Inputs from the medial prefrontal cortex to the rostromedial tegmental nucleus are involved in signaling the aversive properties of alcohol

The recent discovery of the rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg), a midbrain region that exerts inhibitory control over dopamine and is involved in aversive responding, has sparked renewed interest in the neurobiology of aversion and its role in addiction. To investigate the RMTg ’s role in signaling the aversive properties of alcohol, we measured cFos induction following conditioned taste aversion (CTA) and found that expression was significantly enhanced in the RMTg following exposure to a conditioned stimulus predictive of ethanol exposure (p ≤ 0.01).
Source: Alcohol - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: research