Requisite role of dorsal raph é in contextual cocaine-memory reconsolidation

Neuropharmacology. 2024 Jan 2:109832. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2023.109832. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTMemory reconsolidation is a process by which labile drug memories are restabilized in long-term memory stores, permitting their enduring control over drug-seeking behaviors. In the present study, we investigated the involvement of the dorsal raphé nuclei (DRN) in cocaine-memory reconsolidation. Sprague-Dawley rats (male, female) were trained to self-administer cocaine in a distinct environmental context to establish contextual drug memories. They then received extinction training in a different context. Next, the rats were re-exposed to the cocaine-predictive context for 15 min to reactivate their cocaine memories or remained in their home cages (no-reactivation control). Memory reactivation was sufficient to increase c-Fos expression, an index of neuronal activation, in the DRN, but not in the medial raphé nuclei, during reconsolidation, compared to no reactivation. To determine whether DRN neuronal activity was necessary for cocaine-memory reconsolidation, rats received intra-DRN baclofen plus muscimol (BM; GABAB/A agonists) or vehicle microinfusions immediately after or 6 h after a memory reactivation session conducted with or without lever access. The effects of DRN functional inactivation on long-term memory strength, as indicated by the magnitude of context-induced cocaine seeking, were assessed 72 h later. Intra-DRN BM treatment immediately after memory reactiva...
Source: Neuropharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Source Type: research