Ventral Tegmental Area - Physiology
Research News and Information

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The time course of dopamine transmission in the ventral tegmental area.

19 Oct 2009 Synaptic transmission mediated by G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) is not generally thought to be point-to-point. To determine the extent over which dopamine signals in the midbrain, the present study examined the concentration and time course of ... Read more...

Dopamine controls persistence of long-term memory storage.

19 Aug 2009 The paradigmatic feature of long-term memory (LTM) is its persistence. However, little is known about the mechanisms that make some LTMs last longer than others. In rats, a long-lasting fear LTM vanished rapidly when the D1 dopamine receptor ... Read more...

Increased Fos expression among midbrain dopaminergic cell groups during birdsong tutoring.

Aug 2009 During avian vocal learning, birds memorize conspecific song patterns and then use auditory feedback to match their vocal output to this acquired template. Some models of song learning posit that during tutoring, conspecific visual, social and/or ... Read more...

Latest indexed articles for 'Ventral Tegmental Area - Physiology'

These are the very latest articles for this heading:

• The time course of dopamine transmission in the ventral tegmental area. 19 Oct 2009
• Dopamine controls persistence of long-term memory storage. 19 Aug 2009
• Increased Fos expression among midbrain dopaminergic cell groups during birdsong tutoring. Aug 2009
• Temporary inactivation of ventral tegmental area neurons with either muscimol or baclofen reversibly disrupts maternal behavior in rats through different underlying mechanisms. 30 Jul 2009
• Duality of salience in dopamine neurons. 21 Jul 2009
• Selective alpha7 nicotinic receptor activation by AZD0328 enhances cortical dopamine release and improves learning and attentional processes. 14 Jul 2009
• NR2A/B-containing NMDA receptors mediate cocaine-induced synaptic plasticity in the VTA and cocaine psychomotor sensitization. 10 Jun 2009
• Functional imaging of the human dopaminergic midbrain. 12 May 2009
• Dopaminergic signals in primary motor cortex. 12 May 2009
• Effects of sustained serotonin reuptake inhibition on the firing of dopamine neurons in the rat ventral tegmental area. 29 Apr 2009
• The orbitofrontal cortex and ventral tegmental area are necessary for learning from unexpected outcomes. 28 Apr 2009
• Phasic firing in dopaminergic neurons is sufficient for behavioral conditioning. 21 Apr 2009
• Effects of zotepine on extracellular levels of monoamine, GABA and glutamate in rat prefrontal cortex. 7 Apr 2009
• Role of ventral tegmental area glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in incubation of cocaine craving. 3 Apr 2009
• [Role of the lateral habenula and dopamine neurons in reward processing] 30 Mar 2009
• Modulation of cocaine-induced activity by intracerebral administration of CXCL12. 18 Mar 2009
• Nicotinic receptors and nicotine addiction. 18 Mar 2009
• Adrenergic and noradrenergic innervation of the midbrain ventral tegmental area and retrorubral field: prominent inputs from medullary homeostatic centers. 16 Mar 2009
• Increased phasic dopamine signaling in the mesolimbic pathway during social defeat in rats. 15 Mar 2009
• Phasic excitation of dopamine neurons in ventral VTA by noxious stimuli. 2 Mar 2009

See a longer list of these articles.

Technical information about 'Ventral Tegmental Area'

Definition: A region in the mesencephalon which is dorsomedial to the substantia nigra and ventral to the red nucleus. The mesocortical and mesolimbic dopaminergic systems originate here, including an important projection to the nucleus accumbens. Overactivity of the cells in this area has been suspected to contribute to the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Descriptor UI: D017557

Alternative terms: Ventral Tegmental Area; Tegmental Area, Ventral;

Allowable Qualifiers: abnormalities; anatomy & histology; blood supply; cytology; drug effects; embryology; enzymology; growth & development; immunology; injuries; metabolism; microbiology; parasitology; pathology; physiology; physiopathology; radiation effects; radiography; radionuclide imaging; secretion; surgery; transplantation; ultrastructure; ultrasonography; chemistry; virology;

Tree Number: A08.186.211.132.659.822.820; A08.186.211.653.822.820;

History Note: 94

Technical Notes: a region in the mesencephalon