Effects of self-administered cocaine in adolescent and adult male rats on orbitofrontal cortex-related neurocognitive functioning.

Rationale: Deficits in amygdala-related stimulus-reward learning are produced following 18 drug-free days of cocaine self-administration or its passive delivery in rats exposed during adulthood. No deficits in stimulus-reward learning are produced by cocaine exposure initiated during adolescence.

Objectives: To determine if age of initiating cocaine exposure differentially affects behavioral functioning of an additional memory system linked to cocaine addiction, the orbitofrontal cortex.