Pallidal circuits drive addiction behavior

Understanding the neural mechanisms that control addiction processes, including drug-seeking and relapse, is key to finding new targets for substance use disorder (SUD) pharmacotherapies and circuit-based therapies. Addictive drugs alter activity in distinct neural circuits that can lead to SUD symptoms, including compulsive drug craving and taking. This includes the pallidum, a region in the basal ganglia that acts as an integrator of associative, sensorimotor, and limbic information to shape motor responses, promote reward-learning, and regulate habit formation. Here, we review key findings that demonstrate the sub-regional and circuit-specific functions of the pallidum that drive addiction-related behaviors in rodents. We also highlight newly discovered mechanisms within distinct cell types and circuits of the pallidum that drive drug-seeking. Overall, this review serves to emphasize the importance of the pallidum in addiction processes and underscore the need for studying circuit-specific mechanisms in SUD research.