Experience-dependent effects of cocaine self-administration/conditioning on prefrontal and accumbens dopamine responses. Behav Neurosci 2007 Apr;121(2):389-400
Date
05/02/2007Pubmed ID
17469929Pubmed Central ID
PMC2565684DOI
10.1037/0735-7044.121.2.389Scopus ID
2-s2.0-34249675774 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 16 CitationsAbstract
Experiments were performed to examine the effects of cocaine self-administration and conditioning experience on operant behavior, locomotor activity, and nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) dopamine (DA) responses. Sensory cues were paired with alternating cocaine and nonreinforcement during 12 (limited training) or 40 (long-term training) daily operant sessions. After limited training, NAcc DA responses to cocaine were significantly enhanced in the presence of cocaine-associated cues compared with nonreward cues and significantly depressed after cocaine-paired cues accompanied a nonreinforced lever response. PFC DA levels were generally nonresponsive to cues after the same training duration. However, after long-term training, cocaine-associated cues increased the magnitude of cocaine-stimulated PFC DA levels significantly over levels observed with nonreinforcement cues. Conversely, conditioned cues no longer influenced NAcc DA levels after long-term training. In addition, cocaine-stimulated locomotor activity was enhanced by cocaine-paired cues after long-term, but not after limited, training. Findings demonstrate that cue-induced cocaine expectation exerts a significant impact on dopaminergic and behavioral systems, progressing from mesolimbic to mesocortical regions and from latent to patent behaviors as cocaine and associative experiences escalate.
Author List
Ikegami A, Olsen CM, D'Souza MS, Duvauchelle CLAuthor
Christopher M. Olsen PhD Associate Professor in the Pharmacology and Toxicology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsCalibration
Cocaine
Cocaine-Related Disorders
Conditioning, Operant
Cues
Dopamine
Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors
Food
Male
Microdialysis
Nucleus Accumbens
Prefrontal Cortex
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Reward
Self Administration