title: Illicit dopamine transients: reconciling actions of abused drugs.
abstract: Phasic increases in brain dopamine are required for cue-directed reward seeking. Although compelling within the framework of appetitive behavior, the view that illicit drugs hijack reward circuits by hyperactivating these dopamine transients is inconsistent with established psychostimulant pharmacology. However, recent work reclassifying amphetamine (AMPH), cocaine, and other addictive dopamine-transporter inhibitors (DAT-Is) supports transient hyperactivation as a unifying hypothesis of abused drugs. We argue here that reclassification also identifies generating burst firing by dopamine neurons as a keystone action. Unlike natural rewards, which are processed by sensory systems, drugs act directly on the brain. Consequently, to mimic natural rewards and exploit reward circuits, dopamine transients must be elicited de novo. Of available drug targets, only burst firing achieves this essential outcome.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4120, USA.
authors.forename: Dan P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Covey
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607-7137, USA.
authors.forename: Mitchell F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Roitman
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4120, USA. Electronic address: pagarri@ilstu.edu.
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Garris
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D004298:Dopamine