Optogenetic inhibition of cortical afferents in the nucleus accumbens simultaneously prevents cue-induced transient synaptic potentiation and cocaine-seeking behavior

• Published in: Brain Structure and Function Vol. 221; no. 3; pp. 1681 - 1689
• Main Authors: Stefanik, Michael T., Kupchik, Yonatan M., Kalivas, Peter W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.04.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adeno-associated virus; Afferent Pathways - cytology; Afferent Pathways - drug effects; Afferent Pathways - physiology; Animals; Behavior; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain; Cell Biology; Cocaine; Cocaine - administration & dosage; Conditioning, Operant - drug effects; Conditioning, Operant - physiology; Cues; Dendritic Spines - drug effects; Drug-Seeking Behavior - physiology; Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials - drug effects; Male; Motivation; Neurology; Neurons - cytology; Neurons - drug effects; Neurons - physiology; Neurosciences; Nucleus Accumbens - cytology; Nucleus Accumbens - drug effects; Nucleus Accumbens - physiology; Optogenetics; Original Article; Prefrontal Cortex - cytology; Prefrontal Cortex - drug effects; Prefrontal Cortex - physiology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Self Administration; Nucleus accumbens; Dendritic spines; Reinstatement; Cocaine seeking; Archaerhodopsin; Optogenetic; Prelimbic prefrontal cortex

Animal models of relapse reveal that the motivation to seek drug is regulated by enduring morphological and physiological changes in the nucleus accumbens, as well as transient synaptic potentiation in the accumbens core (NAcore) that parallels drug-seeking behavior. The current study sought to exam...