The Dorsal Agranular Insular Cortex Regulates the Cued Reinstatement of Cocaine-Seeking, but not Food-Seeking, Behavior in Rats.

ABSTRACT: Prior studies suggest that the insular cortex (IC), and particularly its posterior region (the PIc), is involved in nicotine craving and relapse in humans and rodents. The present experiments were conducted to determine whether the IC and its different subregions regulate relapse to cocaine-seeking behavior in rats. To address this issue, male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent cocaine self-administration followed by extinction training and reinstatement tests. Before each reinstatement, the PIc or the more anterior dorsal agranular IC (AId) was inactivated to determine their roles in the reinstatement to cocaine seeking. In contrast to the nicotine findings, PIc inactivation had no effect on cue-induced reinstatement for cocaine seeking. However, AId inactivation reduced cued reinstatement whi

SUBMITTER: Cosme CV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4538357 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature