Opiates and Plasticity in the Ventral Tegmental Area
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Opioids are among the most effective pain relievers; however, their abuse has been on the rise worldwide evident from an alarming increase in accidental opioid overdoses. This demands for an urgent increase in scientific endeavors for better understanding of main cellular mechanisms and circuits involved in opiate addiction. Preclinical studies strongly suggest that memories associated with positive and negative opioid experiences are critical in promoting compulsive opiate-seeking and opiate-taking behaviors, and relapse. Particular focus on synaptic plasticity as the cellular correlate of learning and memory has rapidly evolved in drug addiction field over the past two decades. Several critical addiction-related brain areas are identified, one of which is the ventral tegmental area (VTA), an area intensively studied as the initial locus for drug reward. Here, we provide an update to our previous review on "Opiates and Plasticity" highlighting the most recent discoveries of synaptic plasticity associated with opiates in the VTA. Electrophysiological studies of plasticity of addiction to date have been invaluable in addressing learning processes and mechanisms that underlie motivated and addictive behaviors, and now with the availability of powerful technologies of transgenic approaches and optogenetics, circuit-based studies hold high promise in fostering synaptic studies of opiate addiction.
Source: ACS Chemical Neuroscience
Authors: Ludovic D. Langlois, Fereshteh S. Nugent
Institution: Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G3268775201, G3911158913
OpenAlex ID: W2742880676