Where is the reward system?

The term reward system refers to a group of structures that are

activated by rewarding or reinforcing stimuli (e.g. addictive drugs).
When exposed to a rewarding stimulus, the brain responds by
increasing release of the neurotransmitter dopamine and thus the
structures associated with the reward system are found along the
major dopamine pathways in the brain. The mesolimbic dopamine
pathway is thought to play a primary role in the reward system. It
connects the ventral tegmental area (VTA), one of the principal
dopamine-producing areas in the brain, with the nucleus accumbens,
an area found in the ventral striatum that is strongly associated with
motivation and reward. Another major dopamine pathway, the
mesocortical pathway, travels from the VTA to the cerebral cortex and
is also considered part of the reward system. So, the reward system is
generally considered to be made up of the main dopamine pathways
of the brain (especially the mesolimbic pathway) and structures like
the VTA and nucleus accumbens, which are connected by these
dopamine pathways.

What is the reward system and what does it do?

In the 1950s, James Olds and Peter Milner implanted electrodes in the
brains of rats and allowed the animals to press a lever to receive a
mild burst of electrical stimulation to their brains. Olds and Milner
discovered that there were certain areas of the brain that rats would
repeatedly press the lever to receive stimulation to. They found a
region known as the septal area, which lies just below the front end of
the corpus callosum, to be the most sensitive. One of the rats in their
experiment pressed a lever 7500 times in 12 hours to receive electrical
stimulation here.

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MORE ABOUT THE REWARD SYSTEM.
Olds and Milner's experiments were significant because they
appeared to verify the existence of brain structures that are devoted to
mediating rewarding experiences. For, if the rats were lever-pressing
repeatedly to receive stimulation to these areas, it suggested they
were enjoying the experience. Subsequent studies attempted to more
thoroughly map out these "reward areas," and it was discovered that
some of the most sensitive areas are situated along the medial
forebrain bundle. The medial forebrain bundle is a large collection of
nerve fibers that travels between the VTA and the lateral
hypothalamus, making many other connections along the way. Some
areas of the medial forebrain bundle were found to be so sensitive
that rats would choose receiving stimulation to them over food or sex.

Eventually it was recognized that dopamine neurons are activated

during this type of rewarding brain stimulation, and researchers
found that they could cause rats to stop lever pressing by
administering a dopamine antagonist (a drug that blocks the effects of
dopamine). In other words, without the activity of dopamine the rats
were less likely to find brain stimulation reinforcing, and so they
stopped pressing the lever altogether. Other evidence, such as the
discovery that dopamine antagonists seemed to reduce the rewarding
qualities of drugs like amphetamines, further supported the
importance of dopamine's role in reward.

Based on brain stimulation experiments and the increasingly

recognized importance of dopamine in reward, attention began to
turn toward major dopamine pathways as playing an important part
in mediating rewarding experiences. The medial forebrain bundle
connects the dopamine-rich VTA with the nucleus accumbens and is
considered part of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. It eventually
became recognized that, when we use an addictive drug or experience
something otherwise rewarding, dopamine neurons in the VTA are
activated. These neurons project to the nucleus accumbens via the
mesolimbic dopamine pathway, and their activation causes dopamine
levels in the nucleus accumbens to rise. Furthermore, disrupting this
pathway in rodents that had become addicted to pressing a lever for
brain stimulation or a drug reward caused them to stop lever-
pressing, suggesting these areas are crucially important to the
occurrence of addictive behavior.

As the mesolimbic dopamine pathway is activated whenever we use

an addictive drug, it has come to be considered the primary pathway
of the reward system. However, dopaminergic projections from the
VTA travel to the frontal cortex as well; they comprise the
mesocortical dopamine pathway. These fibers are also thought to be
involved in reward and motivation, although their contribution to
rewarding experiences is less clear than that of the mesolimbic
pathway.

It's important to note that since the earliest research on the reward
system our perspective on dopamine's role in reward has changed
slightly. At one time dopamine was considered to be the
neurotransmitter responsible for causing the experience of pleasure,
but it is now thought to be involved with aspects of reward other than
the direct experience of enjoyment. While the details are still being
worked out, some have suggested dopamine is involved in encoding
memories about a reward (e.g. how to get it, where it was obtained)
and attributing importance to environmental stimuli that are
associated with the reward.

While the reward system is implicated in pleasurable and potentially

addictive behaviors, the substrates of pleasure are not confined to the
structures mentioned above and dopamine is not the only
neurotransmitter involved. The reward system refers to a group of
structures that seem to be frequently involved in mediating
rewarding experiences, but the actual network dedicated to creating
the feelings we associate with these experiences is likely more
complex.