User:Cosmic Hypernova/Mesolimbic pathway
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Article Draft
[edit]Lead
[edit]The mesolimbic pathway, sometimes referred to as the reward pathway, is a dopaminergic pathway in the brain. The pathway connects the ventral tegmental area in the midbrain to the ventral striatum of the basal ganglia in the forebrain. The ventral striatum includes the nucleus accumbens and the olfactory tubercle.
Apathy has been associated with changes in the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathways.[1] The release of dopamine from the mesolimbic pathway into the nucleus accumbens regulates incentive salience (e.g. motivation and desire for rewarding stimuli) and facilitates reinforcement and reward-related motor function learning.; It may also play a role in the subjective perception of pleasure; however, dopamine's role in reward is not exclusive.[2] The dysregulation of the mesolimbic pathway and its output neurons in the nucleus accumbens plays a significant role in the development and maintenance of an addiction.
Article body
[edit]Function
[edit]The mesolimbic pathway regulates various cognitive processes including incentive salience, motivation, reinforcement learning, and fear, among other cognitive processes.
The mesolimbic pathway is involved in motivational cognition. Depletion of dopamine in this pathway, or lesions at its site of origin, decrease the extent to which an animal is willing to go to obtain a reward (e.g. the number of lever presses for intravenous nicotine delivery in rats or time spent searching for food). Dopaminergic drugs are also able to increase the extent an animal is willing to go to obtain a reward. Moreover, the firing rate of neurons in the mesolimbic pathway increases during anticipation of reward, which may explain craving. Mesolimbic dopamine release was once thought to be the primary mediator of pleasure, but is now believed to have only a minor or secondary role in pleasure perception.
References
[edit]- ^ Polich, G; McAllister, T.W. (2021). "Neuropsychiatry of traumatic brain injury". In Silbersweig, D.A.; Safar, L.T.; Daffner, K.R. (eds.). Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology: Principles and Practice (1st ed.). McGraw Hill. ISBN 9781260117103.
- ^ Ikemoto, Satoshi (2010). "Brain reward circuitry beyond the mesolimbic dopamine system: A neurobiological theory". Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 35 (2): 129–150. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.02.001. ISSN 1873-7528. PMC 2894302. PMID 20149820.
Instructor feedback:
I have limited commentary based on the current additions. I think they look appropriate and enhance the article either by inclusion of additional information or restructuring of current syntax. The Ikemoto review appears to be a bit older (more than 10 years old), so I would encourage you to keep looking for additional examples of peer-reviewed secondary literature to include. I would also encourage you to review the final assignment rubric as this will help you ensure you have worked through all of the areas I will be assessing. I am curious what new section you plan to develop?