Acquired Alterations in Nucleus Accumbens Responsiveness to a Cocaine-Paired Discriminative Stimulus Preceding Rats' Daily Cocaine Consumption.

ABSTRACT: Resumption of drug taking is a primary focus for substance use disorder research and can be triggered by drug-associated environmental stimuli. The Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) is a key brain region which guides motivated behavior and is implicated in resumption. There remains a pressing need to characterize NAc neurons' responsiveness to drug associated stimuli during withdrawal and abstinence. We recorded discriminative stimulus (DS) induced NAc activity via in vivo single-unit electrophysiology in rats that self-administered cocaine. Male and female rats implanted with a jugular catheter and a microwire array in NAc Core and Shell self-administered cocaine under control of a 30s auditory DS for 6 hours per session across 14 consecutive days. Rats acquired tone discrimination within 4

SUBMITTER: Estrin DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10470667 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature