Maternal Separation Impairs Cocaine-Induced Behavioural Sensitization in Adolescent Mice.

ABSTRACT: Adverse early-life conditions induce persistent disturbances that give rise to negative emotional states. Therefore, early life stress confers increased vulnerability to substance use disorders, mainly during adolescence as the brain is still developing. In this study, we investigated the consequences of maternal separation, a model of maternal neglect, on the psychotropic effects of cocaine and the neuroplasticity of the dopaminergic system. Our results show that mice exposed to maternal separation displayed attenuated behavioural sensitization, while no changes were found in the rewarding effects of cocaine in the conditioned place preference paradigm and in the reinforcing effects of cocaine in the self-administration paradigm. The evaluation of neuroplasticity in the striatal dopaminer

SUBMITTER: Gracia-Rubio I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5147915 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature