Addictive Behavior Control Circuit Discovered in Rat Brains

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"we show that, in sign-trackers, stimulation of the neuronal pathway from the prelimbic cortex (PrL) to the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) decreases the incentive value of a reward-cue. In contrast, in goal-trackers, inhibition of the PrL-PVT pathway increases both the incentive value and dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens shell. The PrL-PVT pathway, therefore, exerts top-down control over the dopamine-dependent process of incentive salience attribution"

Addictive Behavior Control Circuit Discovered in Rat Brains | The Scientist Magazine®: Some rats showed a decrease in addictive tendencies when researchers activated the pathway, while the behavior of others became more addictive when the pathway was inhibited.

The paraventricular thalamus is a critical mediator of top-down control of cue-motivated behavior in rats