What is the Mesolimbic Way?
Mesolimbic path is a brain circuit that depends on the neurotransmitter dopamine. It allows you to create a habit by combining a certain behavior with a sense of pleasure. For this reason, it is also called a brain reward path and focuses on drug addiction research. Since dopamine disorder has been associated with schizophrenia and movement disorders, treatment of treatment of these diseases interacts with mesolimbic way in a complex way, which sometimes results in psychiatric and physical side effects.
In the central nervous system, a mesolimbic path is running from the ventral tegment area of the midbrain through the limbic system of the temporal lobe - Hippocampus, Amygdala and Nucleus Accumbens. The last structure is responsible for release of dopamine that signals the pleasure or reward of many areas of the brain. Neurotransmitters such as gaba and glutamate alleviate the effect of the path, but its primary functions are affected by neurons that respond to dopamine. In rodents, the destruction of the mesolimbic district leads to the loss of addictiveDesires, motivation and increased lethargy.
The brain reward system modulates behavior through pleasure, working in a tandem with a similar circuit of fear and aversion that provides negative feedback for unpleasant situations. When a pleasant stimulus is experienced, the mesolimbic path is activated, causing the Accumbens core to release dopamine. Emotional and learning circuits are also activated and connected by a stimulus with positive feelings. Main drugs and even pleasant activities creating habits cause increased mesolimbic activity. Over time, the brain is degraded and more neurotransmitter must be released to provide the same experience with pleasure.
Some scientists argue that schizophrenia comes from a disturbance of the mesocortical and mesolimbic pathways. This is called dopamine hypothesis, it is a controversial debate in psychopharmacology. Proponents point out that many an anTipsychotic drugs used in psychiatry blocks dopamine binding to neuronal receptors and notices non -schophrenia of similar side effects of medicines used to increase dopaminergic paths for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Critics evoke evidence that show that some drugs reduce psychosis without a clear mechanism and that decreased dopamine levels immediately do not improve symptoms. They also claim that individual brains can be changed by stress or other environmental conditions.
Reregulation or increased sensitivity of the mesolimbic pathway may occur in response to certain psychiatric drugs. Some patients experience a relatively rare increase in their psychiatric symptoms, resulting in intensified psychosis. It is called tardive dysfrenia, the problem may manifest after patients have certaintytipsychotic drugs acting on the mesolimbic path, usually by blocking receptors. Since dopamine is also important for checking the nigrostriatal motor pathway, antipsychotics can affect the neuRomuscular function by blocking this circuit, causing spastic involuntary movements characterizing tardive dyskinesia.