Extended amygdala, conditioned withdrawal and memory consolidation

• Published in: Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry Vol. 113; p. 110435
• Main Authors: Baidoo, Nana, Leri, Francesco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Inc 08.03.2022
• Subjects: Amygdala - physiopathology; Animals; Behavior, Addictive - physiopathology; Conditioned withdrawal; Conditioning, Classical - drug effects; Cues; Drug-Seeking Behavior; Extended amygdala; Humans; Memory consolidation; Memory Consolidation - physiology; Neural Pathways; Nucleus Accumbens - physiopathology; Opioid addiction; Opioid withdrawal; Opioid-Related Disorders - physiopathology; Opioids; Rats; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - physiopathology; Memory consolidation; Opioid addiction; Conditioned withdrawal; Extended amygdala; Opioids; Opioid withdrawal
• ISSN: 0278-5846; 1878-4216; 1878-4216
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2021.110435

Opioid withdrawal can be associated to environmental cues through classical conditioning. Exposure to these cues can precipitate a state of conditioned withdrawal in abstinent subjects, and there are suggestions that conditioned withdrawal can perpetuate the addiction cycle in part by promoting the storage of memories. This review discusses evidence supporting the hypothesis that conditioned withdrawal facilitates memory consolidation by activating a neurocircuitry that involves the extended amygdala. Specifically, the central amygdala, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and the nucleus accumbens shell interact functionally during withdrawal, mediate expression of conditioned responses, and are implicated in memory consolidation. From this perspective, the extended amygdala could be a neural pathway by which drug-seeking behaviour performed during a state of conditioned withdrawal is more likely to become habitual and persistent. •Conditioned withdrawal plays a role in opioid addiction.•There is evidence that conditioned withdrawal enhances memory consolidation.•Conditioned withdrawal modulates memory consolidation through the extended amygdala.