title: Nicotine amplifies reward-related dopamine signals in striatum.
abstract: Reward-seeking behaviors depend critically on dopamine signaling--dopamine neurons encode reward-related information by switching from tonic to phasic (burst-like) activity. Using guinea pig brain slices, we show that nicotine, like cocaine and amphetamine, acts directly in striatum where it enhances dopamine release during phasic but not tonic activity. This amplification provides a mechanism for nicotine facilitation of reward-related dopamine signals, including responses to other primary reinforcers that govern nicotine dependence in smokers.
authors.affiliation: University Department of Pharmacology, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3QT, UK.
authors.forename: Margaret E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: Stephanie J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cragg
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012201:Reward
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine; D004298:Dopamine