Role of the agranular insular cortex in contextual control over cocaine-seeking behavior in rats.
Psychopharmacology (Berl)
; 234(16): 2431-2441, 2017 Aug.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28462472
ABSTRACT
RATIONALE Environmental stimulus control over drug relapse requires the retrieval of context-response-cocaine associations, maintained in long-term memory through active reconsolidation processes. Identifying the neural substrates of these phenomena is important from a drug addiction treatment perspective. OBJECTIVES:
The present study evaluated whether the agranular insular cortex (AI) plays a role in drug context-induced cocaine-seeking behavior and cocaine memory reconsolidation.METHODS:
Rats were trained to lever press for cocaine infusions in a distinctive context, followed by extinction training in a different context. Rats in experiment 1 received bilateral microinfusions of vehicle or a GABA agonist cocktail (baclofen and muscimol (BM)) into the AI or the overlying somatosensory cortex (SSJ, anatomical control region) immediately before a test of drug-seeking behavior (i.e., non-reinforced lever presses) in the previously cocaine-paired context. The effects of these manipulations on locomotor activity were also assessed in a novel context. Rats in experiment 2 received vehicle or BM into the AI after a 15-min reexposure to the cocaine-paired context, intended to reactivate context-response-cocaine memories and initiate their reconsolidation. The effects of these manipulations on drug context-induced cocaine-seeking behavior were assessed 72 h later.RESULTS:
BM-induced pharmacological inactivation of the AI, but not the SSJ, attenuated drug context-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior without altering locomotor activity. Conversely, AI inactivation after memory reactivation failed to impair subsequent drug-seeking behavior and thus cocaine memory reconsolidation.CONCLUSIONS:
These findings suggest that the AI is a critical element of the neural circuitry that mediates contextual control over cocaine-seeking behavior.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Córtex Cerebral
/
Cocaína
/
Proteínas da Membrana Plasmática de Transporte de Dopamina
/
Comportamento de Procura de Droga
/
Consolidação da Memória
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Psychopharmacology (Berl)
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos