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. 2020 Jun 16;14:569. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00569

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Copyright © 2020 Crummy, O’Neal, Baskin and Ferguson.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Neural circuitry targeted by potentially addictive drugs. Simplified schematic emphasizing local and distal connections between the PFC, NAc, and VTA that are targeted by potentially addictive drugs. Left: NAc^MSNs receive excitatory glutamatergic inputs from PFC^GLU neurons, dopaminergic inputs from VTA^DA neurons, and inhibitory GABAergic inputs from other NAc^MSNs. Right: VTA^DA neurons are maintained under tonic inhibition by local VTA^GABA interneurons and NAc^MSNs and receive excitatory inputs from PFC^GLU neurons. DA: dopamine; GLU: glutamate; MSN: medium spiny neuron; NAc: nucleus accumbens; PFC: prefrontal cortex; VTA: ventral tegmental area.