title: The neural rejuvenation hypothesis of cocaine addiction.
abstract: A leading hypothesis guiding current molecular and cellular research into drug addiction conceptualizes key aspects of addiction as a form of memory in which common neuroplasticity mechanisms that mediate normal learning and memory processes are 'hijacked' by exposure to drugs of abuse to produce pathologic addiction-related memories. Such addiction-related memories are particularly robust and long-lasting and once formed are less amenable to updating. Here we propose a neural rejuvenation hypothesis of cocaine addiction. According to this hypothesis, repeated exposure to drugs of abuse induces some plasticity mechanisms normally associated with brain development within the reward circuitry that mediate the highly efficient and unusually stable memory abnormalities that characterize addiction.
authors: Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15260, USA. Electronic address: yandong@pitt.edu.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Dong
authors: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA. Electronic address: eric.nestler@mssm.edu.
authors: Eric J
authors: EJ
authors: Nestler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
keywords: CREB; NMDA receptor; addiction; cocaine; dendritic spine; silent synapse; synaptic plasticity