Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward
Figure 6
Effects of sucrose, saccharin or cocaine consumption on ventral striatal dopamine levels.
a, Consumption of sweet solutions turns on midbrain dopamine cells that projects to the ventral striatum, possibly through a short, two-relay circuit in the brain stem [80]. In contrast, cocaine directly increases dopamine levels in the ventral striatum by blocking dopamine uptake. The symbol+indicates pharmacological or sensory stimulation and the symbol x, intermediate synapses. NST, nucleus of the solitary tract; PBN, parabrachial nucleus; VS, ventral striatum; VTA, ventral tegmental area. b, Mean (±SEM) levels of extra-cellular dopamine in the ventral striatum (expressed as percent change from baseline) during sucrose, saccharin or cocaine intake. These results are based on a meta-analysis of the literature (see Materials and Methods). Values that appear on the right of symbols represent sucrose or saccharin concentrations (in %) and cocaine doses (in mg/kg).