Dietary regulation of silent synapses in the dorsolateral striatum.

Obesity and drugs of abuse share overlapping neural circuits and behaviors. Silent synapses are transient synapses that are important for remodeling brain circuits. They are prevalent during early development but largely disappear by adulthood.

DIETARY REGULATION OF SILENT SYNAPSES IN THE DORSOLATERAL STRIATUM.

Obesity and drugs of abuse share overlapping neural circuits and behaviors. Silent synapses are transient synapses that are important for remodeling brain circuits. They are prevalent during early development but largely disappear by adulthood.

The Impact of Heroin Self-Administration and Environmental Enrichment on Ventral Tegmental CRF1 Receptor Expression.

Background: There is a strong link between chronic stress and vulnerability to drug abuse and addiction. Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) is central to the stress response that contributes to continuation and relapse to heroin abuse. Chronic heroin exposure can exacerbate CRF production, leading to dysregulation of the midbrain CRF-dopamine-glutamate interaction.

Environmental enrichment facilitates electric barrier induced heroin abstinence after incubation of craving in male and female rats.

Background: Treatment strategies that aim to promote abstinence to heroin use and reduce vulnerability to drug-use resumption are limited in sustainability and long-term efficacy. We have previously shown that environmental enrichment (EE), when implemented after drug self-administration, reduces drug-seeking and promotes abstinence to cocaine and heroin in male rats. Here, we tested the effects of EE on abstinence in an animal conflict model in males and females, and after periods where incubation of craving may occur.

Muscarinic and NMDA Receptors in the Substantia Nigra Play a Role in Reward-Related Learning.

Background: Reward-related learning, where animals form associations between rewards and stimuli (i.e., conditioned stimuli [CS]) that predict or accompany those rewards, is an essential adaptive function for survival.

Taurine-Derived Compounds Produce Anxiolytic Effects in Rats Following Developmental Lead Exposure.

Lead (Pb) is a developmental neurotoxicant that disrupts the GABA-shift and subsequently causes alterations in the brain's excitation-to-inhibition (E/I) balance. Taurine is a well-established neuroprotective and inhibitory compound for regulating brain excitability. Since mechanistically taurine can facilitate neuronal inhibition through the GABA-, the present study examined the anxiolytic potential of taurine derivatives.

Environmental enrichment reduces heroin seeking following incubation of craving in both male and female rats.

Background: Contemporary treatments for heroin use disorder demonstrate only limited efficacy when the goals are long term abstinence and prevention of relapse. We have demonstrated that environmental enrichment (EE) reduces cue-induced heroin reinstatement in male rats. The present study is an attempt to extend the "anti-relapse" effects of EE to female rats and to periods where incubation of craving is hypothesized to occur.

Aberrations in Incentive Learning and Responding to Heroin in Male Rats After Adolescent or Adult Chronic Binge-Like Alcohol Exposure.

Background And Purpose: Binge drinking is a serious problem among adolescents and young adults despite its adverse consequences on the brain and behavior. One area that remains poorly understood concerns the impact of chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure on incentive learning.

Methods: Here, we examined the effects of CIE exposure during different developmental stages on conditioned approach and conditioned reward learning in rats experiencing acute or protracted withdrawal from alcohol.

Therapeutic efficacy of environmental enrichment for substance use disorders.

Addiction to drug and alcohol is regarded as a major health problem worldwide for which available treatments show limited effectiveness. The biggest challenge remains to enhance the capacities of interventions to reduce craving, prevent relapse and promote long-term recovery. New strategies to meet these challenges are being explored.

Assessing the Anxiolytic Properties of Taurine-Derived Compounds in Rats Following Developmental Lead Exposure: A Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Pharmacological Pilot Study.

Lead (Pb) is a developmental neurotoxicant that causes alterations in the brain's excitation-to-inhibition (E/I) balance. By increasing chloride concentration through GABA-ARs, taurine serves as an effective inhibitory compound for maintaining appropriate levels of brain excitability. Considering this pharmacological mechanism of taurine facilitated inhibition through the GABA-AR, the present pilot study sought to explore the anxiolytic potential of taurine derivatives.