PSYC 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 31: Mesocortical Pathway, Nucleus Accumbens, Mesolimbic Pathway
14 Jun 2016
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Document Summary
Location of vta and nucleus accumbens in the rat. The bundle of axons that carry the information from the vta to the nucleus accumbens is called the medial forebrain bundle (mfb) The nucleus accumbens is believed to be the reward centre. In humans, nucleus accumbens activity increases when people are presented with stimuli associated with money: nucleus accumbens activity increases when heterosexual mess press a level that presented pictures of beautiful women (not handsome men) Prefrontal influence on vta: the prefrontal cortex provides an important input to the vta. The prefrontal cortex is also a target of dopamine neurons as well a source of their control. The case of h. m: h. m received a bilateral medial temporal lobectomy to treat his seizures (27 years old, the surgery treated the seizures but left h. m with serious anterograde amnesia. The surgery removed two thirds of his hippocampus and his entorhinal cortex.
