title: Glutamate mechanisms underlying opiate memories.
abstract: As the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, glutamate plays an undisputable integral role in opiate addiction. This relates, in part, to the fact that addiction is a disorder of learning and memory, and glutamate is required for most types of memory formation. As opiate addiction develops, the addict becomes conditioned to engage in addictive behaviors, and these behaviors can be triggered by opiate-associated cues during abstinence, resulting in relapse. Some medications for opiate addiction exert their therapeutic effects at glutamate receptors, especially the NMDA receptor. Understanding the neural circuits controlling opiate addiction, and the locus of glutamate's actions within these circuits, will help guide the development of targeted pharmacotherapeutics for relapse.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, 1081BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Taco J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: De Vries
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000502:physiology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000502:physiology; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000502:physiology; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012201:Reward
chemical_list: D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D018698:Glutamic Acid