Transition to addiction is associated with a persistent impairment in synaptic plasticity.

F. Kasanetz, V. Deroche-Gamonet, N. Berson, E. Balado, M. Lafourcade, O. Manzoni, P. V. Piazza
Science. 2010-06-24; 328(5986): 1709-1712
DOI: 10.1126/science.1187801

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1. Science. 2010 Jun 25;328(5986):1709-12. doi: 10.1126/science.1187801.

Transition to addiction is associated with a persistent impairment in synaptic
plasticity.

Kasanetz F(1), Deroche-Gamonet V, Berson N, Balado E, Lafourcade M, Manzoni O,
Piazza PV.

Author information:
(1)INSERM U862, NeuroCentre Magendie, 147 Rue Léo Saignat, 33077, Bordeaux Cedex,
France.

Chronic exposure to drugs of abuse induces countless modifications in brain
physiology. However, the neurobiological adaptations specifically associated with
the transition to addiction are unknown. Cocaine self-administration rapidly
suppresses long-term depression (LTD), an important form of synaptic plasticity
in the nucleus accumbens. Using a rat model of addiction, we found that animals
that progressively develop the behavioral hallmarks of addiction have permanently
impaired LTD, whereas LTD is progressively recovered in nonaddicted rats
maintaining a controlled drug intake. By making drug seeking consistently
resistant to modulation by environmental contingencies and consequently more and
more inflexible, a persistently impaired LTD could mediate the transition to
addiction.

DOI: 10.1126/science.1187801
PMID: 20576893 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Auteurs Bordeaux Neurocampus