[6] Reinforcing electrical stimulation of the MFB using this method has shown to cause a release in dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.

Other microdialysis studies have shown that the presence of natural reinforcers such as food, water, and a sex partner cause a release in dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.

However, the anatomical definition of the tract system targeted by deep brain stimulation in humans has been intensively discussed and may indeed form the anterior limb of the internal capsule (and not the medial forebrain bundle proper, as defined in rodents).

[9] Subjects that receive the deep brain stimulation treatment in the medial forebrain bundle have been reported to have high remission rates with normative functioning and no adverse side effects.

Based on the sensitivity of the response from the subject, a level of inference on the drug abuse potential can be made.

In animal studies studying the effects of Levodopa-induced dyskinesia, a major complication in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, lesions in the medial forebrain bundle show a maximum level of severity and sensitivity to levodopa and provide insight into the mechanisms of Levodopa-induced dyskinesia.