title: Cognitive enhancers for facilitating drug cue extinction: insights from animal models.
abstract: Given the success of cue exposure (extinction) therapy combined with a cognitive enhancer for reducing anxiety, it is anticipated that this approach will prove more efficacious than exposure therapy alone in preventing relapse in individuals with substance use disorders. Several factors may undermine the efficacy of exposure therapy for substance use disorders, but we suspect that neurocognitive impairments associated with chronic drug use are an important contributing factor. Numerous insights on these issues are gained from research using animal models of addiction. In this review, the relationship between brain sites whose learning, memory and executive functions are impaired by chronic drug use and brain sites that are important for effective drug cue extinction learning is explored first. This is followed by an overview of animal research showing improved treatment outcome for drug addiction (e.g. alcohol, amphetamine, cocaine, heroin) when explicit extinction training is conducted in combination with acute dosing of a cognitive-enhancing drug. The mechanism by which cognitive enhancers are thought to exert their benefits is by facilitating consolidation of drug cue extinction memory after activation of glutamatergic receptors. Based on the encouraging work in animals, factors that may be important for the treatment of drug addiction are considered.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Bríd Áine
authors.initials: BÁ
authors.lastname: Nic Dhonnchadha
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kantak
mesh_terms: D026905:Amino Acid Transport Systems / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D050487:Glycine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical
chemical_list: D026905:Amino Acid Transport Systems; D050487:Glycine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate