CART peptide and the mesolimbic dopamine system.

Over the past decade, CART peptide has been commonly associated with the rewarding and reinforcing properties of drugs of abuse and natural rewards such as food. The mesolimbic dopamine system is the predominant pathway involved in mediating reward and reinforcement. Many behavioral and neuroanatomical studies have been conducted in order to further elucidate the importance of CART-containing neurons within the mesolimbic dopamine system. This chapter will review the current knowledge of the localization, synaptic connectivity and neurochemical content of CART peptidecontaining neurons in nuclei of the mesolimbic reward pathway. These nuclei include the nucleus accumbens (NA), ventral midbrain, and the lateral hypothalamus (LH). In conclusion, an interconnected CART-containing loop between the NA, ventral midbrain and LH has evolved from these neuroanatomical studies that may have functional implications for CART peptide's involvement in reward and reinforcement.