Neural Mechanisms of Ventral Pallidum Reward

Bowling Green State Univ Bowling Green, Bowling Green OH

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Abstract

The ventral pallidum is a key brain structure involved in opiate, psychostimulant and food reward. Preliminary studies in our labs have shown that the gabaa receptor antagonist biccuculine increases food intake as well as produces a conditioned place preference when infused into the ventral pallidum. The purpose of the proposed experiments is to examine the putative link between biccuculine reward in the ventral pallidum with opiate reward in the same structure This will be accomplished by 1) carefully examining the pharmacology of opiate and biccuculine reward in the ventral pallidum, and 2) testing to see if the doses of biccuculine and opiates that are rewarding in the ventral pallidum are also able to increase food intake and hedonic tastes reactivity scores during feeding tests. These experiment will hopefully provide additional insights into the neurobiology of opiate reward.