Topic: conditioned place preference

Aims: Evaluate the effects of ayahuasca (AYA) on cocaine (COC)-induced conditioned place preference (CPP). Methods: (A) AYA was lyophilized, and its components were quantified by LC-MS/MS. (B) Six-week-old C57Bl/6 mice were habituated to the CPP apparatus for 15 minutes. The following day, they underwent a pre-test to assess their natural compartmental preference (15 minutes). During the conditioning phase (CT; 3rd-10th day), mice remained confined in one of the CPP compartments for 30 minutes. On the 11th day, they were tested to evaluate: (B.i) Effects of AYA on CPP: on odd CT days, they wer

Cocaine and sugar act as appetitive stimuli, engaging the brain's dopaminergic system to induce positive experiences. While both substances trigger dopamine release, cocaine additionally blocks its reuptake. Dopamine-sensitive neurons, particularly those expressing DRD1 or DRD2, play a pivotal role in mediating these effects. Such cells were recently discovered in the Central Amygdala (CeA), a brain region involved in regulating various emotions, both aversive and appetitive. Given the limited research on the role of dopamine in this brain region, we studied the activity of dopamine-sensitive

Mechanisms underlying relapse into cocaine are not yet fully understood. Animal studies suggest a pivotal involvement of the infralimbic (IL) division of the medial prefrontal cortex, but causal evidence is lacking. Here, we employed chemogenetics to selectively modulate the IL during reinstatement of cocaine-related behaviours in the conditioned place preference (CPP) model. To this aim, C57BL/6J mice (N = 28) received intra-IL microinjections of adeno-associated viral vectors containing either silencing (AAV5-CaMKIIα-hM4Di-mCherry) or stimulatory (AAV5-CaMKIIα-hM3Dq-mCherry) designer recepto

Repetitive cocaine exposure induces the generation of silent synapses in the nucleus accumbens, characterized by the presence of NMDA receptors and absence of AMPA receptors, hindering fast synaptic transmission (Huang et al, 2009). While typically abundant during early postnatal development, cocaine triggers the de novo generation of silent synapses in the adult brain, thereby establishing new synaptic connections within an already refined circuit (Huang et al, 2009; Huang et al, 2015). During withdrawal, some silent synapses undergo unsilencing by incorporating AMPARs, which crucially contri

The use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) has surged in the past 20 years. These devices heat e-liquid containing nicotine and flavor additives into an aerosol form. While studies suggest flavors increase e-cigs use, neurobiological mechanism behind this remain understudied. Therefore, this study aims to understand the neurobiological substrate involved in the rewarding properties of inhaled flavored nicotine. We developed a nicotine-vaping induced conditioned place preference (CPP) protocol to test the rewarding effect of nicotine and flavors in a mouse model. In males, flavored nicotine dose