ReviewBrain research reviews2007
Dopamine reward circuitry: two projection systems from the ventral midbrain to the nucleus accumbens-olfactory tubercle complex.
Review in Brain research reviews, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 781 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
781 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 1,472 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- A Pilot Randomized Control Study on Effect Brief Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback as a Complementary Treatment in Men with Methamphetamine Use Disorder.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Nucleus Accumbens and Ventral Tegmental Area Functional Connectivity as a Marker of Reward Sensitivity in Infancy.Developmental science · 2026Article
- POINTseq: Cell-type-specific barcoding reveals single-cell projection architecture of the mouse dopaminergic system.Neuron · 2026Article
- SEX-DEPENDENT MODULATION OF WHOLE BRAIN cFOS EXPRESSION BY LIGHT AND MELANOPSIN IN THE MOUSE.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The ventral/anterior hippocampus as a central hub for stress-related dopaminergic circuit dysfunction in psychiatric disorders.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Differential brain response to a highly palatable drink in chronic low back pain patients.Journal of neurophysiology · 2026Article
- Antipsychotic Drug Action, Novel Treatment Targets, and the Failure of Current Clinical Trial Designs in Evaluating New Target Molecules.Biological psychiatry · 2026Review
- Dynorphinergic neuroadaptations in the islands of Calleja: implications for alcohol use disorder.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Acetylcholine nicotinic receptors play a central role in the modulation of rewarding behaviors by interacting with dopamine transmission: evidence from male rat sexual behavior.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Neuromodulator Dynamics Underlying Associative Learning in the Ventral Striatum's Olfactory Tubercle.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Effects of prenatal methadone and buprenorphine exposure on motivated responding for sucrose and gene expression in adult male and female rats.Addiction neuroscience · 2026Article
- Lac-Phe elicits anxiolytic-like effects associated with monoaminergic signaling in mice.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Olfactory tubercle mediates adaptive social behavior by controlling threat assessment and the expression of social threat memories during recall in male mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Impact of environmental enrichment on heroin-induced neuroadaptations in the insula, nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area.Neuropharmacology · 2026Article
- Prefrontal modulation of striatal engagement: a hierarchical framework for goal-directed behavior.Communications biology · 2026Review
- Hedonic hotspot in rat olfactory tubercle: map for mu-opioid, orexin, and muscimol enhancement of sucrose 'liking'.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Novel positive allosteric modulators of alpha 5 subunit-containing GABASchizophrenia research · 2026Article
- Rethinking the "olfactory" tubercle: a hedonic hotspot within ventral striatum.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Aging-related vulnerability in dopamine-glutamate neurons weakens entorhinal dopamine signaling and underlies novelty discrimination deficits.Research square · 2026Article
721 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Anatomical and functional refinements of the meso-limbic dopamine system of the rat are discussed. Present experiments suggest that dopaminergic neurons localized in the posteromedial ventral tegmental area (VTA) and central linear nucleus raphe selectively project to the ventromedial striatum (medial olfactory tubercle and medial nucleus accumbens shell), whereas the anteromedial VTA has few if any projections to the ventral striatum, and the lateral VTA largely projects to the ventrolateral striatum (accumbens core, lateral shell and lateral tubercle). These findings complement the recent behavioral findings that cocaine and amphetamine are more rewarding when administered into the ventromedial striatum than into the ventrolateral striatum. Drugs such as nicotine and opiates are more rewarding when administered into the posterior VTA or the central linear nucleus than into the anterior VTA. A review of the literature suggests that (1) the midbrain has corresponding zones for the accumbens core and medial shell; (2) the striatal portion of the olfactory tubercle is a ventral extension of the nucleus accumbens shell; and (3) a model of two dopamine projection systems from the ventral midbrain to the ventral striatum is useful for understanding reward function. The medial projection system is important in the regulation of arousal characterized by affect and drive and plays a different role in goal-directed learning than the lateral projection system, as described in the variation-selection hypothesis of striatal functional organization.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.