Biological psychiatry
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Biological psychiatry · Oct 2013
Developmental disruption of gamma-aminobutyric acid function in the medial prefrontal cortex by noncontingent cocaine exposure during early adolescence.
Drug experimentation during adolescence is associated with increased risk of drug addiction relative to any other age group. To further understand the neurobiology underlying such liability, we investigate how early adolescent cocaine experience impacts medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) network function in adulthood. ⋯ Our data indicate that repeated cocaine exposure during early adolescence can elicit a state of mPFC disinhibition resulting from a functional impairment of the local prefrontal GABAergic network that endures through adulthood. A lack of acquisition of prefrontal GABAergic function during adolescence could trigger long-term deficits in the mPFC that may increase the susceptibility for the onset of substance abuse and related psychiatric disorders.
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Biological psychiatry · Oct 2013
Kappa opioid receptor-mediated dysregulation of gamma-aminobutyric acidergic transmission in the central amygdala in cocaine addiction.
Studies have demonstrated an enhanced dynorphin/kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) system following repeated cocaine exposure, but few reports have focused on neuroadaptations within the central amygdala (CeA). ⋯ Together these data demonstrate that CeA dynorphin/KOR systems are dysregulated following excessive cocaine exposure and suggest KOR antagonism as a viable therapeutic strategy for cocaine addiction.