About Odessa Regional Medical Center Odessa Regional Medical Center is a Hospital in Odessa, TX.
The most important reward pathway in brain is the mesolimbic dopamine system. This circuit (VTA-NAc) is a key detector of a rewarding stimulus.
The Biochemistry of Addiction. Dopamine plays an important role in the reward system. Dopamine is a natural chemical in the brain that sends signals to the limbic system. When introduced into the limbic system, drugs either mimic dopamine or cause an overproduction of it in the brain. The reason normal actions that activate the brain reward system (food, drinking, sex, music, etc.) donât reprogram the brain for addiction is because they produce normal levels of dopamine.