Role of nucleus accumbens core but not shell in incubation of methamphetamine craving after voluntary abstinence

Abstract

Daniele (2019) Role of nucleus accumbens core but not shell in incubation of methamphetamine craving after voluntary abstinence. Neuropsychopharmacology.

Role of Projections between Piriform Cortex and Orbitofrontal Cortex in Relapse to Fentanyl Seeking after Palatable Food Choice-Induced Voluntary Abstinence

“…Our choice procedure was inspired by studies showing that rats strongly prefer saccharin or sucrose solutions over cocaine or heroin (Ahmed et al, 2013). Using this model, we and others demonstrated a role of dorsomedial striatum, nucleus accumbens core, ventral anterior insular cortex (AIV), central amygdala (CeA), and AIV-to-CeA projections in relapse to methamphetamine seeking (Caprioli et al, 2017;Venniro et al, 2017a;Rossi et al, 2020). In contrast, the brain mechanisms of relapse to opioid seeking after voluntary abstinence are unknown.…”

Getting to the core of relapse: The role of the nucleus accumbens core in the incubation of methamphetamine seeking after choice-based abstinence

“…The study by Rossi et al [2] thus implicates the nucleus accumbens core in incubated methamphetamine seeking in a rat model of contingency management. Two important observations in this study should be highlighted.…”

“…In sum, the study by Rossi et al [2], together with previous findings [6,7], begins to outline a neural network underlying relapse to drug use after contingency management-based abstinence, that includes the anterior insular cortex, central amygdala, dorsomedial striatum and nucleus accumbens core. Further extension of this network, and elucidating the functional flow of information in it may reveal the neural underpinnings of relapse.…”

“…Here, Rossi et al [2] used a discrete-choice setup to emulate how contingency management promotes abstinence from methamphetamine use in rats. This model is based on fascinating findings from Ahmed and colleagues [3], who showed about a decade ago that when given a mutually exclusive choice between palatable food and cocaine, the majority of rats on the majority of occasions preferred food over drug.…”

“…The intriguing implication of these observations is that if animals forego drugs if alternative non-drug rewards are simultaneously available, it can be used as a preclinical model of contingency management treatment. Another important feature of addictive behaviour in the Rossi et al study [2] is based on the observation that drug cue-controlled reinstatement of responding increases after abstinence, a phenomenon called 'incubation of craving' [4]. In their study, Rossi and colleagues investigated the role of the nucleus accumbens, a forebrain structure widely implicated in appetitive behaviour, subjective pleasure and addiction [5], in the incubation of responding for a methamphetamine-associated cue after food choice-based abstinence.…”