Cocaine-paired cues activate aversive representations in accumbens neurons.
Aversive states are proposed to drive addiction. Here, Wheeler and colleagues show that drug-associated cues come to activate neural representations of aversive information in nucleus accumbens and that this activation predicts subsequent drug use. These remarkable data identify a potential neural substrate through which aversive affective representations may motivate drug use.
Calu
Donna J
DJ
Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Schoenbaum
Geoffrey
G
D000818:Animals; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000503:physiopathology; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003463:Cues; D006801:Humans; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
D003042:Cocaine