What is the ventral tegmental area?
Ventral Tegment (VTA) is a collection of neurons located in the center of the midbrain. This area acts as a type of receptor core and receives messages from other parts of the brain, how effectively the basic human needs are met. It is a region where many pleasant feelings are born and play an important role in knowledge, impulses, drug addiction and mental illness. It is the origin of the two main brain dopamine pathways: mesocortical pathway and mesolimbic path. There are also three other, less important dopamine channels in this area: mesodiencephalic, mesostriatic and mesommbencephalic pathways. They become a system of sending messages that transmits communication to Nucleus Accumbens, another area of the brain that sits in front of the ventral tegment. As dopamine levels increase in the Accumbens' core, they increase pleasant feelings and thus "reward" behavior through which basic needs are met.
in science of addiction areActivities in the ventral tegment area very important. This is an area of the brain that is directly stimulated by the presence of stimulating drugs. For example, cocaine affects this area with intensity, initiates dopamine production and creates satisfactory feelings of the drug. The brain cannot immediately distinguish between good rewards and bad rewards, because it only registers the pleasure of feelings. This pleasure is inspired by the brain to want more medicine and continue ecstatics highly associated with the waves of dopamine production.
mental illness can also be born in the ventral region. Normal functioning with mesocortical and mesolimbic pathways can interrupt and cause any number of psychological problems. The most common are schizophrenia, attention disorder with hyperactivity (ADHD) and Parkinson's disease.
VTA also processes reports from the emotional center of the brain, amygdala. VTA is accused of ensuring that the body remains safe and satisfied, so the reports of fear are consideredy for quite seriously. VTA develops techniques for body conditional against terrible situations, motivates feelings of safety and creates strategies of avoidance that ensure survival.