Koob G F
Department of Neuropharmacology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Mol Psychiatry. 1996 Jul;1(3):186-9.
Dopamine neurons in the dopamine system that originate in the ventral tegmental area and project to the nucleus accumbens, olfactory tubercle and frontal cortex have long been implicated in reward and motivational processes. The accumulation of substantial neuropharmacological data and recent data from electrophysiological recording studies in primates and recent theoretical modelling studies provide new significant insights into the function of these mesolimbic dopamine neurons that have important implications for psychiatry. Appetitive events and not aversive events activated dopamine neurons in the mesolimbic dopamine system of primates. Modelling studies show that dopamine neurons may be responsible for initiating action associated with significant changes in the value of incentives in the environment and neuropharmacological data show that the activation associated with approach to incentives is abolished by removal to the mesolimbic dopamine system. Based on these three lines of research it is hypothesized that the function of the mesolimbic dopamine system is to allow or actually release species-specific approach responses or modifications in direction toward changes in positive incentives. These results have implications not only for our understanding of the role of dopamine in mental disorders, but also for our understanding of the role of dopamine in specific aspects of drug dependence.
起源于腹侧被盖区并投射到伏隔核、嗅结节和额叶皮质的多巴胺系统中的多巴胺神经元，长期以来一直被认为与奖赏和动机过程有关。大量神经药理学数据的积累，以及近期灵长类动物电生理记录研究和理论模型研究的数据，为这些中脑边缘多巴胺神经元的功能提供了新的重要见解，对精神病学具有重要意义。在灵长类动物的中脑边缘多巴胺系统中，引发食欲的事件而非厌恶事件激活了多巴胺神经元。模型研究表明，多巴胺神经元可能负责启动与环境中奖励价值显著变化相关的行动，神经药理学数据表明，去除中脑边缘多巴胺系统会消除与接近奖励相关的激活。基于这三项研究，推测中脑边缘多巴胺系统的功能是允许或实际释放物种特异性的接近反应，或朝着积极奖励变化的方向进行调整。这些结果不仅对我们理解多巴胺在精神障碍中的作用有影响，而且对我们理解多巴胺在药物依赖特定方面的作用也有影响。
