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Nucleus accumbens

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Nucleus accumbens
File:Circuit du système de recompense.jpg
Nucleus accumbens visible in red.
Medial surface, person facing to the left. Nucleus accumbens is very roughly in the area labeled 34.
Details
Identifiers
Latinnucleus accumbens septi
MeSHD009714
NeuroNames277
NeuroLex IDbirnlex_727
TA98A14.1.09.440
TA25558
FMA61889
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy

The nucleus accumbens (NAcc), also known as the accumbens nucleus or as the nucleus accumbens septi (Latin for nucleus adjacent to the septum) is a region of the human brain in the basal forebrain rostral to the preoptic area.[1] The nucleus accumbens and the olfactory tubercle collectively form the ventral striatum, which is part of the basal ganglia.[2]

Each brain hemisphere has its own nucleus accumbens. It is located where the head of the caudate and the anterior portion of the putamen meet just lateral to the septum pellucidum. The nucleus accumbens can be divided into two structures—the nucleus accumbens core and the nucleus accumbens shell. These structures have different morphology and function.

Research has indicated the nucleus accumbens has an important role in reward, pleasure, reinforcement learning, laughter, addiction, aggression, fear, impulsivity and the placebo effect.[3][4][5][6]

Cell types

The principal neuronal cell type found in the nucleus accumbens is the medium spiny neuron. The neurotransmitter produced by these neurons is gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), one of the main inhibitory neurotransmitters 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 GABA-ergic projection neurons, other neuronal types are also found such as large aspiny cholinergic interneurons.

Output and input

Output

The output neurons of the nucleus accumbens send axon projections to the basal ganglia and the ventral analog of the globus pallidus, known as the ventral pallidum (VP). The VP, in turn, projects to the medial dorsal nucleus of the dorsal thalamus, which projects to the prefrontal cortex as well as the striatum. Other efferents from the nucleus accumbens include connections with the substantia nigra, and the pontine reticular formation.[1]

Input

Major inputs to the nucleus accumbens include prefrontal association cortices, basolateral amygdala, 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.

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 manifold increase in dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens.

Another major source of input comes from the CA1 and ventral subiculum of the hippocampus to the dorsomedial area of the Nucleus accumbens. The neurons of the hippocampus have a noteworthy correlation to slight depolarizations of cells in the nucleus accumbens, which makes them more positive and therefore more excitable. The correlated cells of these excited states of the medium spiny neurons in the Nucleus accumbens are shared equally between the subiculum and CA1. The subiculum neurons are found to hyperpolarize (increase negativity) while the CA1 neurons "ripple" (fire > 50 Hz) in order to accomplish this priming.[7]

Research

Addiction and drug use

Research using microdialysis has shown that the levels of dopamine in the extracellular fluid of the nucleus accumbens increase when rats are injected with addictive drugs such as cocaine, heroin, nicotine, or alcohol.[8] This increase in dopamine is believed to be responsible for the reinforcing effects that later stimulate drug-taking behavior. Functional-imaging studies in humans have shown that environmental cues associated with addictive drugs releases dopamine in the nucleus accumbens. However, when administered methylphenidate, drug addicted subjects had a much smaller release of dopamine in this area than non-addicted subjects. These findings suggest the notion that the nucleus accumbens is associated with the beginnings of drug addiction and the dorsal striatum is responsible for the augmentation of the drug habit.[8]

The nucleus accumbens has been targeted by stereotactic surgery for ablation as a treatment in China for alcoholism.[9]

Pleasure and reinforcement

Although the nucleus accumbens has traditionally been studied for its role in addiction, it plays an equal role in processing many rewards such as food and sex. The nucleus accumbens is selectively activated during the perception of pleasant, emotionally arousing pictures and during mental imagery of pleasant, emotional scenes.[10][11] A 2005 study found that it is involved in the regulation of emotions induced by music,[12] perhaps consequent to its role in mediating dopamine release. The nucleus accumbens plays a role in rhythmic timing and is considered to be of central importance to the limbic-motor interface (Mogensen).

In the 1950s, James Olds and Peter Milner implanted electrodes into the septal area of the rat and found that the rat chose to press a lever which stimulated it. It continued to prefer this even over stopping to eat or drink. This suggests that the area is the "pleasure center" of the brain and is involved in reinforcement learning.[13] In rats, stimulation of the ventral tegmental area causes the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens much in the same way as addictive drugs and natural reinforcers, such as water or food, initiate the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.[14] The same results have been seen in human subjects in functional imaging studies. For example, increased dopamine concentration is seen in the extracellular fluid of the nucleus accumbens when subjects believed they were being given money, and when heterosexual males were presented pictures of attractive women.[15]

Wanting

The activation of Dopanime in the nucleus accumbens is central to wanting. It facilitates wanting through dopamine release and many kinds of approach and goal oriented behavior like exploration, affiliation, aggression, sexual behavior, food hoarding and nursing results from this process. Lesions to the nucleus accubens reduce the motivation to work for reward. The anticipation of rewards that activated regions of the brain like nucleus accumbens and the medial pre frontal cortex.[16]

