Repeated cocaine exposure in vivo facilitates LTP induction in midbrain dopamine neurons
- 1 October 2005
- journal article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature
- Vol. 437 (7061), 1027-1031
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04050
Abstract
Changes in plasticity of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain are associated with addiction to cocaine and other drugs of abuse. A study in mice suggests that the VTA may also be involved in forming drug-associated memory. Repeated doses of cocaine facilitated long-term potentiation in dopamine neurons, a phenomenon seen as a form of memory in which interlinked neurons acting together become more strongly connected. Cocaine seems to act by reducing GABA-mediated neuronal inhibition. These changes may explain the action of the antiepileptic drug γ-vinyl-GABA (vigabatrin), now in clinical trials for the treatment of cocaine addiction.Keywords
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