Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 8, 2025
08:05
A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers
Published on: January 5, 2018
10.0K
Targeting drug memory reconsolidation: a neural analysis
Uršulė Taujanskaitė1, Emma N Cahill1, Amy L Milton2
1Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Current Opinion in Pharmacology
|September 22, 2020
Summary
Addiction involves maladaptive learning and memory. Targeting drug memories with reconsolidation-blockade strategies offers a novel therapeutic avenue for addiction treatment.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Addiction is viewed as a disorder of maladaptive learning and memory.
- Maladaptive drug memories drive drug-seeking and relapse behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review mechanisms of drug memory reconsolidation in key brain structures.
- To identify potential therapeutic targets for addiction treatment using reconsolidation-blockade.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on memory reconsolidation.
- Analysis of the roles of the amygdala, striatum, and hippocampus in drug memory.
Main Results:
- Different limbic corticostriatal structures differentially contribute to various maladaptive drug memories.
- Pavlovian associations and instrumental memories underlying drug-seeking are discussed.
- Similarities and differences in reconsolidation mechanisms across brain regions are noted.
Conclusions:
- Drug memory reconsolidation presents a promising target for novel addiction therapies.
- Understanding regional mechanisms can guide the development of effective reconsolidation-blockade treatments.
- Further research into these mechanisms is warranted.
Related Concept Videos
01:23Role of Neurotransmitters in Memory
2.2K
Neurotransmitters are integral to the brain's communication system, enabling neurons to transmit signals across synapses. This chemical exchange underpins various cognitive functions, including memory processes. The role of neurotransmitters in memory is multifaceted, influencing the encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of memories through their action on different neural circuits.
Glutamate and Synaptic Plasticity
Glutamate, the brain's main excitatory neurotransmitter, is...
Glutamate and Synaptic Plasticity
Glutamate, the brain's main excitatory neurotransmitter, is...
2.2K
01:20Desensitization and Tachyphylaxis
2.8K
Tachyphylaxis is described as a rapid decrease in response to a drug after repeated or continuous administration of the same drug dose. It is a phenomenon where the body becomes less responsive to a particular substance or intervention over time, requiring higher doses or stronger interventions to achieve the same effect. It results from adaptive changes in the body's receptors, signaling pathways, or physiological processes that occur in response to prolonged exposure to a stimulus.
2.8K
01:35Long-term Potentiation
57.6K
Long-term potentiation, or LTP, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTP is the process of synaptic strengthening that occurs over time between pre- and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic strengthening of LTP works in opposition to the synaptic weakening of long-term depression (LTD) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
57.6K
01:25Long-term Potentiation
3.2K
Long-term potentiation, or LTP, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTP is the process of synaptic strengthening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic strengthening of LTP works in opposition to the synaptic weakening of long-term depression (LTD) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when...
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when...
3.2K
01:03Long-term Depression
2.8K
Long-term depression, or LTD, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTD is the process of synaptic weakening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic weakening of LTD works in opposition to synaptic strengthening by long-term potentiation (LTP) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
Calcium Ion Concentration Mechanism
If over...
Calcium Ion Concentration Mechanism
If over...
2.8K
01:05Long-term Depression
32.7K
Long-term depression, or LTD, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTD is the process of synaptic weakening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic weakening of LTD works in opposition to synaptic strengthening by long-term potentiation (LTP) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
32.7K