Selective inactivation of the ventral hippocampus attenuates cue-induced and cocaine-primed reinstatement of drug-seeking in rats.

Full Abstract

Recent evidence suggests that the hippocampus may have a functional role in mediating relapse to cocaine-seeking behavior. Based on the importance of the ventral CA subfields in mediating reward, the present experiment determined the effects of temporary inactivation of the ventral hippocampus on reinstatement of cocaine-seeking in a rodent model of relapse. Male, Sprague-Dawley rats self-administered i.v. cocaine (0.6 mg/kg/infusion) in the presence of discrete conditioned cues (tone+light) in daily 2-h sessions for ten days. Following seven days of extinction sessions in which neither cues nor drug were available, rats underwent four reinstatement tests in a counterbalanced, within-subjects design. Bilateral microinjections of GABA receptor agonists (baclofen/muscimol (B/M; 1.0 mM/0.1 mM) [corrected] into the ventral hippocampus significantly attenuated cue-induced and cocaine-primed reinstatement compared with vehicle microinjections in the same rats. In contrast, injections just outside the ventral hippocampus did not block either form of reinstatement. Furthermore, inactivation failed to affect responding for food reinforcement, baseline extinction responding, or locomotor activity. These data indicate that the ventral hippocampus plays an important role in the relapse to cocaine-seeking behavior and may interact with key limbic structures previously implicated in cocaine addiction.

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Author information

Author/s: Rogers, Jason L (JL); See, Ronald E (RE);

Affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA.

Grants: C 06 RR015455 (Agency:NCRR NIH HHS) ; DA010462 (Agency:NIDA NIH HHS) ; DA015369 (Agency:NIDA NIH HHS) ; R01 DA010462-09 (Agency:NIDA NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Neurobiology of learning and memory (Neurobiol Learn Mem), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-May; vol 87 (issue 4) : pp 688-92

Dates: Created 2007/04/02; Completed 2007/07/16; Revised 2008/11/20;

PMID: 17337218, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

ErratumIn: Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2008 Jan;89(1):86.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Analysis of Variance
Animals
Appetitive Behavior - drug effects
Association Learning
Cocaine - pharmacology
Conditioning, Classical - drug effects
Cues
Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors - pharmacology

Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors - pharmacology
Hippocampus - drug effects; physiology
Male
Mental Recall - drug effects
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Recurrence
Self Administration

Associated Chemicals: Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors (0) ; Cocaine (50-36-2)

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