Drug consumption is driven by a drug's pharmacological effects, which are experienced as
rewarding, and is influenced by genetic, developmental, and psychosocial factors that …

The nucleus accumbens is a major input structure of the basal ganglia and integrates
information from cortical and limbic structures to mediate goal-directed behaviors. Chronic …

Understanding the brain circuitry that underlies reward is critical to improve treatment for
many common health issues, including obesity, depression, and addiction. Here we focus …

Depression induces structural and functional synaptic plasticity in brain reward circuits,
although the mechanisms promoting these changes and their relevance to behavioral …

Cocaine exposure causes enduring neuroadaptations in ventral striatum, or nucleus
accumbens (NAc), an area critically involved in reward learning and relapse of drug …

Cocaine craving, seeking, and relapse are mediated, in part, by cocaine-induced adaptive
changes in the brain reward circuits. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) integrates and …

Acid-sensing ion channel 1A (ASIC1A) is abundant in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a
region known for its role in addiction. Because ASIC1A has been suggested to promote …

Animal models of relapse reveal that the motivation to seek drug is regulated by enduring
morphological and physiological changes in the nucleus accumbens, as well as transient …

Neurotrophins and other growth factors have been advanced as critical modulators of
depressive behavior. Support for this model is based on analyses of knockout and …

Accumulating evidence from human and rodent studies suggests that females are more
sensitive to the motivating and rewarding properties of drugs of abuse. Numerous reports …