Résumé
Lateral habenula ( LHb ) , which is situated in the dorsal diencephalon of all vertebrates, is an important component of the habenular complex. The neural network outlined in previ-ous studies indicates that LHb acts not only as an important relay station to link the forebrain with the midbrain regions that in-volved in regulating behavioral responses to reward and mediating the transmassion of negative feedback information, but also is closely connected with 5-HT system. Indeed, recently studies demonstrate that experimental manipulations of LHb are followed by behavioural alterations in relation to drug addiction, reward-a-version responses, pain, sleep, depression and so on. This arti-cle mainly reviews the mechanisms of LHb involved in all kinds of physiological activities.