Figure 2. A sagittal section of the rat brain depicting some of the neural systems involved in the reward system. Not shown are the glutamate projections from frontal cortex and other brain regions, as well as the GABAergic neurons and the enkaphalin and dynorphin neurons in the nucleus accumbens and dorsal striatum. BST, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; CeA, central nucleus of the amygdala; DS, dorsal striatum; Fcx, frontal cortex; LC, locus coeruleus; NAc, nucleus accumbens; NTS, nucleus tractus solitarus; VTA/SN, ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra. Reproduced from ref 8: Becker JB, Perry AN, Westenbroek C. Sex differences in the neural mechanisms mediating addiction: a new synthesis and hypothesis. Biol Sex Differ. 2012;3(1):14. Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Copyright © 2012, Becker et al, licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
