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A Conditioned Place Preference Protocol for Measuring Incubation of Craving in Rats
Published on: November 6, 2018
Ventral tegmental area-basolateral amygdala-nucleus accumbens shell neurocircuitry controls the expression of
Jennifer L Szczytkowski1, Rita A Fuchs, Donald T Lysle
1University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Psychology, CB#3270, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270, USA. jthomson@email.unc.edu
Abstract:
The present investigations sought to determine whether the ventral tegmental area (VTA), basolateral amygdala (BLA), and nucleus accumbens shell (NAC) comprise a circuitry that mediates heroin-induced conditioned immunomodulation. Rats were given conditioning trials in which they received an injection of heroin upon placement into a distinctive environment. Prior to testing, rats received unilateral intra-BLA microinfusion of a D(1) antagonist concomitantly with unilateral intra-NAC shell microinfusion of an NMDA antagonist. Disconnection of the VTA-BLA-NAC circuit impaired the ability of the heroin-paired environment to suppress lipopolysaccharide-induced immune responses, defining for the first time a specific neural circuit involved in conditioned neural-immune interactions.
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