Contribution of a mesocorticolimbic subcircuit to drug context-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior in rats.

ABSTRACT: Cocaine-seeking behavior triggered by drug-paired environmental context exposure is dependent on orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)-basolateral amygdala (BLA) interactions. Here, we present evidence supporting the hypothesis that dopaminergic input from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the OFC critically regulates these interactions. In experiment 1, we employed site-specific pharmacological manipulations to show that dopamine D1-like receptor stimulation in the OFC is required for drug context-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior following extinction training in an alternate context. Intra-OFC pretreatment with the dopamine D1-like receptor antagonist, SCH23390, dose-dependently attenuated cocaine-seeking behavior in an anatomically selective manner, without altering motor perform

SUBMITTER: Lasseter HC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3895243 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature