Neuronal and behavioral correlations in the medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens during cocaine self-administration by rats
Section snippets
Animals and surgery
Fifteen young adult male Sprague–Dawley rats weighing 250–300 g were used in these experiments. Animals were singly housed under a reverse dark–light cycle (lights off from 07.00 to 19.00). Following injection of ketamine (100 mg/kg, i.m.), silastic tubing (26 mm long, 0.3 mm i.d. cannula tubing, connected to a 90-mm-long, 0.6-mm i.d. outlet tubing) was inserted under sterile conditions in the right jugular vein for subsequent i.v. drug infusion. The infusion tubing was glued to silastic implant
General responses of medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens neurons during cocaine self-administration sessions
The data included in this study are from one cocaine self-administration session for each of 15 male Sprague–Dawley rats. A total of 328 neurons (189 mPFC and 139 NAc) were recorded from 15 cocaine self-administration sessions. A maximum of 31 neurons were recorded simultaneously in the mPFC and NAc from a subject during a cocaine self-administration session.
The single units were classified into three categories according to their responses before the lever press for cocaine
Discussion
The mesocorticolimbic system, a complex of interconnected limbic structures, plays an important role in reward-seeking behaviors.28 Studies focused on separate regions of the mesocorticolimbic system have provided evidence for the involvement of many of these individual regions in reward-seeking processes. However, it is reasonable to propose that the execution of reward-seeking behaviors such as cocaine self-administration requires the activation and coordination of multiple regions across the
Conclusion
The present study revealed that multiple neuronal circuits, consisting of small subsets of neurons, exist in the mesocorticolimbic system mediating drug-seeking behavior. Different neuronal circuits code drug-seeking behaviors during the temporal sequence leading to cocaine self-administration. Correlated neuronal activity was detected in the mesocorticolimbic system, especially among the anticipatory neurons. The temporal relation in correlated firing revealed that NAc neurons more often fired
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by grants DA-2338 to D.J.W. and DA-10370 to J.-Y.C.
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Present address: Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, University of California at San Francisco, 5858 Horton Street Suite 200, Emeryvill, CA 94608, USA.