This review focuses on cocaine-induced postsynaptic plasticity in the nucleus accumbens
(NAc) involving changes in AMPA receptor (AMPAR) transmission. First, fundamental …

Activation of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the nucleus accumbens is critical for goal-
directed behaviors including cocaine seeking. Studies in cocaine-experienced rodents have …

Learning to inhibit drug seeking can be an important strategy for inhibiting relapse, and this
can be modeled by extinguishing drug seeking in response to a drug-paired context. Rats …

Environmental stimuli are powerful mediators of craving and relapse in substance‐abuse
disorders. This review examined how animal models have been used to investigate the …

Experience-dependent plasticity at excitatory synapses of the mesocorticolimbic system is a
fundamental brain mechanism that enables adaptation to an ever-changing environment …

Cue-induced cocaine craving in rodents intensifies or “incubates” during the first months of
withdrawal from long access cocaine self-administration. This incubation phenomenon is …

Drug addiction remains a key biomedical challenge facing current neuroscience research. In
addition to neural mechanisms, the focus of the vast majority of studies to date, astrocytes …

Exposure to addictive drugs causes changes in synaptic function within the striatal complex,
which can either mimic or interfere with the induction of synaptic plasticity. These synaptic …

Commonalities in addictive behavior, such as craving, stimuli-driven drug seeking, and a
high propensity for relapse following abstinence, have pushed for a unified theory of …

Long-term treatment with ceftriaxone attenuates the reinstatement of cocaine seeking while
increasing the function of the glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1) and system xC-(Sxc) in the …