Maternal behavior

An fMRI study conducted in 2005 found that when mother rats were in the presence of their pups the regions of the brain involved in reinforcement, including the nucleus accumbens, were highly active.[17] Levels of dopamine increase in the nucleus accumbens during maternal behavior, while lesions in this area upset maternal behavior.[18] When human mothers are presented pictures of their children, fMRIs show an increased brain activity in the nucleus accumbens and other reinforcing brain regions and a decrease in activity in areas of the brain involved with negative emotions.[citation needed]

Deep brain stimulation

In April 2007, two research teams reported on having inserted electrodes into the nucleus accumbens in order to use deep brain stimulation to treat severe depression.[19] In 2010 experiments reported that deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens was successful in decreasing depression symptoms in 50% of patients who did not respond to other treatments such as electroconvulsive therapy.[20]

Placebo effect

One research team found a correlation between the activation of the NAcc and the anticipation of effectiveness of a placebo, indicating a central role of the nucleus accumbens in the placebo effect.[21]

Additional images

  • Dopamine and serotonin
    Dopamine and serotonin
  • MRI coronal slice showing nucleus accumbens outlined in red
    MRI coronal slice showing nucleus accumbens outlined in red
  • Sagittal MRI slice with highlighting (red) indicating the nucleus accumbens.
    Sagittal MRI slice with highlighting (red) indicating the nucleus accumbens.

References

  1. ^ a b Carlson, Neil R. Physiology of Behavior. 11th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.
  2. ^ Nucleus Accumbens
  3. ^ Schwienbacher I, Fendt M, Richardson R, Schnitzler HU (2004). "Temporary inactivation of the nucleus accumbens disrupts acquisition and expression of fear-potentiated startle in rats". Brain Res. 1027 (1–2): 87–93. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2004.08.037. PMID 15494160.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ The Placebo Effect in the NAC
  5. ^ Dopamine Involved In Aggression - Medical News Today
  6. ^ Basar, Koray, Thibaut Sesia, Henk Groenewegen, Harry W.M. Steinbusch, Veerle Visser-Vandewalle, and Yasin Temel. "Nucleus Accumbens and Impulsivity."Progress in Neurobiology 92.4 (2010): 533-57. Print.
  7. ^ O'Donnell, P., Goto, Y. (2001). "Synchronous activity in the hippocampus and nucleus accumbens in vivo". J. Neurosci. 21 (4): RC131. PMID 11160416.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b Carlson, Neil R. Physiology of Behavior. 11th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print
  9. ^ Wu HM, Wang XL, Chang CW, Li N, Gao L, Geng N, Ma JH, Zhao W, Gao GD. (2010). Preliminary findings in ablating the nucleus accumbens using stereotactic surgery for alleviating psychological dependence on alcohol. Neurosci Lett. 473: 77–81 doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2010.02.019 PMID 20156524
  10. ^ Costa, VD, Lang, PJ, Sabatinelli, D, Bradley MM, and Versace, F (2010). "Emotional imagery: Assessing pleasure and arousal in the brain's reward circuitry". Human Brain Mapping. 31 (9): 1446–1457. doi:10.1002/hbm.20948. PMID 20127869.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Sabatinelli, D, Lang, PJ, Bradley, MM, Costa, VD, and Versace, F (2007). "Pleasure rather than salience activates human nucleus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex". Journal of Neurophysiology. 98 (9): 1374–1379. doi:10.1152/jn.00230.2007. PMID 17596422.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Menon, Vinod & Levitin, Daniel J. (2005) The rewards of music listening: Response and physiological connectivity of themesolimbic system." NeuroImage 28(1), pp. 175-184
  13. ^ Olds J, Milner P (1954). "Positive reinforcement produced by electrical stimulation of septal area and other regions of rat brain". J Comp Physiol Psychol. 47 (6): 419–27. doi:10.1037/h0058775. PMID 13233369. article
  14. ^ Nakahara, D., Ozaki, N., Miura, Y., Miura, H., et al. Increased dopamine and serotonin metabolism in rat nucleus accumbens produced by intracranial sel-stimulation of medial forebrain bundle as measured by in vivo microdialysis. Brain Research, 1989, 495, 178-181.
  15. ^ Aharon, L., Etcoff, N., Ariely, D., CHabris, C. F., et al. Beautiful faces have variable reward value: fMRI and behavioral evidence. Neuron 2001, 32, 357-551.
  16. ^ Jenkins, Dacher Keltner, Keith Oatley, Jennifer M. Understanding emotions (3rd ed. ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. ISBN 9781118147436. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Ferris, C.F., Kulkarni, P., Sullivan, J.M., Harder, J.A., et al. Pup sucking is more rewarding than cocaine: Evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging and three-dimensional computational analysis. Journal of Neuroscience, 2005, 25, 149-156.
  18. ^ Numan, M. Motivational systems and the neural circuitry of maternal behavior in the rat. Developmental Psychobiology, 2007, 49, 12-21.
  19. ^ Brain Electrodes Help Treat Depression, Technology Review, 26 April 2007
  20. ^ Bewernick, B. H., Hurlemann, R., Matusch, A., et al. Nucleus accumbens deep brain stimulation decreases ratings of depression and anciety in treatment-resistant depression. Biological Psychiatry, 2009, 67, 110-116.
  21. ^ http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/cp-brc071607.php Brain region central to placebo effect identified
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