Limbic acetylcholine turnover rates correlated with rat morphine-seeking behaviors
Abstract
Acetylcholine (ACh) turnover rates were measured in fourteen brain regions of rats intravenously self-administering morphine and in yoked-morphine and yoked-vehicle infused littermates to identify cholinergic neuronal pathways potentially involved in opiate reinforcement processes. Rats receiving chronic passive administration of morphine had increased ACh turnover rates in the frontal cortex and diagonal band and decreased rates in the medial septum. The significant changes in animals self-administering the drug were prominent in limbic regions with increases in the frontal cortex and decreases in the pyriform cortex, nucleus accumbens, amygdala and ventral tegmental area. Some components of opiate reinforcement may be mediated by increases in the activity of cholinergic ventral pallidal and diagonal band fibers innervating the frontal cortex and by decreases in activity of cholinergic fibers innervating the ventral tegmental area. These data and turnover rates for dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, aspartate, glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid previously determined in similarly treated animals are consistent with two neuronal circuits that may be involved in opiate seeking behaviors and opiate reinforcement processes.
References
Citations
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Amygdala and Midbrain Dopamine
The midbrain dopamine system is widely studied for its involvement in emotional and motivational behavior. Some of these neurons receive information from the amygdala and project throughout the cortex. When the circuit and transmission of dopamine is disrupted symptoms may present. Here is the latest research on the amygdala and midbrain dopamine.
Basal Forebrain- Circuits
Basal forebrain is a region in the brain important for production of acetylcholine and is the major cholinergic output of the CNS. Discover the latest research on circuits in the basal forebrain here.
Basal Ganglia
Basal Ganglia are a group of subcortical nuclei in the brain associated with control of voluntary motor movements, procedural and habit learning, emotion, and cognition. Here is the latest research.
Amygdala: Sensory Processes
Amygdalae, nuclei clusters located in the temporal lobe of the brain, play a role in memory, emotional responses, and decision-making. Here is the latest research on sensory processes in the amygdala.