The cardinal motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) are caused by the death of
dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SN c). Alpha‐synuclein …

Acetylcholine in the brain alters neuronal excitability, influences synaptic transmission,
induces synaptic plasticity, and coordinates firing of groups of neurons. As a result, it …

Recent studies indicate that dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and
substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) convey distinct signals. To explore this difference, we …

Anhedonia is a core symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD), the neurobiological
mechanisms of which remain poorly understood. Despite decades of speculation regarding …

Schultz, Wolfram. Predictive reward signal of dopamine neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 1–27,
1998. The effects of lesions, receptor blocking, electrical self-stimulation, and drugs of abuse …

Many of the brain's reward systems converge on the nucleus accumbens, a region richly
innervated by excitatory, inhibitory, and modulatory afferents representing the circuitry …

The pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) has long been considered an interface between the
basal ganglia and motor systems, and its ability to regulate arousal states puts the PPN in a …

Cholinergic transmission in the striatal complex is critical for the modulation of the activity of
local microcircuits and dopamine release. Release of acetylcholine has been considered to …

Besides their fundamental movement function evidenced by Parkinsonian deficits, the basal
ganglia are involved in processing closely linked non-motor, cognitive and reward …

The lateral part of the mesopontine tegmentum contains functionally important structures
involved in the control of posture and gait. Specifically, the mesencephalic locomotor region …