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Review
. 2020 Jun 30:14:37.
doi: 10.3389/fncir.2020.00037. eCollection 2020.

The Nucleus Accumbens: A Common Target in the Comorbidity of Depression and Addiction

Le Xu  1 , Jun Nan  2 , Yan Lan  1
Affiliations
Review

The Nucleus Accumbens: A Common Target in the Comorbidity of Depression and Addiction

Le Xu et al. Front Neural Circuits. .

Abstract

The comorbidity of depression and addiction has become a serious public health issue, and the relationship between these two disorders and their potential mechanisms has attracted extensive attention. Numerous studies have suggested that depression and addiction share common mechanisms and anatomical pathways. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) has long been considered a key brain region for regulating many behaviors, especially those related to depression and addiction. In this review article, we focus on the association between addiction and depression, highlighting the potential mediating role of the NAc in this comorbidity via the regulation of changes in the neural circuits and molecular signaling. To clarify the mechanisms underlying this association, we summarize evidence from overlapping reward neurocircuitry, the resemblance of cellular and molecular mechanisms, and common treatments. Understanding the interplay between these disorders should help guide clinical comorbidity prevention and the search for a new target for comorbidity treatment.

Keywords: addiction; comorbidity; deep brain stimulation; depression; dopamine; nucleus accumbens.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic of brain circuitry implicated in the comorbidity of depression and addiction. Dopaminergic (DA; red), glutamatergic (Glu; green), and orexin neuron (yellow) inputs converge on γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic (blue) neurons in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) to coordinate and regulate behaviors of depression and addiction. BLA, basolateral amygdala; LH, lateral hypothalamus; MDT, mediodorsal thalamus; PFC, prefrontal cortex; HPC, hippocampus; VP, ventral pallidum; VTA, ventral tegmental area.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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