Journal
TRENDS IN NEUROSCIENCES
Volume 38, Issue 4, Pages 217-225Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2015.01.002
Keywords
midbrain; VTA; mu opioid receptor; morphine; addiction
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Funding
- NIDA NIH HHS [R01 DA029776] Funding Source: Medline
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Opioids are the most potent analgesics in clinical use; however, their powerful rewarding properties can lead to addiction. The scientific challenge is to retain analgesic potency while limiting the development of tolerance, dependence, and addiction. Both rewarding and analgesic actions of opioids depend upon actions at the mu opioid (MOP) receptor. Systemic opioid reward requires MOP receptor function in the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VIA) which contains dopaminergic neurons. VIA dopaminergic neurons are implicated in various aspects of reward including reward prediction error, working memory,. and incentive salience. It is now clear that subsets of VTA neurons have different pharmacological properties and participate in separate circuits. The degree to which MOP receptor agonists act on different VIA circuits depends upon the behavioral state of the animal, which can be altered by manipulations such as food deprivation or prior exposure to MOP receptor agonists.
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