Accumbal deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a promising therapeutic modality for the treatment of addiction. Here, we demonstrate that DBS in the nucleus accumbens shell, but not the core, attenuates cocaine priming-induced reinstatement of drug seeking, an animal model of relapse, in male Sprague Dawley rats. Next, we compared DBS of the shell with pharmacological inactivation. Results indicated ...

In humans, exposure to contexts previously associated with heroin use can provoke relapse. In rats, exposure to heroin-paired contexts after extinction of drug-reinforced responding in different contexts reinstates heroin seeking. This effect is attenuated by inhibition of glutamate or dopamine transmission in nucleus accumbens shell, or inactivation of ventral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). ...

In humans, exposure to environmental contexts previously associated with heroin intake can provoke drug relapse, but the neuronal mechanisms mediating this relapse are unknown. Using a drug relapse model, we found previously that reexposing rats to heroin-associated contexts, after extinction of drug-reinforced responding in different contexts, reinstates heroin seeking. This effect is attenuat...

Increases in dopamine and glutamate transmission in the nucleus accumbens independently promote the reinstatement of cocaine seeking, an animal model of relapse. Here we have tested whether cocaine reinstatement in rats depends on interactions between accumbal dopamine and glutamate systems that are mediated by Ca21/calmodulin-mediated kinase II (CaMKII). We show that stimulation of D1-like dop...

This study demonstrates that microinjection of an AMPA/kainate glutamate antagonist elicits motivated fear and feeding behaviour mapped along rostrocaudal gradients of positive-to-negative valence in nucleus accumbens shell (similar to rostrocaudal shell gradients recently reported for GABA agonist microinjections). Rats received rostral or caudal microinjections of the glutamate AMPA/kainate r...

Natural rewards preferentially stimulate dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens shell. This effect undergoes adaptive changes (one-trial habituation, inhibition by appetitive stimuli) that are consistent with a role of nucleus accumbens shell dopamine in associative reward-related learning. Experimental studies with a variety of paradigms confirm this role. A role in associative stimulu...

Environmental contexts previously associated with drug use provoke relapse to drug use in humans and reinstatement of drug seeking in animal models of drug relapse. We examined whether context-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking is mediated by activation of context-selected nucleus accumbens neurons. We trained rats to self-administer cocaine in Context A and extinguished their lever-press...

This study examined the effect on food intake of bilateral microinfusions of the benzodiazepine agents, diazepam and midazolam, the opioid agonist, morphine, and the GABA(A) agonist, muscimol into the shell of the nucleus accumbens in rats. Both muscimol (at 0.075 microg, combined bilateral dose) and morphine (1.0 microg) in the nucleus accumbens shell increased feeding as expected. However, it...