Topic: Prelimbic

The brainstem locus coeruleus (LC) is a major source of noradrenaline to the forebrain and plays important roles in emotional learning. Though the LC receives synaptic inputs from the medial prefrontal cortex, a brain region important in cognitive and emotional processing, it is unclear whether and how prefrontal regions influence the LC particularly during fear extinction learning. To address this question, we first examined the detailed anatomical connectivity from prefrontal subregions to the LC in rats. Retrograde and anterograde tracing experiments showed that LC noradrenergic neurons rec

The increasing burden of drug addiction on society and the challenge of treating addicts has been the focus of much research in the past decades. The subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been shown to be a very interesting target since its inactivation by lesion or Deep Brain Stimulation can reduce motivation for cocaine, while increasing motivation for sweet food. Since the STN is a hub of the Basal ganglia and receives direct cortical projections (the hyperdirect pathway) it is important to clarify the role of this pathway in the effects observed after STN manipulations. This study thus seeks to cl