Back منطقة سقيفية بطنية Arabic Ventrální tegmentální oblast Czech Area tegmentalis ventralis German Área tegmental ventral Spanish تگمنتوم شکمی Persian Aire tegmentale ventrale French הטגמנטום הגחוני HE Area tegmentale ventrale Italian 腹側被蓋野 Japanese 배쪽 피개부 Korean
| Ventral tegmental area | |
|---|---|
 Transverse section of mid-brain at level of superior colliculi. (Tegmentum labeled at center right.) | |
| Details | |
| Part of | Midbrain |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | area tegmentalis ventralis |
| Acronym(s) | VTA |
| MeSH | D017557 |
| NeuroNames | 521 |
| NeuroLex ID | birnlex_1415 |
| Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy | |
The ventral tegmental area (VTA) (tegmentum is Latin for covering), also known as the ventral tegmental area of Tsai,[1] or simply ventral tegmentum, is a group of neurons located close to the midline on the floor of the midbrain. The VTA is the origin of the dopaminergic cell bodies of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system and other dopamine pathways; it is widely implicated in the drug and natural reward circuitry of the brain. The VTA plays an important role in a number of processes, including reward cognition (motivational salience, associative learning, and positively-valenced emotions) and orgasm,[2] among others, as well as several psychiatric disorders. Neurons in the VTA project to numerous areas of the brain, ranging from the prefrontal cortex to the caudal brainstem and several regions in between.
- ^ Phillipson OT (September 1979). "Afferent projections to the ventral tegmental area of Tsai and interfascicular nucleus: a horseradish peroxidase study in the rat". The Journal of Comparative Neurology. 187 (1): 117–43. doi:10.1002/cne.901870108. PMID 489776. S2CID 38687887.
- ^ Holstege G, Georgiadis JR, Paans AM, Meiners LC, van der Graaf FH, Reinders AA (October 2003). "Brain activation during human male ejaculation". The Journal of Neuroscience. 23 (27): 9185–93. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-27-09185.2003. PMC 6740826. PMID 14534252.