Drugs of abuse induce sensitization, which is defined as enhanced response to additional drug following a period of withdrawal. Sensitization occurs in both humans and animal models of drug reinforcement and contributes substantially to the addictive nature of drugs of abuse, because it is thought to represent enhanced motivational wanting for drug. The ventral pallidum, a key member of the rew...

Mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons were suggested to be a critical physiopathology substrate for addiction disorders. Among neuroadaptive processes to addictive drugs, structural plasticity has attracted attention. While structural plasticity occurs at both pre- and post-synaptic levels in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system, the present review focuses only on dopaminergic neurons. Exposures to ...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterised by the loss of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons but which involves the loss of additional neurotransmitter pathways. Mono- or polytherapeutic interventions in PD patients have declining efficacy long-term and no influence on disease progression. The systematic analysis of available genetic and functional data a...

Derangements of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and of brainstem monoaminergic systems occur in depression and schizophrenia. Anatomical and functional evidence supports a PFC control of the brainstem monoaminergic systems. Similarly, the PFC contains a high density of monoamine receptors for which antipsychotic drugs exhibit high affinity. This raises the possibility that pathological or drug-indu...

Glutamatergic system stimulation in some parts of the brain may affect anxiety-related behaviours, aversive learning and memory. This system retains many interactions with dopaminergic neurotransmission. We have studied the effect of nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell glutamatergic system activation on anxiety-related behaviours as well as aversive learning and memory in adult male Wistar rats using...

Increasing attention is now focused on reduced dopaminergic neurotransmission in the forebrain as participating in depression. The present paper assessed whether effective antidepressant (AD) treatments might counteract, or compensate for, such a change by altering the neuronal activity of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA-DA neurons), the cell bodies of the mesocorticolim...

The differential effects of dopaminergic drugs with different pharmacological profiles were investigated with respect to spontaneous motor activity in the common marmoset following pretreatment with a bilateral brain infusion of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). Three marmosets received infusions of 6-OHDA (either 30 or 40 μg/side) into the bilateral dopamine-rich area running from the substantia nig...

Novel psychoactive substances are newly used designer drugs ("internet drugs", "research chemicals", "legal highs") potentially posing similar health risks to classic illicit substances. Chemically, many novel psychoactive substances can be classified as phenethylamines, amphetamines, synthetic cathinones, piperazines, pipradrols/piperidines, aminoindanes benzofurans, and tryptamines. Pharmacol...