32 | MAY 2009 | VOLUME 1 VANDERBILT REVIEWS | NEUROSCIENCE ©2009 Vanderbilt Brain Institute. All rights reserved. ANATOMY OF THE VTA AND SNc The anatomy of the VTA and SNc is unique and challenging to study because of its location in the brain, cellular profile and complex interconnections. Nonetheless, an overview of the anatomy is essential to localize the source of an MRI signal, optimize th...

The infralimbic (IL) cortex is importantly involved in regulating behavioral and physiological responses to stress, including those of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The mesocortical dopamine (DA) system is an important afferent modulator of this region, is highly stress sensitive and frequently shows functional hemispheric asymmetry. Postnatal handling stimulation facilitates d...

taxol is used to treatment of variety cancers including ovarian, breast, lung, head and neck carcinomas and the aids-related karposi’s carcinoma, and was originally obtained from bark of taxus brevifolia. however the amount of extracted taxol from taxus is extremely low and cannot be considered as a suitable commercial source and it has led to studies for finding new sources of taxol. in 1998, ...

introduction: intranodal pathways of atrioventricular (av) node play a vital role in the delay of conduction time in response to various atrial inputs. the present study was aimed to determine the frequency-dependent electrophysiological properties of concealed slow pathway according to a functional model of isolated rabbit atrioventricular node preparation after fast pathway ablation. methods:...

Receptor-specific compounds were applied by retrograde microdialysis to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the rat brain. The effects of intrategmental infusions on extracellular dopamine in the ipsilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) were recorded with a second microdialysis probe. Intrategmental infusion of tetradotoxin (1 microM), muscimol (20 microM) or baclofen (50 microM) decreased extracell...

Psilocin (3-[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]-1H-indol-4-ol) is a hallucinogenic component of the Mexican mushroom Psilocybe mexicana and a skeletal serotonin (5-HT) analogue. Psilocin is the active metabolite of psilocybin (3-[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]-1H-indol-4-yl dihydrogen phosphate). In the present study, we examined the effects of systemically administered psilocin on extracellular dopamine and 5-H...

Suggestions to Contributors Tribute to Dr. Paul Lewis Munson 3 Agonist-induced Desensitization of the 3-Adrenergic Receptor-linked Adenylate Cyclase. T. KENDALL HARDEN 5 Behavioral and Pharmacological Aspects of Opioid Dependence: Mixed Agonist-Antagonists. WILLIAM L. WOOLVERTON AND CHARLES R. SCHUSTER 33 Pharmacology of Mesocortical Dopamine Neurons. MICHAEL J. BANNON AND ROBERT H. ROTH 53 Opi...

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is the most severe adverse effect that can be caused by antipsychotics. It is an acute potentially fetal and idiosyncratic reaction that may be produced with any medication affecting the central dopaminergic system with an estimated frequency of 0.51% of the neuroleptic-treated patients.1 Its four main clinical manifestations are hyperthermia, severe muscle ...