Endogenous regulator of G protein signaling 14 (RGS14) blunts cocaine-induced emotionally motivated behaviors in female mice.

ABSTRACT: Addictive drugs hijack the neuronal mechanisms of learning and memory in motivation and emotion processing circuits to reinforce their own use. Regulator of G-protein Signaling 14 (RGS14) is a natural suppressor of post-synaptic plasticity underlying learning and memory in the hippocampus. The present study used immunofluorescence and RGS14 knockout mice to assess the role of RGS14 in behavioral plasticity and reward learning induced by chronic cocaine in emotional-motivational pathways. We report that RGS14 is strongly expressed in discrete regions of the ventral striatum and extended amygdala in wild-type mice, and is co-expressed with D1 and D2 dopamine receptors in neurons of the nucleus accumbens. Of note, we found that RGS14 is upregulated in the nucleus accumbens following acute coc

SUBMITTER: Bramlett SN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12646611 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature