Dopamine

Dopamine is a:

• neurotransmitter
• precursor of norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and epinephrine (adrenaline)
• member of catecholamine family

Functions in brain include:

• behavior and cognition
• motivation and reward
• mood
• attention
• learning

Dopaminergic neurons chiefly in:

mesocorticolimbic system (?) (reward, cognition, motivation)

• mesolimbic pathway
  • ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the midbrain
  • nucleus accumbens
  • amygdala
  • hippocampus
  • medial prefrontal cortex
• mesocortical pathway
  • ventral tegmentum
  • cerebral cortex
  • frontal lobes
  • dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

substantia nigra

Motor control

arcuate nucleus

lactation, growth hormone and appetite involvement

More?

• reinforcement
• anticipatory (wanting) vs consummatory (liking)(the reduction in dopamine did not reduce the rat's consummatory pleasure, only the desire to actually eat)
• motivation
• anhedonia
• social anxiety/withdrawal
• pain
• salience