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The 'mesocortical pathway' is a neural pathway that connects the ventral tegmentum to the cortex, particularly the frontal lobes. It is one of the four major dopamine pathways in the brain.
It is essential to the normal cognitive function of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (part of the frontal lobe), and is thought to be involved in motivation and emotional response.
This pathway is thought to be associated with the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, which include avolition, alogia and flat affect (lack of emotional response).
This pathway is also known as the 'reward pathway'. It consists of direct connections between the ventral tegmental area (VTA), the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and the pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC). The VTA manufactures and stores dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with feelings of pleasure. Behaviors which themselves help us to survive as a species (e.g., eating, drinking, procreating, etc.) are thought to cause a release of dopamine from the VTA, along the reward pathway, to the NA. The NA is thought to play a mediating role, essentially evaluating whether a stimulus is a result of "good" or "bad" behavior (i.e., good or bad for our survival). It then passes the signal up to the PFC, which is widely believed to be directly involved with decision-making. It is further believed the PFC makes the decision to continue or abate the behavior, in large part based on signals received from the NA.
The reward pathway is essential for our survival, and is itself a very powerful mechanism with regards to choice, and behavior. Unfortunately, it is also vulnerable to becoming "hijacked" by substances, such as drugs and alcohol. Such substances cause a large release of dopamine via the reward pathway. The brain is "wired" to respond with feelings of pleasure to natural rewards such as food or sex which are biologically meaningful. Our brain thus interprets the activity that led to those feeling as being good for us. Feelings of immense pleasure (e.g., as caused by cocaine), tell the brain that whatever behavior it just engaged in is very, ''very'' good for us, and so we must continue doing it. A consequence of this is that the PFC becomes locked into a pattern of decisions and behaviors which it is hard wired to make, giving rise to compulsive behaviors that are often extremely difficult to control. Essentially, the description of this process also functions as a clinically accepted 'theory of addiction'.
Other major dopamine pathways include:

★ mesolimbic pathway

★ nigrostriatal pathway

★ tuberoinfundibular pathway

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See also

External links

See also

★ dopamine

★ schizophrenia

External links

★ Diagram