ArticleAddiction biology2015
The reinforcing effects of ethanol within the posterior ventral tegmental area depend on dopamine neurotransmission to forebrain cortico-limbic systems.
Article in Addiction biology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Glutamate transmission in the prelimbic cortex and nucleus accumbens shell is involved in ethanol reinforcement and drinking in rats.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- The involvement of mesolimbic dopamine system in cotinine self-administration in rats.Behavioural brain research · 2022Article
- The incentive amplifying effects of nicotine: Roles in alcohol seeking and consumption.Advances in pharmacology (San Diego, Calif.) · 2022Review
- The reinforcing effects of ethanol within the prelimbic cortex and ethanol drinking: Involvement of local dopamine DDrug and alcohol dependence · 2020Article
- Nicotine and alcohol: the role of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in drug reinforcement.The European journal of neuroscience · 2019Review
- Relative contributions and mapping of ventral tegmental area dopamine and GABA neurons by projection target in the rat.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2019Article
- Effects of Clavulanic Acid Treatment on Reinstatement to Methamphetamine, Glial Glutamate Transporters, and mGluR 2/3 Expression in P Rats Exposed to Ethanol.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2019Article
- Opposing actions of CRF-R1 and CB1 receptors on VTA-GABAergic plasticity following chronic exposure to ethanol.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Article
- Estradiol increases the sensitivity of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons to dopamine and ethanol.PloS one · 2017Article
- Ethanol Increases Mechanical Pain Sensitivity in Rats via Activation of GABAA Receptors in Medial Prefrontal Cortex.Neuroscience bulletin · 2016Article
- Diversity of Dopaminergic Neural Circuits in Response to Drug Exposure.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2016Review
- Medial Prefrontal Cortical Dopamine Responses During Operant Self-Administration of Sweetened Ethanol.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2016Article
- Dopamine receptor agonists modulate voluntary alcohol intake independently of individual levels of alcohol intake in rats.Psychopharmacology · 2016Article
- G Protein-Gated Inwardly Rectifying Potassium Channel Subunit 3 Knock-Out Mice Show Enhanced Ethanol Reward.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2016Article
- The ventral pallidum: Subregion-specific functional anatomy and roles in motivated behaviors.Progress in neurobiology · 2015Review
- D1 receptors in the nucleus accumbens-shell, but not the core, are involved in mediating ethanol-seeking behavior of alcohol-preferring (P) rats.Neuroscience · 2015Article
- Delay discounting for sucrose in alcohol-preferring and nonpreferring rats using a sipper tube within-sessions task.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2015Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Ethanol can be self-infused directly into the posterior ventral tegmental area (pVTA) and these effects involve activation of local dopamine neurons. However, the neuro-circuitry beyond the pVTA involved in these reinforcing effects has not been explored. Intra-pVTA microinjection of ethanol increases dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (NAC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and ventral pallidum (VP). The present study tested the hypothesis that the reinforcing effects of ethanol within the pVTA involve the activation of dopamine projections from the pVTA to the NAC, VP and mPFC. Following the acquisition of self-infusions of 200 mg% ethanol into the pVTA, either the dopamine D2 receptor antagonist sulpiride (0, 10 or 100 μM) or the D1 receptor antagonist SCH-23390 (0, 10 or 100 μM) was microinjected into the ipsilateral NAC shell (NACsh), NAC core (NACcr), VP or mPFC immediately prior to the self-infusion sessions to assess the involvement of the different dopamine projections in the reinforcing effects of ethanol. Microinjection of each compound at higher concentration into the NACsh, VP or mPFC, but not the NACcr, significantly reduced the responses on the active lever (from 40-50 to approximately 20 responses). These results indicate that activation of dopamine receptors in the NACsh, VP or mPFC, but not the NACcr, is involved in mediating the reinforcing effects of ethanol in the pVTA, suggesting that the 'alcohol reward' neuro-circuitry consist of, at least in part, activation of the dopamine projections from the pVTA to the NACsh, VP and mPFC.
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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.