Biphasic effect of abstinence duration following cocaine self-administration on spine morphology and plasticity-related proteins in prelimbic cortical neurons projecting to the nucleus accumbens core.

ABSTRACT: Cocaine self-administration (SA) in rats dysregulates glutamatergic signaling in the prelimbic (PrL) cortex and glutamate release in the nucleus accumbens (NA) core, promoting cocaine seeking. PrL adaptations that affect relapse to drug seeking emerge during the first week of abstinence, switching from an early (2 h) hypoglutamatergic state to a later (7 days) hyperglutamatergic state. Different interventions that normalize glutamatergic signaling in PrL cortex at each timepoint are necessary to suppress relapse. We hypothesized that plasticity-related proteins that regulate glutamatergic neurotransmission as well as dendritic spine morphology would be biphasically regulated during these two phases of abstinence in PrL cortical neurons projecting to the NA core (PrL-NA core). A combinatori

SUBMITTER: Siemsen BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6438710 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature