The lateral hypothalamus (LH) has long been known to implicate in the addictive behaviors of drugs of abuse. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a major area of the mesolimbic system that is strongly involved in the development of morphine sensitization. The current study aimed to examine the role of intra-VTA orexin receptors in the LH stimulation-induced sensitization to the antinociceptive r...

Huntington disease (HD) is an autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects medium spiny striatal neurons (MSN). HD is caused by polyglutamine (polyQ) expansion (exp) in the amino-terminal region of a protein huntingtin (Htt). The connection between polyQ expansion in Httexp and MSN neurodegeneration remains elusive. Here we discuss recent data that link polyQ expansion i...

Serotonin exerts a long-lasting excitatory action on sensory neurons of Aplysia californica by decreasing outward K+ current. The depression of outward current delays repolarization of the action potential and extends the duration of Ca2+ influx into the presynaptic terminals, thereby contributing to the facilitation of transmitter release that underlies behavioral sensitization. We have extend...

introduction: the influence of ascorbic acid on the nicotine-induced conditioned place preference (cpp) and behavioral sensitization was investigated in the present study. methods: in a pilot study, place conditioning and locomotor activity were investigated after nicotine (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.5 and 2 mg/kg) or ascorbic acid (1, 10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg) administration. different doses of ascor...