| Reward system - Electrical Stimulation of the Brain Reward Pathway | | Print | |
Reward System - The link between the brain reward system and the hypothalamic-pituitary axis may be seen through experiments on animals where electrodes are placed into the nucleus accumbens (part of the brain’s reward system) under conditions of imposed environmental stress. Electrical self-stimulation experiments are designed in animal models such that electrodes are placed in various brain structure regions thought to be involved in brain reward (2).
The animal then performs an activity (i.e. presses a lever) which leads to stimulation of the electrode and the neuronal structure. If the electrode is placed in a structure in the reward pathway, the resulting stimulation is pleasurable and self-stimulation is therefore encouraged. In models of addiction hungry animals will demonstrate a preference for self-stimulation over food and drink to the point of starvation (2). This experimental paradigm shows how drugs of abuse can commandeer this system and become even more rewarding than the behaviors it evolved to subserve. Other techniques allow the animal to press a lever and the drug is injected into specific areas of the brain as illustrated below. If the point of injection is not within the brain reward pathway, reinforcement will not occur. Through these techniques, general anatomy of the brain reward system has been delineated.
Reference: http://ibgwww.colorado.edu/cadd/a_drug/essays/essay4.htm
Read More:Reward system - Neuroanatomy and Physiology of the “Brain Reward System” | Reward system - The Structures of the Reward Pathway | Reward system - Electrical Stimulation of the Brain Reward Pathway | Reward system - Molecular Physiology of the Reward Pathway | Serotonin - Neurotransmitters and Brain Reward | Reward system - GABA | Reward system - Endorphin Binding at the Synapse
Links to this article:"Reward system - Electrical Stimulation of the Brain Reward Pathway”
<a href="http://www.g-excess.com/content/view/505//" title="Reward system - Electrical Stimulation of the Brain Reward Pathway"><b> Reward system - Electrical Stimulation of the Brain Reward Pathway</b></a>
| Users' Comments (0) |
|
No comment posted
