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Updated: Jul 6, 2025

Comprehensive Analysis of Transcription Dynamics from Brain Samples Following Behavioral Experience
Published on: August 26, 2014
Drug-induced change in transmitter identity is a shared mechanism generating cognitive deficits
Marta Pratelli1,2, Anna M Hakimi1,2, Arth Thaker1,2
1Neurobiology Department, School of Biological Sciences and Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior; University of California San Diego; La Jolla, California, 92093-0955; USA.
Abstract:
Cognitive deficits are a long-lasting consequence of drug use, yet the convergent mechanism by which classes of drugs with different pharmacological properties cause similar deficits is unclear. We find that both phencyclidine and methamphetamine, despite differing in their targets in the brain, cause the same glutamatergic neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex to gain a GABAergic phenotype and decrease their expression of the vesicular glutamate transporter. Suppressing the drug-induced gain of GABA with RNA-interference prevents the appearance of memory deficits. Stimulation of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area is necessary and sufficient to produce this gain of GABA. Drug-induced prefrontal hyperactivity drives this change in transmitter identity. Returning prefrontal activity to baseline, chemogenetically or with clozapine, reverses the change in transmitter phenotype and rescues the associated memory deficits. The results reveal a shared and reversible mechanism that regulates the appearance of cognitive deficits upon exposure to different drugs.
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