Addiction is a chronic relapsing disorder characterized by the loss of control over drug
intake, high motivation to obtain the drug, and a persistent craving for the drug …

Dopamine (DA) regulates emotional and motivational behavior through the mesolimbic
dopaminergic pathway. Changes in DA mesolimbic neurotransmission have been found to …

In the basal ganglia, convergent input and dopaminergic modulation of the direct
striatonigral and the indirect striatopallidal pathways are critical in rewarding and aversive …

Conditioned place preference (CPP) continues to be one of the most popular models to
study the motivational effects of drugs and non‐drug treatments in experimental animals …

Elevated dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens is thought to be a primary
mediator of addiction to cocaine. However, repeated exposure to cocaine is associated with …

The striatum has been involved in complex behaviors such as motor control, learning,
decision-making, reward and aversion. The striatum is mainly composed of medium spiny …

The prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), a monogamous rodent that forms long-lasting pair
bonds, has proven useful for the neurobiological study of social attachment. In the …

The dopamine D3 receptor is preferentially localized to the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic
system and has been hypothesized to play a role in cocaine addiction. To study the …

The transition from casual drug use to addiction, and the intense drug craving that
accompanies it, has been postulated to result from neuroadaptations within the limbic …

Cocaine has multiple actions and multiple sites of action in the brain. Evidence from
pharmacological studies indicates that it is the ability of cocaine to block dopamine uptake …