Alcohol interacts with neurons within the ventral tegmental area in several ways.1
Opioid neurons synapse in the ventral tegmental area with GABAergic interneurons and with presynaptic nerve terminals of glutamate neurons.1 Inhibitory actions of opioids at mu-opioid receptors in the ventral tegmental area cause disinhibition of dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens.1,2
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