consequences of nicotine administration is not completely understood. For example, although nicotine stimulates the firing of DA neurons through actions in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and increases release of DA from the midbrain projections to the NAc through actions on terminal nAChRs, local infusion of nicotine into the VTA has much greater effects on locomotion and self-administration than local infusion into the NAc (Ferrari et al., 2002; Ikemoto et al., 2006). Recent studies have, however, suggested that nAChRs in the NAc are important for the motivational effects of nicotine (association between stimulus and drug intake), rather than the primary reinforcing effects of the drug (desire for drug) (Brunzell et al., 2010). Additionally, it is clear that cholinergic interneurons and their regulation of muscarinic receptor signaling are also critical components in striatum-dependent decision making (see, e.g. (Goldberg et al., 2012)).
