L-type Ca²⁺ channel blockade with antihypertensive medication disrupts VTA synaptic plasticity and drug-associated contextual memory.

ABSTRACT: Drug addiction is driven, in part, by powerful and enduring memories of sensory cues associated with drug intake. As such, relapse to drug use during abstinence is frequently triggered by an encounter with drug-associated cues, including the drug itself. L-type Ca(2+) channels (LTCCs) are known to regulate different forms of synaptic plasticity, the major neural substrate for learning and memory, in various brain areas. Long-term potentiation (LTP) of NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-mediated glutamatergic transmission in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) may contribute to the increased motivational valence of drug-associated cues triggering relapse. In this study, using rat brain slices, we found that isradipine, a general LTCC antagonist used as antihypertensive medication, not only blocks the induc

SUBMITTER: Degoulet M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4689680 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature