TY - JOUR
T1 - It's only a matter of time
T2 - longevity of cocaine-induced changes in dendritic spine density in the nucleus accumbens
AU - Anderson, Ethan M.
AU - Self, David W.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2017/2/1
Y1 - 2017/2/1
N2 - Many reports show that repeated cocaine administration increases dendritic spine density in medium spiny neurons of the nucleus accumbens, but there is less agreement regarding the persistence of these changes. In this review we examine these discrepancies by systematically categorizing papers that measured cocaine-induced changes in accumbal spine density. We compare published reports based on withdrawal time, short versus long duration of cocaine administration, environmental pairing with cocaine, and core/shell subregion specificity. Together, these studies suggest that cocaine exposure induces rapid and dose-dependent increases in spine density in accumbens neurons that may play a role in the maintenance of cocaine use and vulnerability to early relapse, but are not a factor in behavioral changes associated with longer abstinence.
AB - Many reports show that repeated cocaine administration increases dendritic spine density in medium spiny neurons of the nucleus accumbens, but there is less agreement regarding the persistence of these changes. In this review we examine these discrepancies by systematically categorizing papers that measured cocaine-induced changes in accumbal spine density. We compare published reports based on withdrawal time, short versus long duration of cocaine administration, environmental pairing with cocaine, and core/shell subregion specificity. Together, these studies suggest that cocaine exposure induces rapid and dose-dependent increases in spine density in accumbens neurons that may play a role in the maintenance of cocaine use and vulnerability to early relapse, but are not a factor in behavioral changes associated with longer abstinence.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.11.013
DO - 10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.11.013
M3 - Review article
C2 - 28607946
AN - SCOPUS:85000428184
SN - 2352-1546
VL - 13
SP - 117
EP - 123
JO - Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
JF - Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
ER -