Periadolescent mice show enhanced DeltaFosB upregulation in response to cocaine and amphetamine

Children and adolescents are increasingly exposed to psychostimulants, either illicitly or for the treatment of common neuropsychiatric conditions, such as attention deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity. Despite the widespread use of psychomotor stimulants in younger age groups, little is known regarding the chronic molecular neuroadaptive responses to these agents in the immature brain. Here we demonstrate that, after chronic administration of the psychostimulants cocaine and amphetamine, the transcription factor DeltaFosB is upregulated in the nucleus accumbens of periadolescent mice but not in post-weanling or adult mice. Induction of DeltaFosB also occurs exclusively in the caudate putamen of periadolescent mice after amphetamine administration. These results demonstrate the unique plasticity in the adolescent brain of a critical molecule that regulates psychostimulant action and suggest that these neuroadaptive changes may be involved in the mediation of enhanced addictive tendencies in the adolescent relative to the adult.