The glutamatergic projection from the prefrontal cortex to the nucleus accumbens core is required for cocaine-induced decreases in ventral pallidal GABA

• Published in: Neuroscience letters 2008-06, Vol.438 (2), p.142-145
• Main Authors: Torregrossa, Mary M., Tang, X.-C., Kalivas, Peter W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Basal Ganglia - drug effects; Basal Ganglia - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Cocaine; Cocaine - pharmacology; Cocaine-Related Disorders - metabolism; Cocaine-Related Disorders - physiopathology; Dialysis; Disease Models, Animal; Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors - pharmacology; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists - pharmacology; Extracellular Fluid - drug effects; Extracellular Fluid - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GABA; GABA Agonists - pharmacology; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - metabolism; Globus Pallidus - drug effects; Globus Pallidus - metabolism; Globus Pallidus - physiopathology; Glutamate; Glutamic Acid - metabolism; Male; Medical sciences; Microdialysis; Neural Pathways - drug effects; Neural Pathways - metabolism; Neuropharmacology; Nucleus accumbens; Nucleus Accumbens - drug effects; Nucleus Accumbens - metabolism; Nucleus Accumbens - physiopathology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Prefrontal cortex; Prefrontal Cortex - drug effects; Prefrontal Cortex - metabolism; Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, AMPA - antagonists & inhibitors; Receptors, AMPA - metabolism; Synaptic Transmission - drug effects; Synaptic Transmission - physiology; Ventral pallidum; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2008.04.016

Cocaine-primed reinstatement of drug seeking is associated with a decrease in extracellular GABA in the ventral pallidum (VP). The present study investigated the neural mechanism of this cocaine-induced decrease in VP GABA by determining if activity of the glutamatergic projection from the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) to the nucleus accumbens is required for the effect. Microdialysis was performed to measure extracellular GABA in the VP while simultaneously, either a combination of the GABA agonists baclofen and muscimol was microinjected into the PFC, or the AMPA/kainate glutamate receptor antagonist CNQX was microinjected into the accumbens core. Inhibition of the PFC with GABA agonists and blockade of AMPA glutamate receptors in the accumbens core were both sufficient to prevent the cocaine-induced decrease in VP GABA, further implicating increased activity of the cortico-striato-pallidal circuit in relapse to drug seeking.