Prior cocaine exposure disrupts extinction of fear conditioning.
Psychostimulant exposure has been shown to cause molecular and cellular changes in prefrontal cortex. It has been hypothesized that these drug-induced changes might affect the operation of prefrontal-limbic circuits, disrupting their normal role in controlling behavior and thereby leading to compulsive drug-seeking. To test this hypothesis, we tested cocaine-treated rats in a fear conditioning, inflation, and extinction task, known to depend on medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala. Cocaine-treated rats conditioned and inflated similar to saline controls but displayed slower extinction learning. These results support the hypothesis that control processes in the medial prefrontal cortex are impaired by cocaine exposure.
Burke
Kathryn A
KA
Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, 21230, USA.
Franz
Theresa M
TM
Gugsa
Nishan
N
Schoenbaum
Geoffrey
G
D000818:Animals; D003042:Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D013997:Time Factors
D003042:Cocaine