The Mesostriatal system is a term sometimes used to identify the
midbrain
The midbrain or mesencephalon is the forward-most portion of the brainstem and is associated with vision, hearing, motor control, sleep and wakefulness, arousal (alertness), and temperature regulation. The name comes from the Greek ''mesos'', " ...
dopamine projections into the
striatum and
cortex
Cortex or cortical may refer to:
Biology
* Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ
** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain''
*** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...
. It has been described as a combination of the
mesolimbic
The mesolimbic pathway, sometimes referred to as the reward pathway, is a dopaminergic pathway in the brain. The pathway connects the ventral tegmental area in the midbrain to the ventral striatum of the basal ganglia in the forebrain. The ventra ...
and
nigrostriatal The nigrostriatal pathway is a bilateral dopaminergic pathway in the brain that connects the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) in the midbrain with the dorsal striatum (i.e., the caudate nucleus and putamen) in the forebrain. It is one of the fo ...
dopamine projections, and has been described as being partially asymmetric.
Research
It has been referred to in the context of
α-melanocyte stimulating hormone
α-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) is an endogenous peptide hormone and neuropeptide of the melanocortin family, with a tridecapeptide structure and the amino acid sequence Ac-Ser-Tyr-Ser-Met-Glu-His-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly-Lys-Pro-Val-NH2. I ...
s effect on
dopamine activity in the mesostriatal system. Research identifying
cholinergic
Cholinergic agents are compounds which mimic the action of acetylcholine and/or butyrylcholine. In general, the word " choline" describes the various quaternary ammonium salts containing the ''N'',''N'',''N''-trimethylethanolammonium cati ...
projections into these mesostriatal nuclei have been performed, revealing that the midbrain dopaminergic nuclei receive projections from the
pedunculopontine tegmentum and laterodorsal pontine tegmentum. The mesostriatal system has also been implicated in reward learning, coding predictions. This anatomical classification has also been used in the context of
parkinson research.
References
{{Reflist
Central nervous system pathways