Psychostimulants, when administered acutely, produce significant deficits in cognitive tasks. Indeed, there is considerable evidence that acute administration of cocaine alters cellular processes at the level of the nucleus accumbens and the ventral tegmental area (VTA). However, there have been few studies that explore the acute effects of cocaine in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Here we report that acute cocaine administration in vivo evokes a prolonged membrane depolarization, decreases cortical spontaneous firing, compromises spontaneous membrane bistability, and blunts the VTA-evoked responses in the PFC. Moreover, acute cocaine administration decreases the amplitude of the EPSP-IPSP sequence that precedes the initiation of the Up states in the PFC, therefore compromising the driving force of cortical bistability and thereby cortical excitability.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1300482 | DOI Listing |
Neuroscience
January 2025
Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; Waggoner Center for Alcohol & Addiction Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; Department of Neurology, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. Electronic address:
While our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying cocaine and opiate reward has historically been dopamine-focused, evidence from genetic and pharmacological approaches indicates that µ-opioid receptors (MORs) in the striatum are important contributors. Within the striatum, MORs are expressed in both dopamine D1-receptor and D2-receptor expressing GABAergic medium spiny neurons (MSNs), as well as in interneurons and various afferents. Thus, it remains unclear how these distinct MOR populations regulate drug reward.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJMIR Form Res
January 2025
Center on Substance Use and Health, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Background: Despite increasing fatal stimulant poisoning in the United States, little is understood about the mechanism of death. The psychological autopsy (PA) has long been used to distinguish the manner of death in equivocal cases, including opioid overdose, but has not been used to explicitly explore stimulant mortality.
Objective: We aimed to develop and implement a large PA study to identify antecedents of fatal stimulant poisoning, seeking to maximize data gathering and ethical interactions during the collateral interviews.
ACS Chem Neurosci
January 2025
School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin─Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, United States.
Addiction to psychostimulants, including cocaine, causes widespread morbidity and mortality and is a major threat to global public health. Currently, no pharmacotherapies can successfully treat psychostimulant addiction. The neuroactive effects of cocaine and other psychostimulants have been studied extensively with respect to their modulation of monoamine systems (particularly dopamine); effects on neuropeptide systems have received less attention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
December 2024
Cardiology, Lower Bucks Hospital, Bristol, USA.
This case report presents a 37-year-old male with a complex medical history, including HIV, chronic methamphetamine and cocaine use, and an atrial septal defect, who developed severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), biventricular failure, and recurrent stroke. The patient was admitted with acute neurological deficits and respiratory failure, which rapidly progressed despite intensive management. Laboratory and imaging studies revealed severe cardiac dysfunction and elevated pulmonary vascular resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychopharmacology (Berl)
December 2024
Evolutionary Genetics Department, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Rationale: The sexual behavior of the female rat is highly motivated, and the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic system -involved in psychostimulants effects- has been implicated in its regulation. Female rats begin to express sexual behavior during adolescence, a period during which this system is not yet mature.
Objective: To examine the impact of cocaine on sexual motivation and behavior of adolescent and adult female rats, and to determine the dopamine receptors binding in mesocorticolimbic areas of these females.
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