Repeated cocaine exposure in vivo facilitates LTP induction in midbrain dopamine neurons. Export

@article{citeulike:349571, abstract = {Drugs of abuse are known to cause persistent modification of neural circuits, leading to addictive behaviours. Changes in synaptic plasticity in dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) may contribute to circuit modification induced by many drugs of abuse, including cocaine. Here we report that, following repeated exposure to cocaine in vivo, excitatory synapses to rat VTA dopamine neurons become highly susceptible to the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) by correlated pre- and postsynaptic activity. This facilitated LTP induction is caused by cocaine-induced reduction of GABA(A) (gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptor-mediated inhibition of these dopamine neurons. In midbrain slices from rats treated with saline or a single dose of cocaine, LTP could not be induced in VTA dopamine neurons unless GABA-mediated inhibition was reduced by bicuculline or picrotoxin. However, LTP became readily inducible in slices from rats treated repeatedly with cocaine; this LTP induction was prevented by enhancing GABA-mediated inhibition using diazepam. Furthermore, repeated cocaine exposure reduced the amplitude of GABA-mediated synaptic currents and increased the probability of spike initiation in VTA dopamine neurons. This cocaine-induced enhancement of synaptic plasticity in the VTA may be important for the formation of drug-associated memory.}, author = {Liu, Q. S. and Pu, L. and Poo, M. M.}, citeulike-article-id = {349571}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature04050}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16222299}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=16222299}, day = {13}, doi = {10.1038/nature04050}, issn = {1476-4687}, journal = {Nature}, keywords = {addiction, cocaine, dopamine, ltp, rat, slice, vta}, month = {October}, number = {7061}, pages = {1027--1031}, posted-at = {2006-07-03 15:36:53}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group}, title = {Repeated cocaine exposure in vivo facilitates LTP induction in midbrain dopamine neurons.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature04050}, volume = {437}, year = {2005} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:349571 L3 - citeulike-article-id:349571 N2 - Drugs of abuse are known to cause persistent modification of neural circuits, leading to addictive behaviours. Changes in synaptic plasticity in dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) may contribute to circuit modification induced by many drugs of abuse, including cocaine. Here we report that, following repeated exposure to cocaine in vivo, excitatory synapses to rat VTA dopamine neurons become highly susceptible to the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) by correlated pre- and postsynaptic activity. This facilitated LTP induction is caused by cocaine-induced reduction of GABA(A) (gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptor-mediated inhibition of these dopamine neurons. In midbrain slices from rats treated with saline or a single dose of cocaine, LTP could not be induced in VTA dopamine neurons unless GABA-mediated inhibition was reduced by bicuculline or picrotoxin. However, LTP became readily inducible in slices from rats treated repeatedly with cocaine; this LTP induction was prevented by enhancing GABA-mediated inhibition using diazepam. Furthermore, repeated cocaine exposure reduced the amplitude of GABA-mediated synaptic currents and increased the probability of spike initiation in VTA dopamine neurons. This cocaine-induced enhancement of synaptic plasticity in the VTA may be important for the formation of drug-associated memory. IS - 7061 JF - Nature SN - 1476-4687 EP - 1031 TI - Repeated cocaine exposure in vivo facilitates LTP induction in midbrain dopamine neurons. PB - Nature Publishing Group VL - 437 SP - 1027 KW - addiction KW - cocaine KW - dopamine KW - ltp KW - rat KW - slice KW - vta AU - Liu, QS AU - Pu, L AU - Poo, MM PY - 2005/10/13/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature04050 ER -