The Neuronal Pathways Mediating the Behavioral and Addictive Properties of Nicotine
- 31 December 2008
- book chapter
- review article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology
- No. 192,p. 209-233
- https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69248-5_8
Abstract
This chapter considers the neurobiological mechanisms that are thought to mediate the reinforcing or rewarding properties of nicotine. It focuses on the data (derived principally from studies with experimental animals) showing that nicotine, like other drugs of dependence, stimulates the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) neurones that project to the nucleus accumbens and that these effects play a pivotal role in the biology underlying nicotine dependence. The reinforcing or rewarding properties of nicotine are thought to be associated particularly with the increase in DA overflow evoked in the shell subdivision of the accumbens. However, behavioural studies suggest that these properties of nicotine in experimental animals do not seem to be sufficiently potent to explain the powerful addiction to tobacco experienced by most habitual smokers. This chapter also considers the biological mechanisms that mediate the effects of cues and stimuli associated with the presentation of nicotine, which are thought to contribute significantly to the powerful addictive properties of tobacco smoke.This publication has 106 references indexed in Scilit:
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