Based on these and previous findings, learning related to functioning of the insular/orbital prefrontal cortex and amygdala is the most consistently disrupted in cocaine-intoxicated rats after long-term drug exposure.

These findings suggest that contingent and non-contingent cocaine administration similarly disrupt stimulus-reward functions of the amygdala, but do not disrupt stimulus-response functions of the dorsal striatum. This dissociation may relate to differences in the rate by which dopamine is cleared from these tissues following cocaine exposure or possibly to cocaine-induced devaluation of natural rewards, which influences stimulus-reward learning, but not stimulus-response learning.