Hippocampal Accumbens Pathway Drives Memories of Reward Seeking Behavior

BrainPost, 26 February 2019

Being able to recall specific memories of where to find food – a reward-seeking behavior – is a fundamental part of survival. In mammals, pyramidal cells in the dorsal hippocampus store memories of the environment around us. The nucleus accumbens (part of the ventral striatum) plays an important role in connecting memory and the motor system to process reward-driven behaviors such as eating. Research suggests suggesting a functional connection between the dorsal hippocampus and the nucleus accumbens, however, little is known about whether hippocampal pyramidal cells and nucleus accumbens neurons are connected to one another and how they interact. Read more.