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Abstract #1927

The Medial Forebrain Bundle - A Forgotten Structure in the Human Brain Identified with Statistical Fiber Mapping

Burkhard Mdler1, Thomas E. Schlpfer2, 3, Jaak Panksepp4, Volker A. Coenen1

1Neurosurgery, University Bonn, Bonn, NRW, Germany; 2Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Bonn, Bonn, NRW, Germany; 3Psychiatry and Mental Health , Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; 4Comparative Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, Washington State University - College of Veterinary Medicine, Pullmann, WA, United States


The neuroanatomy of the MFB shows remarkable differences between rodents and humans. In rodents the MFB is large but a compact heterogeneous pathway that is a massive connection highway for integrating lower and higher brain functions whereas in humans the MFB depicts as a truly bipartite structure. It is evident that the MFB contains the major brain system that is responsible for a variety of drug addictions. Thus, one could imagine that inadvertently caused stimulation of the MFB during STN DBS-stimulation could be addictive but also the possibility of localized DBS of the slMFB may skirt some of the other brain processes that produce addiction.