The role of the mesoaccumbens dopamine system in ethanol reinforcement: studies using the techniques of microinjection and voltammetry.

Microinjection of dopamine agonists and antagonists into both the n. accumbens and the ventral tegmental area were shown to alter ethanol reinforced responding. These data support that of others researchers in showning that the mesolimbic pathway is involved in the mechanisms underlying ethanol reinforcement. Studies using microvoltammetry suggest that ethanol's access into this pathway is not by direct stimulation of DA release from the terminal fields in the n. accumbens.