminence • arcuate nucleus • Ventromedial nucleus • Dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus • Tuber cinereum, Pituitary gland (Anterior pituitary, Posterior pituitary) posterior/lateral: posterior nucleus • Mammillary body • Lateral nucleus other: Medial forebrain bundle
Subthalamus	Subthalamic nucleus • Zona incerta • Thalamic fasciculus • Lenticular fasciculus
Thalamus/nuclei	Ventral nuclear group (VA/VL, VP/VPM/VPL) • MD • AN • LNG (Pulvinar) • Intralaminar nucleus (Centromedian nucleus) • Midline nuclear group • Thalamic reticular nucleus • Metathalamus (MG, LG) • Interthalamic adhesion
Third ventricle	recesses: (Optic recess, Infundibular recess, Suprapineal recess, Pineal recess) • Hypothalamic sulcus
Other	Interventricular foramina • Optic chiasm • Subfornical organ • Mammillothalamic tract

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Medial forebrain bundle. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.