title: A cocaine context renews drug seeking preferentially in a subset of individuals.
abstract: Addiction is characterized by a high propensity for relapse, in part because cues associated with drugs can acquire Pavlovian incentive motivational properties, and acting as incentive stimuli, such cues can instigate and invigorate drug-seeking behavior. There is, however, considerable individual variation in the propensity to attribute incentive salience to reward cues. Discrete and localizable reward cues act as much more effective incentive stimuli in some rats ('sign-trackers', STs), than others ('goal-trackers', GTs). We asked whether similar individual variation exists for contextual cues associated with cocaine. Cocaine context conditioned motivation was quantified in two ways: (1) the ability of a cocaine context to evoke conditioned hyperactivity and (2) the ability of a context in which cocaine was previously self-administered to renew cocaine-seeking behavior. Finally, we assessed the effects of intra-accumbens core flupenthixol, a nonselective dopamine receptor antagonist, on context renewal. In contrast to studies using discrete cues, a cocaine context spurred greater conditioned hyperactivity, and more robustly renewed extinguished cocaine seeking in GTs than STs. In addition, cocaine context renewal was blocked by antagonism of dopamine receptors in the accumbens core. Thus, contextual cues associated with cocaine preferentially acquire motivational control over behavior in different individuals than do discrete cues, and in these individuals the ability of a cocaine context to create conditioned motivation for cocaine requires dopamine in the core of the nucleus accumbens. We speculate that different individuals may be preferentially sensitive to different 'triggers' of relapse.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Psychology (Biopsychology Program), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA [2] Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA [3] Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology (Biopsychology Program), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Elyse L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Aurbach
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Psychology (Biopsychology Program), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA [2] Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Terry E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Robinson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D018492:Dopamine Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage; D058999:Drug-Seeking Behavior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005475:Flupenthixol / Q000494:pharmacology; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012646:Self Administration; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018492:Dopamine Antagonists; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors; D005475:Flupenthixol; D003042:Cocaine