Lee Hyun Woo, Yang Soo Hyun, Kim Jin Yong, Kim Hyun
Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Front Psychiatry. 2019 Feb 28;10:100. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00100. eCollection 2019.
The habenula is a complex nucleus composed of lateral and medial subnuclei, which connect between the limbic forebrain and midbrain. Over the past few years, the lateral habenula has received considerable attention because of its potential roles in cognition and in the pathogenesis of various psychiatric disorders. Unlike extensively studied lateral habenula, anatomically and histologically distinct medial habenula remains largely understudied. The medial habenula can be further subdivided into a dorsal region containing excitatory neurons that express the tachykinin neuropeptide substance P and a ventral region containing dense cholinergic neurons. Although the medial habenula is the source of one of the major cholinergic pathways in the brain, relatively few studies have been conducted to understand its roles. Recently, however, the medial habenula cholinergic system has attracted more attention because of its potential to provide therapeutic targets for the treatment of nicotine withdrawal symptoms, drug addiction, and various mood disorders. Here, we discuss the role of the medial habenula cholinergic system in brain function.
缰核是一个由外侧和内侧亚核组成的复杂核团，它连接着边缘前脑和中脑。在过去几年中，外侧缰核因其在认知和各种精神疾病发病机制中的潜在作用而受到了相当多的关注。与被广泛研究的外侧缰核不同，在解剖学和组织学上有明显区别的内侧缰核在很大程度上仍未得到充分研究。内侧缰核可进一步细分为一个背侧区域，该区域包含表达速激肽神经肽P物质的兴奋性神经元，以及一个腹侧区域，该区域包含密集的胆碱能神经元。尽管内侧缰核是大脑中主要胆碱能通路之一的源头，但为了解其作用而进行的研究相对较少。然而，最近，内侧缰核胆碱能系统因其有可能为治疗尼古丁戒断症状、药物成瘾和各种情绪障碍提供治疗靶点而受到了更多关注。在此，我们讨论内侧缰核胆碱能系统在脑功能中的作用。
