mesocortical pathway

However, decreased activity in another dopaminergic pathway, the mesocortical pathway, may also be involved.

It is interesting to note that the mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways are considered the seeking areas or the motivational command centers of the brain.

The mesocortical pathway projects to sensory, motor, limbic, and polysensory association cortices.

The major neurochemical pathway of the reward system in the brain involves the mesolimbic and mesocortical pathway.

One such neurotransmitter is dopamine, a chemical messenger heavily active in the Mesolimbic pathway and Mesocortical pathway reward pathways.

The mesocortical pathway is a neural pathway that connects the ventral tegmentum to the cerebral cortex, particularly the frontal lobes.

Regional distribution of DAT has been found in areas of the brain with established dopaminergic circuitry including: nigrostriatal, mesolimbic, and mesocortical pathways.

Typical antipsychotics are not particularly selective and also block dopamine receptors in the mesocortical pathway, tuberoinfundibular pathway, and the nigrostriatal pathway.

DAT in the mesocortical pathway, labeled with radioactive antibodies, was found to be enriched in dendrites and cell bodies of neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and ventral tegmental area.

There is also growing evidence that, conversely, mesocortical pathway dopamine projections to the prefrontal cortex might be hypoactive (underactive), resulting in hypostimulation of D receptors, which may be related to negative symptoms and cognitive impairment.

They project to numerous brain areas, but the two largest projections are the mesolimbic pathway, which targets the nucleus accumbens and other limbic structures, and the mesocortical pathway, which targets the prefrontal and insular parts of the cerebral cortex.

Some researchers have suggested that dopamine systems in the mesolimbic pathway may contribute to the 'positive symptoms' of schizophrenia (whereas problems with dopamine function in the mesocortical pathway may be responsible for the 'negative symptoms', such as avolition and alogia.)