Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Comprehensive Profiling of Dopamine Regulation in Substantia Nigra and Ventral Tegmental Area
Published on: August 10, 2012
Unique properties of mesoprefrontal neurons within a dual mesocorticolimbic dopamine system
Stephan Lammel1, Andrea Hetzel, Olga Häckel
1Institute of Neurophysiology, Neuroscience Center, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt 60590, Germany.
Abstract:
The mesocorticolimbic dopamine system is essential for cognitive and emotive brain functions and is thus an important target in major brain diseases like schizophrenia, drug addiction, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. However, the cellular basis for the diversity in behavioral functions and associated dopamine-release pattern within the mesocorticolimbic system has remained unclear. Here, we report the identification of a type of dopaminergic neuron within the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system with unconventional fast-firing properties and small DAT/TH mRNA expression ratios that selectively projects to prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens core and medial shell as well as to basolateral amygdala. In contrast, well-described conventional slow-firing dopamine midbrain neurons only project to the lateral shell of the nucleus accumbens and the dorsolateral striatum. Among this dual dopamine midbrain system defined in this study by converging anatomical, electrophysiological, and molecular properties, mesoprefrontal dopaminergic neurons are unique, as only they do not possess functional somatodendritic Girk2-coupled dopamine D2 autoreceptors.
Related Concept Videos
Adrenergic Agonists: Indirect-Acting Agents
One mechanism involves depleting stored catecholamines by displacing them from synaptic vesicles. These agents, known as "displacers," are transported into vesicles at the expense of noradrenaline. Examples include amphetamine and tyramine, which lack a catechol moiety, resulting in prolonged action, improved oral bioavailability, and...
Neurochemical Transmission: Sites of Drug Action
Drugs Affecting Neurotransmitter Synthesis
Functional Brain Systems: Limbic System
Diencephalon: Anatomical Regions

