Rationale Cues associated with alcohol can elicit craving, support drug-seeking and
precipitate relapse. Objectives We investigated the possible involvement of nicotinic …

Nicotine and alcohol are often co-abused suggesting a common mechanism of action may
underlie their reinforcing properties. Both drugs acutely increase activity of ventral tegmental …

The mesocorticolimbic dopamine system is believed to be involved in mediating the positive
reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse, including ethanol. The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor …

Ethanol shares with all major dependence producing drugs the ability to activate brain
mesocorticolimbic dopamine neurons, an important part of the brain reward systems. This …

Although progress has been made identifying neural mechanisms underlying ethanol's
primary reinforcing effects, few studies have examined the mechanisms mediating ethanol …

Background: Alcoholism is associated with a higher incidence of smoking. The mesolimbic
dopaminergic pathway is believed to play an important role in the reinforcing effects of both …

Rationale and objectives The sensitivity to ethanol central effects is partially determined by
the subunit composition of brain nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Thus, the …

The prevailing view is that enhancement of dopamine (DA) transmission in the mesolimbic
system, consisting of DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) that project to the …

Ethanol-induced elevations of accumbal dopamine levels have been linked to the
reinforcing properties of the drug. However, it has not yet been demonstrated where the …

Ethanol and nicotine are the most abused drugs, and it is well known that co-abuse of
ethanol and nicotine is frequent in human beings. We have previously obtained results …