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The Journal of Neuroscience, April 15, 1998, 18(8):3098-3115
Comparison of Mesocorticolimbic Neuronal Responses During Cocaine
and Heroin Self-Administration in Freely Moving Rats
Jing-Yu
Chang,
Patricia H.
Janak, and
Donald J.
Woodward
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University,
School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157
To compare neuronal activity within the mesocorticolimbic circuit
during the self-administration of cocaine and heroin, multiple-channel single-unit recordings of spike activity within the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) were obtained during the consecutive self-administration of cocaine and heroin within
the same session. The variety of neuronal responses observed before the
lever press are termed anticipatory responses, and those observed after
the lever press are called post-drug infusion responses. For the total
of the 110 mPFC and 111 NAc neurons recorded, 30-50% of neurons,
depending on the individual sessions, had no alteration in spike
activity in relation to either cocaine or heroin self-administration.
Among the neurons exhibiting significant neuronal responses during a
self-administration session, only a small portion (16-25%) of neurons
responded similarly under both reinforcement conditions; the majority
of neurons (75-84%) responded differently to cocaine and heroin
self-administration as revealed by variations in both anticipatory
and/or post-drug infusion responses. A detailed video analysis of
specific movements to obtain the self-administration of both drugs
provided evidence against the possibility that locomotive differences
contributed to the observed differences in anticipatory responses. The
overall mean activity of neurons recorded in mPFC and NAc measured
across the duration of the session segment for either cocaine or heroin self-administration also was different for some neurons under the two
reinforcement conditions. This study provides direct evidence that, in
mPFC and NAc, heterogeneous neuronal circuits mediate cocaine and
heroin self-administration and that distinct, but overlapping,
subpopulations of neurons in these areas become active during operant
responding for different reinforcers.
Key words:
electrophysiology; cocaine; heroin; mesocorticolimbic
system; medial prefrontal cortex; nucleus accumbens; reinforcement; reward; drug abuse; behavior
Copyright © 1998 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/98/1883098-18$05.00/0
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