Changes: Mesocortical pathway

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Biological: Behavioural genetics · Evolutionary psychology · Neuroanatomy · Neurochemistry · Neuroendocrinology · Neuroscience · Psychoneuroimmunology · Physiological Psychology · Psychopharmacology (Index, Outline)

The mesocortical pathway or mesocortical system is a neural pathway that connects the ventral tegmentum to the cortex, particularly the frontal lobes, via projections to the prefrontal neocortex, limbic cortex and hippocampus.

It is one of the four major dopamine pathways in the brain. The [[dopamenergic

It is essential to the normal cognitive function of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (part of the frontal lobe), and is thought to be involved in motivation and emotional response.

This pathway is thought to be associated with the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, which include avolition, alogia and flat affect (lack of emotional response).

Other major dopamine pathways include:

External links

Diagram

Telencephalon (cerebrum, cerebral cortex, cerebral hemispheres) - edit

primary sulci/fissures: medial longitudinal, lateral, central, parietoöccipital, calcarine, cingulate

frontal lobe: precentral gyrus (primary motor cortex, 4), precentral sulcus, superior frontal gyrus (6, 8), middle frontal gyrus (46), inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's area, 44-pars opercularis, 45-pars triangularis), prefrontal cortex (orbitofrontal cortex, 9, 10, 11, 12, 47)

parietal lobe: postcentral sulcus, postcentral gyrus (1, 2, 3, 43), superior parietal lobule (5), inferior parietal lobule (39-angular gyrus, 40), precuneus (7), intraparietal sulcus

occipital lobe: primary visual cortex (17), cuneus, lingual gyrus, 18, 19 (18 and 19 span whole lobe)

temporal lobe: transverse temporal gyrus (41-42-primary auditory cortex), superior temporal gyrus (38, 22-Wernicke's area), middle temporal gyrus (21), inferior temporal gyrus (20), fusiform gyrus (36, 37)

limbic lobe/fornicate gyrus: cingulate cortex/cingulate gyrus, anterior cingulate (24, 32, 33), posterior cingulate (23, 31),
isthmus (26, 29, 30), parahippocampal gyrus (piriform cortex, 25, 27, 35), entorhinal cortex (28, 34)

subcortical/insular cortex: rhinencephalon, olfactory bulb, corpus callosum, lateral ventricles, septum pellucidum, ependyma, internal capsule, corona radiata, external capsule

hippocampal formation: dentate gyrus, hippocampus, subiculum

basal ganglia: striatum (caudate nucleus, putamen), lentiform nucleus (putamen, globus pallidus), claustrum, extreme capsule, amygdala, nucleus accumbens

Some categorizations are approximations, and some Brodmann areas span gyri.

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 {{BioPsy}}
-The '''mesocortical pathway''' is a [[neural pathway]] that connects the [[ventral tegmentum]] to the [[Cerebral cortex|cortex]], particularly the [[frontal lobe]]s. It is one of the four major [[dopamine]] pathways in the [[brain]].
+The '''mesocortical pathway''' or '''mesocortical system''' is a [[neural pathway]] that connects the [[ventral tegmentum]] to the [[Cerebral cortex|cortex]], particularly the [[frontal lobe]]s, via projections to the
+[[prefrontal neocortex]], [[limbic cortex]] and [[hippocampus]].
+It is one of the four major [[dopamine]] pathways in the [[brain]]. The [[dopamenergic
 It is essential to the normal cognitive function of the [[dorsolateral prefrontal cortex]] (part of the frontal lobe), and is thought to be involved in [[motivation]] and [[emotion]]al response.
@@ Line 7: / Line 10: @@
 Other major dopamine pathways include:
-* [[mesolimbic pathway]]
+* [[Mesolimbic pathway]]
-* [[nigrostriatal pathway]]
+* [[Nigrostriatal pathway]]
-* [[tuberoinfundibular pathway]]
+* [[Tuberoinfundibular pathway]]
 ==See also==
-* [[dopamine]]
-* [[schizophrenia]]
 * [[Dopamine pathways in the brain]]
 ==External links==
 * [http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/units/addiction/reward/pathways.cfm Diagram]