Cocaine and sucrose rewards recruit different seeking ensembles in the nucleus accumbens core.

ABSTRACT: Poorly regulated reward seeking is a central feature of substance use disorder. Recent research shows that rewarding drug-related experiences induce synchronous activation of a discrete number of neurons in the nucleus accumbens that are causally linked to reward-related contexts. Here we comprehensively characterize the specific ensemble of neurons built through experience that are linked to seeking behavior. We additionally address the question of whether or not addictive drugs usurp the neuronal networks recruited by natural rewards by evaluating cocaine- and sucrose-associated ensembles within the same mouse. We used Fos^CreERT2/+/Ai14 transgenic mice to tag cells activated by and potentially encoding cocaine and sucrose seeking. We tagged ~1% of neurons in the core subregion

SUBMITTER: Bobadilla AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8532193 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature