25
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      The Nucleus Accumbens: A Comprehensive Review.

      1 ,
      Stereotactic and functional neurosurgery

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPubMed
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          There is increasing interest among functional neurosurgeons in the potential for novel therapies to impact upon diseases beyond movement disorders and pain. A target of increasing interest is the nucleus accumbens (NAc), which has long been studied as a key brain region mediating a variety of behaviors, including reward and satisfaction. As such, focal modulation of the biology of the NAc with deep brain stimulation or novel biological therapies such as gene therapy or cell transplantation could have a major impact upon disorders such as depression and drug addiction. In order to both develop appropriate therapies and then deliver them in an effective fashion, a thorough understanding of the biology, physiology, and anatomy of the NAc is critical. Here, we review the existing literature regarding several areas critical to the development of new therapies, including the known pharmacology, physiology, and connectivity of the NAc, as well as evidence supporting the potential for various NAc surgical therapies in animal models. We then review the relevant anatomy of the NAc, with particular attention to the surgical anatomy, imaging, and targeting necessary to facilitate a proper localization and delivery of new agents to this region. The NAc is a fascinating and potentially rich target for stereotactic neurosurgical intervention, and analysis of existing information regarding all aspects of this structure should help potentiate therapeutic advances and reduce complications from future studies of neurosurgical intervention in this region for a variety of disorders. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

          Related collections

          Author and article information

          Journal
          Stereotact Funct Neurosurg
          Stereotactic and functional neurosurgery
          1423-0372
          1011-6125
          Feb 18 2015
          : 93
          : 2
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Laboratory of Molecular Neurosurgery, Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, N.Y., USA.
          Article
          000368279
          10.1159/000368279
          25720819
          a481c836-4f0d-47ad-970b-d1a39ea20b91
          History

          Comments

          Comment on this article