AUTHOR=Becker-Krail Darius D. , Walker William H. , Nelson Randy J. 

TITLE=The Ventral Tegmental Area and Nucleus Accumbens as Circadian Oscillators: Implications for Drug Abuse and Substance Use Disorders

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.886704

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2022.886704

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=<p>Circadian rhythms convergently evolved to allow for optimal synchronization of individuals’ physiological and behavioral processes with the Earth’s 24-h periodic cycling of environmental light and temperature. Whereas the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is considered the primary pacemaker of the mammalian circadian system, many extra-SCN oscillatory brain regions have been identified to not only exhibit sustainable rhythms in circadian molecular clock function, but also rhythms in overall region activity/function and mediated behaviors. In this review, we present the most recent evidence for the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) to serve as extra-SCN oscillators and highlight studies that illustrate the functional significance of the VTA’s and NAc’s inherent circadian properties as they relate to reward-processing, drug abuse, and vulnerability to develop substance use disorders (SUDs).</p>