Nucleus accumbens

The article I chose to explore and summarize for this assignment was ‘Voluntary attention modulates fMRI activity in human MT-MST’, by O’Craven, K.M., Rosen, B.R., Kwong, K.K., Triesman, A., & Savoy, R.L. The basic theory behind this study is that the visual system receives copious amounts of information. Attention permits the visual system to pinpoint a “subset” of that information for further processing and attention, dependent on either the properties of the stimulus (bottom up processing) or…

1. The three treatment options function synergistically to benefit the patient with prostate cancer. The ionizing radiation causes single and double stranded breaks to the neoplastic cells DNA, this halts replication and cell function until it can be repaired. Etoposide is a podophyllotoxin that inhibits topoisomerase II, the enzyme responsible for unwinding the DNA. If the DNA cannot unwind, the cell will be unable to replicate, transcribe mRNA, or repair itself. If the cell is unable to repair…

Cocaine is a psychoactive drug affects the limbic system of the body, which controls pleasure and motivation. In 1859 Albert Niemann, German Chemist, isolated cocaine from the leaves of the Coca plant which is located in the Andes Mountains of South America. It is the second oldest psychoactive drug and in the Medical field it is classified as a Schedule II Drug; meaning it can be used in a controlled medical setting but it is highly addictive. When cocaine is used as a recreational drug it…

Researchers found a positive correlation between Facebook use and self esteem as well as narcissism. To ensure internal validity I agree with the researcher 's approach to make sure that the individual differences to the nucleus accumbens response was directly explained by Facebook use. The control step wise regression measured Facebook use and the personality measures to ensure that Facebook use primarily explained their results. Furthermore, I think it was brilliant to compare…

that several types of addictions have similar brain patterns as in the case of drug addictions. To explain the reward pathway, it is important to understand the function of several brain structures: the ventral tegmental area (VTA), amygdala, nucleus accumbens (NA), the prefrontal cortex, and the hippocampus (Garrett, 2011). The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is where dopanime originates, and it is widely considered to be involved in drug addiction, intense emotions (e.g. love), and many…

Arousal is obtained by an inhibition of the sleep-promoting structures and promotion of the cortex activity. It is an active process mediated by the upper brainstem neurons in the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPT), laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT), locus coeruleus(LC), tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN) and ventral periaqueductal gray (vPAG). In a perfect mirror image, sleep is regulated by an inhibition of the ascending arousal fibers and of the cortex activity. It is mediated by the ventrolateral…

dopamine into the reward system (Juarez et al. 2016). Most drugs of abuse increase the activity of dopamine by interacting with dopamine synapses branching to the nucleas accumbens, or indirectly by regulating the activity of neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area (Purves et al. 2012). Other drugs have a direct affect on the nucleas accumbens neurons to increase their responses to input (Purves et al. 2012). Drugs stimulate dopamine at a much higher amount than natural stimuli do; so, if there is…

in terms of composing harmonies chords, and being able to perform the melodious selections to an audience. (www.dictionary.com) Finally, the nucleus accumbens, corpus callosum, and cerebellum are placed on both hemispheres of the brain. Where the corpus callosum is highly necessary to send messages between the two hemispheres. Whereas in the nucleus accumbens helps us have an emotional reaction to music and so does the cerebellum, but it also deals with regulating motor movements, such as…

In the experiment stressed prenatal animals exhibited an increase in D2 receptor binding and decrease in D3 binding in the accumbens nucleus. Chronic stress lowered the density of D2 receptors.In some experiments, the prefrontal cortex eliminates dopamine in animals that are chronically stressed. This has been found to be an adaptive response by the prefrontal cortex. Subcortical…

Laurence Steinberg who is a professor of psychology thinks the difference of teenagers’ brains is an enlarged nucleus accumbens. From his opinion,”During childhood, the nucleus accumbens, which is sometimes called the “pleasure center,” grows. It reaches its maximum extent in the teen-age brain” (paragraph N). It is obviously for the reader to know that the “pleasure center” in brain gives the signal…