(636): Affective analgesia following carbachol microinjections in anterior and posterior ventral tegmental area

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Activation of mesolimbic reward circuitry is postulated to preferentially suppress affective reactions to noxious stimuli (affective analgesia). The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is the origin of mesolimbic projections that control the brain reward circuitry. VTA dopamine neurons are activated via cholinergic inputs, and we observed that microinjections of the acetylcholine agonist carbachol suppressed vocalizations of rats that occur following administration of brief (1 sec) tail-shocks (vocalization afterdischarges = VAD).