Tracing of Nucleus Accumbens Projection Neurons (IMAGE)

Medical University of South Carolina

Tracing of Nucleus Accumbens Projection Neurons

Caption

Medical University of South Carolina researchers found that specific neurons in the nucleus accumbens, D1-MSNs, drive cocaine seeking during relapse. By using chemical tracers, the researchers found that D1-MSNs send projections to two main structures, the ventral pallidum (blue arrow) and ventral mesencephalon (green arrow). Of these the projections to the ventral pallidum are critical for driving drug relapse.

Credit

Image courtesy of Dr. Jasper Heinsbroek., author of the March 13, 2019 Journal of Neuroscience article: http://www.jneurosci.org/content/39/11/2041

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