In vivo analysis of the role of dopamine in stimulant and opiate self-administration.
Year: 1996
Type: article
Abstract: Stimulants and opiates increase synaptic dopamine (DA) transmission in nucleus accumbens (NAcc), and this action is thought to underlie the habit-forming properties of these and several other abused drugs, Much of the experimental support for this idea comes from drug self-administration studies. The fact that animals will learn an arbitrary response when it is followed by an intravenous cocaine or heroin injection has been taken to suggest that these and other such drugs act as potent rewards. It is widely assumed that the resulting increase in NAcc levels of DA is what reinforces operant-responding in animals and drug-seeking in humans. Recent evidence from a variety of sources, however, including our group, appears to challenge the validity of this assumption. In this article we review some of the findings that have emerged thus far from our in vivo electrochemical recording studies. The conclusions suggested by our research are discussed in relation to those derived from other lines of evidence.
Source: PubMed Central
Author: A Gratton
Institutions: Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W135890937