objective(s) while the nucleus accumbens and the striatum have received much attention regarding their roles in stereotyped behaviors, the role of the medial prefrontal cortex (mpfc) has not been investigated to the same degree. few studies have reported the role of the mpfc in dopaminergic induction of locomotor hyperactivity. the mpfc is a heterogeneous area (the anterior cingulated, prelimbi...

A reliable method of directly measuring endogenously generated nitric oxide (NO) in real-time and in various brain regions is presented. An extensive characterisation of a previously described amperometric sensor has been carried out in the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens of freely moving rats. Systemic administration of saline caused a transient increase in signal from baseline levels ...

We investigated differences in the intrinsic functional brain organization (functional connectivity) of the human reward system between healthy control participants and patients with social anxiety disorder. Functional connectivity was measured in the resting-state via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). 53 patients with social anxiety disorder and 33 healthy control participants unde...

The hippocampus and the caudate nucleus are critical to spatial- and stimulus-response-based navigation strategies, respectively. The hippocampus and caudate nucleus are also known to be anatomically connected to various areas of the prefrontal cortex. However, little is known about the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in these processes. In the current study, we sought to identify the pref...

Addiction changes prefrontal cortex regulation of the nucleus accumbens, including reduced ability to induce long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). This important potential mechanism of impaired prefrontal regulation of behaviour has been shown only for cocaine. Here we show that animals trained to self-administer heroin demonstrate impaired LTP and LTD in the core of the ...

Many studies suggest that the sustained activation underlying working memory maintenance is mediated by a distributed network that includes prefrontal cortex and other structures (e.g., posterior parietal cortex, thalamus, globus pallidus, and the caudate nucleus). A computational model of working memory, called FROST (short for FROntal-Striatal-Thalamic), is proposed in which the representatio...

Many studies suggest that the sustained activation underlying working memory (WM) maintenance is mediated by a distributed network that includes the prefrontal cortex and other structures (e.g., posterior parietal cortex, thalamus, globus pallidus, and the caudate nucleus). A computational model of WM, called FROST (short for FROntal-Striatal-Thalamic), is proposed in which the representation o...

Typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs have been reported to affect basal dopaminergic activity differentially in nigrostriatal and limbic structures after acute and chronic administration in animals. In addition, glutamate has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to examine basal and locally stimulated glutamate and dopamine efflux in the cau...

The medial prefrontal cortex has been associated with diverse functions including attentional processes, visceromotor activity, decision-making, goal-directed behavior, and working memory. The present report compares and contrasts projections from the infralimbic (IL) and prelimbic (PL) cortices in the rat by using the anterograde anatomical tracer, Phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin. With the ...

The human prefrontal cortex differs from all other mammals: the seat of complex cognition, abstract thinking, planning and future forecasting, and behavioral inhibition. Using our prefrontal cortex is a significant energy drain on the body, so despite its impressive capabilities, it’s daily capacity is limited. Some researchers estimate a mere 2-3 hours per day of activity depletes the pr...