The pharmacology of catecholamine involvement in the neural mechanisms of reward

Abstract

The neurophysiological basis of motivation became a major research goal with the discovery of brain self-stimulation. Correlative anatomical and neurochemical mapping of self-stimulation sites led to the catecholamine theory of self-stimulation. The present review summarizes the pharmacological evidence pertinent to this theory and formulates conclusions on the functional role of catecholamine systems in behavior reinforced by electrical brain-stimulation.