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Chapter 2
Midbrain:
VTA/SN
Striatum
vmPFC
/OFC
aPFC
dlPFC
M1/PMC
Putamen
VS
Ventral
striatum
Striato-nigral-striatal connections
Cortico-cortical
connections
Caudate
nucleus
Striato-nigral-striatal
connections
Cortico-striatal
connections
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Figure 2.1
The organization of the midbrain, striatum and prefrontal cortex in cortico-striatal-nigral circuits
Three ways by which information about rewards (red /orange), cognitive control (green) and actions (blue) can be integrated. Information can be integrated
at the cortical level, by direct cortico-cortical connections, or at the level of the striatum by direct cortico-striatal interactions, e.g. the aPFC projecting to not
only to the anterior (orange), but also to posterior parts of the caudate nucleus (green) or by striato-nigral-striatal connections, at the level of the midbrain.
Note that the regions in this figure are scaled to relative importance to the work in this thesis, and are not true to anatomical size.