Dose-dependent effects of the AMPA antagonist CNQX on context-induced cocaine seeking in rats (2009)

Undergraduate: KaiCee Ponds

Faculty Advisor: Rita Fuchs Lokensgard
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Environmentally-induced relapse is a persistent obstacle to the treatment of cocaine dependence. Stimulation of AMPA receptors by glutamate in the nucleus accumbens core (NACc) promotes drug-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking (Cornish & Kalivas, 2000), and it may also regulate drug-context-induced reinstatement. To test this hypothesis, rats were trained to self-administer cocaine in a distinct context, followed by extinction training in a different context. Before reinstatement testing in the cocaine-paired context, rats received vehicle or CNQX (AMPA receptor antagonist) into the NACc or caudate putamen (pCPu, anatomical control). Intra-NACc, but not intra-pCPu, CNQX treatment dose-dependently attenuated context-induced reinstatement. Thus, AMPA receptors in the NACc play a critical role in context-induced relapse and are an interesting target for treatment of cocaine dependence.