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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jan 14.
Published in final edited form as: Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2014 Jan 14;5(2):151–171. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1273

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Simplified schematic of the reward circuitry in the rodent brain emphasizing signaling to and from the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). Glutamatergic transmission drives information through the reward and reward-related circuitry (blue arrows). GABAergic transmission from NAc and other regions dampens target neuronal activity (red arrows). Dopamine release from the VTA and substantia nigra (SN) modulates synaptic transmission in target regions (green arrows). These regions are recruited and undergo synaptic, circuit and genetic adaptations in response to drug experience. AMY, amygdala; BNST, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; CeA, central nucleus of the amygdala; DS, dorsal striatum; LDTg, laterodorsal tegmentum; LHb, lateral habenula; LH, lateral hypothalamus; PFC, prefrontal cortex; SN, substantia nigra; VP, ventral pallidum.