Accumbal Dopamine and Acetylcholine Dynamics during Psychostimulant Sensitization.

ABSTRACT: Behavioral sensitization to repeated psychostimulant exposure is believed to contribute to the development of addiction. Nucleus accumbens (NAcc) dopamine (DA) is known to be a key substrate in sensitization, though recent work suggests that striatal acetylcholine (ACh) may also play a critical role. However, underlying ACh changes and their relationship to DA signaling have not been characterized. Here, we used dual-color fiber photometry to simultaneously measure DA and ACh in the NAcc shell of mice across repeated injections of cocaine or amphetamine. Repeated exposure progressively elevated locomotor activity and increased slow extracellular DA while attenuating transient DA release. Psychostimulants reduced phasic ACh transient amplitude and frequency, an effect that sensitized with r

SUBMITTER: Lange G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11996294 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature