Diego Gonzalez

Presentation Title

How Do Incubated Cocaine And Sucrose Craving Affect Dopamine Receptors In The Medial Prefrontal Cortex

Abstract

Throughout abstinence from a drug or natural reward, cue-elicited craving for the reinforcer strengthens across time – a phenomenon known as the “incubation of craving”. Previous research has observed a decrease in cue-induced dopamine release within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) across a period of withdrawal from cocaine, making dopaminergic transmission within mPFC a possible key regulator in the development of incubated craving. The current study sought to investigate changes in expression of dopamine receptors 1 (D1R) and 3 (D3R) within the mPFC of rats with a history of cocaine or sucrose self-administration as a function of withdrawal length. Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to self-administer cocaine or sucrose (6h/day x 10 days) before undergoing a period of early (WD1 for sucrose, WD3 for cocaine) or late withdrawal (WD30). During a single 2h cue test following the withdrawal period, rats’ responding was recorded but yielded no reinforcer, and subjects’ brains were immediately extracted for immunoblotting of D1R and D3R expression within prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic (IL) cortex. An incubation of craving for cocaine and sucrose was observed, but there were no associated changes in D1R or D3R expression in either PL or IL for either reinforcer.