Chunk #35 — Nicotine and ethanol: nAChR-mediated neurotransmission and plasticity — Amygdala and hippocampal complex: learning and memory — Hippocampus
From an anatomical prospective, the hippocampus is integrally linked to brain circuits involved in addiction, receiving direct dopaminergic input from midbrain neurons and providing extensive efferent connections to the ventral striatum, amygdala, and PFC (Kelley, 2004). Therefore, alterations in structure or function in the hippocampus may be translated by other brain regions that drive maladaptive behaviors associated with addiction. Most studies investigating the involvement of nAChRs in synaptic plasticity have been conducted in the hippocampus.
