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Updated: Jul 19, 2025

Comprehensive Profiling of Dopamine Regulation in Substantia Nigra and Ventral Tegmental Area
Published on: August 10, 2012
Neurosteroids and the mesocorticolimbic system
Désirée R Seib1, Daniel J Tobiansky2, John Meitzen3
1Department of Psychology and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Abstract:
The mesocorticolimbic system coordinates executive functions, such as working memory and behavioral flexibility. This circuit includes dopaminergic projections from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex. In this review, we summarize evidence that cells in multiple nodes of the mesocorticolimbic system produce neurosteroids (steroids synthesized in the nervous system) and express steroid receptors. Here, we focus on neuroandrogens (androgens synthesized in the nervous system), neuroestrogens (estrogens synthesized in the nervous system), and androgen and estrogen receptors. We also summarize how (neuro)androgens and (neuro)estrogens affect dopamine signaling in the mesocorticolimbic system and regulate executive functions. Taken together, the data suggest that steroids produced in the gonads and locally in the brain modulate higher-order cognition and executive functions.
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