Question

Name the brain regions in the mesocorticolimbic system and describe the role they play in the brains response to a rewarding stimulus.

Answer 1

The lateral and ventromedial nuclei of the hypothalamus are especially involved in this reward circuit. The hypothalamus then acts in return not only on the ventral tegmental area, but also on the autonomic and endocrine functions of the entire body, through the pituitary gland.In neuroscience, the reward system is a collection of brain structures and neural pathways that are responsible for reward-related cognition, including associative learning (primarily classical conditioning and operant reinforcement), incentive salience (i.e., motivation and "wanting", desire, or craving for a reward)Any object, event, or activity can be a reward if it motivates us, causes us to learn, or elicits pleasurable feelings. ... The answer lies in the brain circuitry known as the “reward system.” The regions of the brain comprising the “reward system” use the neurotransmitter dopamine to communicate.The mesolimbic dopamine pathway is thought to play a primary role in the reward system. It connects the ventral tegmental area (VTA), one of the principal dopamine-producing areas in the brain, with the nucleus accumbens, an area found in the ventral striatum that is strongly associated with motivation and reward.