The sensitivity of neurons to cocaine in a region of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens can predict future increases in the use of this hard drug.
- Researchers have discovered why some people get addicted to cocaine and others don’t.
- All of this takes place in an area of the brain called the “nucleus accumbens”.
- More and more French people use cocaine.
A recent study showed that the initial sensitivity of neurons to cocaine in a brain region known as the nucleus accumbens can predict future increases in cocaine use.
Researchers conducted this study to understand why only a subset of individuals who try hard drugs like cocaine develop problematic use and addiction.
They sought to understand the underlying differences in neural processing that predict vulnerability to addiction, which could potentially improve addiction prevention and treatment strategies.
Rats used as animal models
To carry out this new study, the researchers used rats as animal models and implanted networks of microwires in specific regions of their brains, such as the dorsal and ventral striatum. The rats were trained to self-administer cocaine and their neuronal activity was recorded using electrophysiological techniques over a period of 22 sessions. This allowed the researchers to track neuron activation patterns and observe how they related to cocaine use.
Correlation between drug levels and neural activity
The researchers found that the firing patterns of neurons in the nucleus accumbens, a region located in the ventral striatum, were increasingly correlated with drug levels during self-administration sessions. This means that the more cocaine the rats consumed, the more the excitation rates of the nucleus accumbens neurons changed.
Rats with a stronger negative correlation between neural activity and drug levels showed greater increases in cocaine use over time. These results suggest that the initial sensitivity of neurons to cocaine in the nucleus accumbens may serve as a predictor of the course of cocaine use.
It is essential to continue to explore the neural mechanisms of cocaine addiction in order to better understand this public health issue.
More and more French people use cocaine.
