Nucleus accumbens
From Psychology Wiki
| Brain: Nucleus accumbens | ||
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| Nucleus accumbens not labeled, but labels are provided for caudate, putamen, and septum pellucidum. | ||
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| Medial surface. (Nucleus accumbens is VERY ROUGHLY in the area of the 34.) | ||
| Latin | ' | |
| Gray's | subject # | |
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| Vein | ||
| BrainInfo/UW | hier-259 | |
| MeSH | A08.186.211.730.885.105.683 | |
The nucleus accumbens (also known as the accumbens nucleus or nucleus accumbens septi [Latin for nucleus leaning against the septum]) is a collection of neurons located where the head of the caudate and the anterior portion of the putamen meet just lateral to the septum pellucidum. The nucleus accumbens, the ventral olfactory tubercle, and ventral caudate and putamen collectively form the ventral striatum. This nucleus is thought to play an important role in reward, pleasure, and addiction. It is part of the ventral continuation of the dorsal striatum, and shares general principles of connectivity with the striatum. The nucleus accumbens is also called ventral striatum.
The principal neuronal cell type found in the nucleus accumbens is the medium spiny neuron. The neurotransmitter produced by these neurons is Gamma-Amino Butyric Acid, GABA, the main inhibitory neurotransmitter of the central nervous system. These neurons are also the main projection or output neurons of the nucleus accumbens.
While 95% of the neurons in the nucleus accumbens are medium spiny GABAergic projection neurons, other neuronal types are also found such as large aspiny cholinergic interneurons.
The output neurons of the nucleus accumbens send axon projections to the ventral analog of the globus pallidus, known as the ventral pallidum (VP). The VP, in turn, projects to the mediodorsal (MD) nucleus of the thalamus, which projects to the prefrontal cortex. Major inputs to the nucleus accumbens include the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and dopaminergic neurons located in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), which connect via the mesolimbic pathway. Thus the nucleus accumbens is often described as one part of a cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical loop.
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Dopaminergic input from the VTA is thought to modulate the activity of neurons within the nucleus accumbens. These terminals are also the site of action of highly-addictive drugs such as cocaine and amphetamine, which cause a several-fold increase in dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens. In addition to cocaine and amphetamine, almost every drug abused by humans has been shown to increase dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens.
Although the nucleus accumbens has traditionally been studied for its role in addiction, it is plays an equal role in processing natural rewards such as food, sex, and video games.
[edit] External links
- Release of nucleus accumbens dopamine during video games
- The role of the nucleus accumbens in the reward circuit. Part of "The Brain From Top to Bottom."
| Human brain: Limbic system | |
| Amygdala - Cingulate gyrus - Fornicate gyrus - Hippocampus - Hypothalamus - Mammillary body - Nucleus accumbens - Orbitofrontal cortex - Parahippocampal gyrus |
| This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Nucleus accumbens. 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. |
