Synaptic Plasticity in the Nucleus Accumbens: Lessons Learned from Experience
Year: 2017
Type: review
Abstract: Synaptic plasticity contributes to behavioral adaptations. As a key node in the reward pathway, the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is important for determining motivation-to-action outcomes. Across animal models of motivation including addiction, depression, anxiety, and hedonic feeding, selective recruitment of neuromodulatory signals and plasticity mechanisms have been a focus of physiologists and behaviorists alike. Experience-dependent plasticity mechanisms within the NAc vary depending on the distinct afferents and cell-types over time. A greater understanding of molecular mechanisms determining how these changes in synaptic strength track with behavioral adaptations will provide insight into the process of learning and memory along with identifying maladaptations underlying pathological behavior. Here, we summarize recent findings detailing how changes in NAc synaptic strength and mechanisms of plasticity manifest in various models of motivational disorders.
Source: ACS Chemical Neuroscience
Institution: Vanderbilt University
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: Synaptic Mechanisms of Addiction-Related Behaviors in the Nucleus Accumbens, G4127463980, Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at Vanderbilt University, G6115922105, Synaptic Mechanisms of Addiction-Related Behaviors in the Nucleus Accumbens, Parvalbumin interneurons regulate nucleus accumbens synapses and behavior
OpenAlex ID: W2778759420