Different function of pedunculopontine GABA and glutamate receptors in nucleus accumbens dopamine, pedunculopontine glutamate and operant discriminative behavior.

The nucleus accumbens, as the main input structure of the ventral basal ganglia loop, is described as a limbic-motor interface. Dopamine input to nucleus accumbens modulates processing of concurrent glutamate input from limbic structures carrying motor and motivational information. There is evidence that these dopamine/glutamate interactions are fundamentally involved in response selection processes.

Modulatory role of food, feeding regime and physical exercise on body weight and insulin resistance.

Energy intake and expenditure is a highly conserved and well-controlled system with a bias toward energy intake. In times of abundant food supply, individuals tend to overeat and in consequence to increase body weight, sometimes to the point of clinical obesity. Obesity is a disease that is not only characterized by enormous body weight but also by rising morbidity for diabetes type II and cardiovascular complications.

Effects of ibotenate pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus lesions on exploratory behaviour in the open field.

The pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg) as part of the mesencephalic locomotor region is discussed to be involved in motor activity. In this study, we examined whether the PPTg plays a role in exploratory behaviour. Therefore, we compared non-habituated motor behaviour of PPTg lesioned rats with sham lesioned rats under spontaneous, dizocilpine (MK-801) (0.

Glutamate and GABA modulate dopamine in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus.

The pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg) has an important anatomical position connecting basal ganglia and limbic systems with motor execution structures in the pons and spinal cord. It receives glutamatergic and GABAergic input and has additional reciprocal connections with mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons, suggesting that the PPTg plays a key role in frontostriatal information processing. In vivo microdialysis in freely moving rats, in combination with behavioral analysis, was used in this study to investigate whether the dopaminergic input can be modulated at the level of the PPTg via N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-isoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA) or GABA(B) receptors.