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The Journal of Neuroscience, September 26, 2007, 27(39):10546-10555; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2967-07.2007

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
A Role for Conditioned Ventral Tegmental Glutamate Release in Cocaine Seeking

Zhi-Bing You, Bin Wang, Dawnya Zitzman, Soraya Azari, and Roy A. Wise

Behavioral Neuroscience Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21224

Correspondence should be addressed to Zhi-Bing You, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 5500 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224. Email: zyou{at}intra.nida.nih.gov

Initiation of cocaine self-administration in rats was associated with release of glutamate in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The glutamate release was transient, despite continued cocaine intake. Similar glutamate release was seen in rats earning, for the first time, unexpected saline rather than expected cocaine. VTA glutamate release was not seen in similarly trained rats earning saline instead of cocaine for the 13th time. VTA glutamate release was also seen in similarly trained rats that received yoked rather than earned cocaine injections on test day. VTA glutamate release was not seen in a group of rats that had never earned cocaine but had received yoked injections during the training period. Glutamate release was also not seen in a group of rats that received yoked injections but had no previous experience with cocaine. VTA GABA levels did not fluctuate during any aspect of cocaine seeking. Blockade of VTA glutamate receptors appeared to attenuate the rewarding effects of intravenous cocaine injections and blocked almost completely the conditioned responding normally seen during extinction trials. These findings indicate that VTA glutamate release is a conditioned response dependent on an associative process and is not a simple consequence of previous cocaine exposure. The findings implicate glutamate as at least one of the sources of VTA signals from reward-associated environmental stimuli.

Key words: cocaine; extinction; GABA; glutamate; self-administration; ventral tegmental area

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Received Dec. 1, 2006; revised Aug. 16, 2007; accepted Aug. 17, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Zhi-Bing You, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 5500 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224. Email: zyou{at}intra.nida.nih.gov

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