Experiments in our laboratory have shown that central noradrenergic (NA) activation plays a major role in stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking in rats. In the present experiments, we investigated the effects of blockade of beta-NA adrenoceptors in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and in the region of the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) on footshock- and cocaine-induc...

Previous studies have shown that female rats exhibit enhanced cocaine seeking during multiple phases of cocaine addiction compared with males. The orexin/hypocretin system recently has been implicated in drug addiction in male rats. Based on the known sex differences in cocaine addiction, in the current study we examined orexin-mediated cocaine seeking during self-administration, extinction, an...

To advance understanding of the potential of metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) 5 as treatment targets for cocaine addiction, the effects of MTEP [3-[(2-methyl-1,3-thiazol-4-yl) ethynyl]piperidine] (a selective mGluR5 antagonist) on conditioned reinstatement of cocaine seeking were examined. To test whether modification of conditioned reinstatement by MTEP is selective for drug-directed be...

Chronic cocaine use reduces glutamate levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and is associated with experience-dependent changes in (+/-)-alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA) glutamate receptor membrane expression in NAc neurons. These changes accompany behavioral sensitization to cocaine and increased susceptibility to cocaine relapse. The functional relationship bet...

Neuronal Mechanisms Mediating Acute Food Deprivation-Induced Reinstatement of Heroin Seeking Stephanie Tobin, Ph.D. Concordia University, 2012 One of the most troubling aspects of addiction is the chronic and cyclical nature of this disorder. In particular, the desire to use drugs and subsequent relapse can occur after months or even years of absence. Amongst human drug abusers, exposure to str...

UNLABELLED Glutamate inputs to nucleus accumbens (NAc) facilitate conditioned drug-seeking behavior and primarily originate from medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), basolateral amygdala (BLA), and ventral subiculum of the hippocampus (vSub). These regions express Fos (a marker of neural activity) during cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking, but only subpopulations of neurons within these r...

In order to further investigate the role of the mPFC in morphine reward and drug priming induced relapse, the present study examined the effects of the mPFC lesions on the acquisition and morphine priming induced reinstatement of conditioned place preference (CPP). In the first experiment, mice received sham or bilateral kainic acid lesions of the mPFC and were subsequently tested for the acqui...

Introduction: Results from our behavioral pharmacology laboratory indicate that male rats that self-administer cocaine as adolescents exhibit decreased vulnerability to subsequent cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking, as compared with adults. An important neuroplasticity-related gene that influences such drug-seeking behavior and differs across age groups is brain-derived neurotrophic f...