REWARD & PUNISHMENT SYSTEM

SRU
3.1 THIRD YEAR
05-09-2023
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lecture, students will be
able to:-
• Define and describe various phenomena
and basic concepts of “ REWAED SYSTEM”
neuroanatomy related to psychiatry.
 Comparisons of Dopamine
Release

Ferguson, 2018
Comparison by activity of how much dopamine is released after certain activities and drug use. Opiates, including heroin, are up there
with other drugs listed.
The brain actually responds to this constant “flood” of dopamine by decreasing the number of receptors for dopamine … so it becomes
more and more difficult to feel even baseline without flooding your brain (with drug use).
NORMAL BRAIN
BRAIN ON DRUGS
 To Get at
Emotion,
Go
Deep...
Amygdala is
deep within the most elemental parts
of the brain.
Where can you find amygdala in brain?
Cognition and Emotion
The brain’s shortcut for emotions
 Brain Structures That
Mediate Emotion

Hypothalamus
Limbic System
limbic cortex
amygdala
Brainstem
 Hypothalamus (Under the thalamus)
• What is it?
– A deep brain structure
made up of a number of
nuclei
• Where is it?
– Base of the fore brain
– Behind the optic chiasm
– Forms part of the walls
of the 3rd ventricle
– Contiguous with
infundibular stalk
to pituitary
Hypothalamus

• What does it do?

– Integration of emotional response
– Forebrain, brain stem, spinal cord
– Sexual response
– Endocrine responses
• neurosecretory
• oxytocin, vasopressin
Hypothalamus

• How do we know that it integrates

emotions and behaviors?
– Ablation studies
– Stimulation studies
– Primary Emotions: Fear and Anger
Ablation Studies

• Cats
• Remove cerebral
hemispheres: rage
• Remove
hemispheres and
hypothalamus: no
rage
Stimulation Studies on Cats

• Lateral hypothalamic stimulation:

rage, attack
• Other areas: defensive, fear
Hypothalamus:
Routes of information
• Input from: cortex (relatively
unprocessed)
• Output to Reticular Formation
 Brainstem: Reticular Formation
• Brainstem web
• 100+ cell groups
• Controls
– sleep-wake rhythm
– Arousal
– Attention
RETICULAR FORMATION
• Diffuse mass of
neurons & nerve
fibers that make
the core of the
brain stem.
• They run through
the medulla
oblongata, pons &
midbrain.
Reticular Formation

• Receives hypothalamic and cortical

output
– separate descending projections that run
parallel to volitional motor system
• Output to somatic and autonomic
effector systems
– cardiac, respiratory, bowels, bladder
– Coordinates brain-body response
 Caudal Medulla Oblongata

Lat. RN: discrete, well defined. Located

near lateral surface from caudal medulla to Ventral RN: caudal 1/2 of
mid olivary nucleus level. medulla. Has small and large
Paramedian RN: adjacent to midline. neurons.
Entire length of medulla.
 Midbrain

Pons

Medulla
Paramedian Reticular Nucleus

Ventral Reticular Nucleus Lateral Reticular Nucleus

 Pons

Caudal Pontine RN: extension of

magnocellular nucleus Parvicellular RN: Located in
lateral tegmentum. Extension of
Rostral Pontine RN: lacks large Parvicellular nucleus in medulla
neurons
 Midbrain

Mesencephalic RN: Consists of scattered cells in

area bounded by tectum, Red nucleus and
ascending lemniscus.
 RETICULAR FORMATION –AFFERENT & EFFERENT CONNECTIONS OF RETICULAR
FORMATION

Optic, auditory
Cerebellum Sensory olfactory and
taste pathways
Pathway
Substancia Thalamu s
Cortex Nigra s
Reticula Red Reticul
r Nucleus Cerebellu ar
Cortex
SC Formati m
Format
on Tectu ion SC
(Touch, pain,
Thalamus, m temperature,
Corpus kinesthestic
Hypothalamu Striatum
sensation)

s
EFFERENT CONNECTION TO AFFERENT CONNECTION TO
THE RETICULAR FORMATION THE RETICULAR FORMATION
FUNCTIONAL DIVISIONS OF
RETICULAR FORMATION RETICULAR
ACTIVATION SYSTEM
(RAS)
Name
given to

RETICULAR FORMATION & ITS CONNECTIONS

It’s believed to be the

center of arousal and
motivation in mammals
(including humans).

ASCENDING RETICULAR DESCENDING RETICULAR

ACTIVATION SYSTEM ACTIVATION SYSTEM
RETICULAR FORMATION: FUNCTIONS

• REGULATION OF SLEEP, thus, the maintenance of

the SLEEPING cycle or CIRCADIAN rhythm;

• Filtering of incoming stimuli to discriminate

irrelevant background stimuli;

• It’s crucial to maintain the state of

CONSCIOUSNESS related to the circadian
rhythm – MELATONIN effects on RAS;

• ANS control – respiratory rate, heart rate, GIT

activity.
FUNCTIONS

An intimate & diffuse mixtures of nerve cells & their

functions

Limbic cortex is connected with reticular formation

for
ALERTING PROCESS

Certain drugs like barbiturates & some anaesthetics

supress the transmission along reticular formation
FUNCTIONS

Many drugs have a tranquillising effect or produce

unconscious by impeding transmission through this
system

Damage to reticular formation in man brings about a

prolonged COMA

Damage to lower brain stem is serious as R.F in brain

stem is concerned with vital functions e.g. breathing
system & control of heart rate and blood pressure
Limbic System

• Higher Cortical
Processes
(“Secondary
Emotions”)
• Why do humans feel
embarrassed with
flatulence and dogs
don’t?
Limbic System

• Link between higher

cortical activity and the
“lower” systems that
control emotional
behavior
• Limbic Lobe
• Deep lying structures
– amygdala
– hippocampus
– mamillary bodies
Limbic Lobe

• What is it?
– Cingulate gyrus
– Parahippocampal
gyrus
• Where is it?
– Encircles the
upper brain stem
– around corpus
callosum
 Introduction
• Limbic from Latin word “limbus”
• Means “border “ or “edge”
• Concerned with emotions (1937)
• James Papez , an American physician, described Papez
Circuit, anatomy of emotions.
• According to Papez, hippocampus,, cingulate gyrus,
hypothalamus and anterior thalamic nuclei with their
interconnections make a circuit which elaborates the
emotions.
COMPONENTS----- TWO GROUPS
 THE NERVE CELL COMPONENTS  THE PATHWAYS
1. The medial olfactory area i. The fornix
2. The indusium griseum(a ii. The mamillothalmic tract
remnant of hippocampus and iii. The mamillotegmental tract
lies on sup.surface of corpus iv. The stria medullaris thalami
callosum)
3. The cingulate gyrus v. The stria terminalis
4. The parahippocampal gyrus vi. The cingulum
5. The hippocampus vii. The anterior commissure
6. The amygdaloid body viii. The medial forebrain bundle
7. The insular cortex ix. The medial and lateral
longitudinal striae
8. The dentate gyrus
9. The mammillary bodies
10. The septal Area
Limbic System Components
 Limbic System
• What does it do?
– Integrates information from cortical association areas
• How do we know this? Kluver - Bucy Syndrome
 Kluver - Bucy Syndrome
• Removal of
temporal lobe in
animals
• Pre-op
– aggressive, raging
• Post-op
– docile, orally fixated,
increased sexual
and compulsive
behaviors
Kluver- Bucy Syndrome in Humans

• Severe temporal lobe damage

– tumors, surgery, trauma
– Visual Agnosia
– Apathy/ placidity
– Hyperorality
– Disturbance in sexual function
(hypersexuality)
– Dementia, aphasia, amnesia
Additional Structures in Limbic
System

• Hippocampus
• learning/ retrieval of
memory
• Circuit of Papez
Circuit of Papez
• First localization of Emotion
– (Overemphasized role of
hippocampus)
– (Left out the amygdala)
Amygdala

• What is it?
– Nuclear mass
• Where is it?
– Buried in the white
matter of the
temporal lobe, in
front of the
hippocampus
Amygdala

• “Almond”
Amygdala: What Does It Do?

• Connects to:
– olfactory bulb and cortex
– brainstem and hypothalamus
– cortical sensory association areas
– “Emotional Association Area”
of, the N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)

Amygdala and Learned Emotions

• Learned fear: rats and classical

conditioning
– Conditioned emotional response
• Abolish fear response
– cut central nucleus from amygdala OR
– infuse NMDA antagonist into amygdala
during learning.
NMDA stands for (the N-Methyl-D-aspartate
receptor (NMDAR) Antagonists
ADDICTION??
• Addiction is a complex brain disease characterized by
compulsive, at times uncontrollable, drug craving, seeking, and
use that persist despite potentially devastating consequences.
• Addiction is also a developmental disease; that is, it usually
starts in adolescence or even childhood and can last a lifetime if
untreated.
• Our brains reward certain behaviors such as eating or
procreating—registering these as pleasurable activities that we
want to repeat. Drug addiction taps into these vital mechanisms
geared for our survival
What parts of the brain are affected by
drug use?
• Drugs can alter important
brain areas that are
necessary for life-
sustaining functions and
can drive the compulsive
drug use that marks
addiction. Brain areas
affected by drug use
include:
National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018
 How do drugs produce pleasure?
Pleasure or euphoria—the high from
drugs—is still poorly understood, but
probably involves surges of chemical
signaling compounds including the body’s
natural opioids (endorphins) and other
neurotransmitters in parts of the basal
ganglia (the reward circuit). When some
drugs are taken, they can cause surges of
these neurotransmitters much greater
than the smaller bursts naturally produced
in association with healthy rewards like
Simple activities in everyday life can produce
eating, hearing or playing music, creative
pursuits, or social interaction.
small bursts of neurotransmitters in the brain
bringing pleasurable feelings. Drugs can
It was once thought that surges of the
hijack that process.
neurotransmitter dopamine produced by
drugs directly caused the euphoria, but
scientists now think dopamine has more
to do with getting us to repeat pleasurable
activities (reinforcement) than with
producing pleasure directly.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24955852
 Getting the Message Across

Some drugs primarily affect one neurotransmitter or class of

neurotransmitters. For example, prescription opioids and heroin produce
effects that are similar to (but more pronounced than) those produced by
the neurotransmitters endorphin and enkephalin: increased analgesia,
decreased alertness, and slowed respiration. Other drugs disrupt more than
one type of neurotransmitter. Cocaine, for example, attaches to structures
that regulate dopamine, leading to increases in dopamine activity and
producing euphoria; it also produces changes in norepinephrine and
glutamate systems that cause stimulant effects.
HOW DRUGS AFFECT SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION?
Because a neurotransmitter can stimulate or inhibit neurons that
produce different neurotransmitters, a drug that disrupts one
neurotransmitter can have secondary impacts on others. For example,
nicotine stimulates cells directly by activating their receptors for
acetylcholine, and indirectly by inducing higher levels of glutamate, a
neurotransmitter that acts as an accelerator for neuron activity
throughout the brain. A key effect that all drugs that cause dependence
and addiction appear to have in common—a dramatic increase in
dopamine signaling in a brain area called the nucleus accumbens
(NAc), leading to euphoria and a desire to repeat the experience—is in
many cases an indirect one.
Reward
Cocaine causes pleasurable feelings that motivate drug use by
sharply elevating dopamine concentrations in the synapses of the
reward system
Cocaine raises synaptic dopamine levels by preventing dopamine
transporters from removing dopamine from the synapse and by
stimulating dopamine-releasing neurons to release dopamine that
they normally hold in reserve.
Cocaine-induced increases in dopamine signaling promote
repeated cocaine use by increasing the activity of dopamine type
D1 receptors in a circuit that supports the conversion of urges into
action, while suppressing the activity of dopamine type D2
receptors in an opposing circuit, and by increasing the activity of
dopamine type D3 receptors.
RECOVERY

Recovery of brain dopamine transporters in methamphetamine (METH) abuser after

protracted abstinence. With treatment that keeps abusers off METH, drug-altered brains
can recover at least some of their former functioning, as these images illustrate. Using
positron emission tomography, we can measure the level of dopamine transporters
(DAT) in the striatal region of the brain as an indicator of dopamine system function.
The METH abuser (center) shows greatly reduced levels of DAT (yellow and green),
which return to nearly normal following prolonged abstinence (red and yellow). Source:
Volkow, N.D., et al. 2001. Journal of Neuroscience 21:9414–18.
Dopamine/Opioids: Brain’s incentive
reward systems
Activation of reward center produces a “wanting”
and “liking” response
1. Fibers in the structure
pointed by arrow terminate in
A. Septal nuclei
B. Anterior nucleus of thalamus
C. Mammillary bodies
D. All of the above
2. With respect to the inferior horn of the ventricle, the
Amygdala is _________?
A. Medial or rostral
B. Lateral
C. Posterior or caudal

3. What structure on the ventral surface of the brain is the best MCQ 1
indicator of the position of the amygdala?
A. The parahippocampal gyrus.
B. The internal carotid artery.
C. The posterior cerebral artery.
D. The uncus.

4. The thickened portion of the septum pellucidum

(arrow)represents
A. The fornix.
B. The septal nuclei.
C. Both.
D. Neither.

5. In the accompanying diagram of the interhemispheric

surface of the cerebral hemisphere, which letter corresponds
to the cingulate gyrus?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
Key
1. D (Not only does the hippocampus receive a wide variety of sensory input from temporal and cingulate
cortex, it also projects to a large numbeof areas through the fornix (arrow).).
2. A (The amygdala is immediately medial and rostral to the inferior horn of the lateral ventricle.)
3. D (The uncus is the most conspicuous landmark and directly overlies the amygdala.)
4. B (The septal nuclei are just above the anterior commissure and constitute a substantial volume of gray
matter at the base of the septum pellucidum.).
5. 4.
TEST YOURSELF
Fill in the diagram
KEY FIG 1